Superteam Liberty balancing title expectations while trying to ‘win the day’

BROOKLYN — When the New York Liberty take the court this season they won’t be the first team that calls Barclays Center home that has an oversized set of expectations placed upon them. That’s usually what happens when you add some of the biggest names in women’s basketball onto one team.

Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vanderslooty and Jonquel Jones joined a Liberty roster that already included the likes of Sabrina Ionescu, DiDi Richards and Stefanie Dolson. Now, New York will be expected to win a title this upcoming season, which begins on May 19, and general manager Jonathan Kolb has fully embraced that.

“To have expectations means we’ve earned them, right? And that’s from this offseason,” Kolb said during the team’s media day. “And we embrace those expectations, but we know what comes with them. And that’s a day-by-day process to get better. And every single player including Stewie wants to get better every single day. Coaching staff, front office and so that’s what this is really about. And then from that, I believe, good things will follow. The success will come as long as we’re being really detailed in our process.

“I think at the end of the day, of course, our goal is the last team standing and we believe that we’ve got a process in place to lead us in that direction.”

Kolb has certainly done his part to put the Liberty in a position to do that. New York, which still has not won a WNBA title despite being one of the league’s original franchises, added two former league MVPs, a four-time WNBA All-Star and a player who is considered one of the greatest point guards in league history.

The Liberty had already had an established leadership group in place before the massive offseason and the three WNBA superstars aren’t taking their status for granted on their new team.

“I think it’s a team sport, obviously,” Jones said. “And so anybody that comes in is going to be in addition. Obviously, we all bring different things to the table. We can all do different things in our own unique way, but it’s about this team and I’ve always been a team-first player. I’ve always been a team-first type of person, so that’s not going to change with me coming here to New York.”

The new superstar trio hasn’t had much time together on the court just yet since training camp opened for the Liberty and the rest of the WNBA. Head coach Sandy Brondello said she was looking forward to getting them onto the floor, but mentioned how they’ve been just taking everything in from the sideline.

During Monday’s media day it was easy to see the ease with which former Liberty first-round pick Ionescu had been playing and the advantage Han Xu, who grew to 6’11 during the offseason, can bring.

A title is clearly the goal, but the Liberty are balancing that with just getting better as a team. Brondello has preached “winning the day” and it’s a message that Stewart and the newbies have quickly adapted.

“When you look at our overall goals for the year, it’s to win a championship and I think the three of us up here will all agree on that,” Stewart said, referencing herself along with Jones and Ionescu. “That being said, that’s not going to happen today, tomorrow, the next couple of weeks. what’s gonna happen is, we’re gonna create a standard and strive for excellence, and that’s what’s gonna help us get to that point.

“So I think going off of what Sandy said, we are trying to win the day. We’re trying to do better, we’re trying to, you know, learn to play with each other really, really quickly.”