Breanna Stewart Flags ‘Flow State’ Loss Behind Liberty’s 2025 Struggles Under Sandy Brondello
New York Liberty‘s championship protection was meant to be a victory lap; Instead, it led to a disastrous first-round collapse. The Liberty suffered a disastrous first-round playoff setback in what turned out to be Sandy Brondello’s closing season with the workforce, dropping to the Phoenix Mercurya workforce CBS Sports did not even take into account a title contender earlier than the season. Now, veteran workforce member Breanna Stewart you’ve gotten shared her two cents on the workforce’s struggle-laden season.
In his interview, Stewart supplied an fascinating perspective, stating that the workforce could not attain the ‘Flow State’ that that they had reached within the championship-winning season.
commercial
“I don’t this it’s a huge issue for me. You call it like a flow state,” Stewart stated. “So, when you’re in that flow state where you’re reading and going off with your team now, you have to have a chemistry, and you have to like keept that. So, we had a lot of changes between our Championship to our 2025 season. In trying to kind of course correct and create that flow state again very quickly, it just didn’t work.”
Now, stream state within the sports activities area refers back to the part of a workforce when all its actions are completely in sync and rhythm. That’s exactly the time period you may affiliate the NY Liberty with in 2024, the place each sequence of play had a stamp of dominance. The Big Three of Stewart, Sabrina Ionescuand Jonquel Jonestogether with veteran Courtney Vanderslootsimply dominated any workforce that they confronted.
After all, sweeping atlanta led by Rhyne Howard within the first spherical of the playoffs or dominating the Las Vegas Aces led by A’ja Wilson3-1 within the second spherical, is not any simple feat. The Liberty did it fairly convincingly with their skilled coach, Brondello, on the helm, calling it a “special time.” But instantly subsequent season, the tide modified, and the workforce bought a bit decoupled.
commercial
First, they misplaced considered one of their key gamers in Vandersloot, who returned to the Chicago Sky. Additionally, Jones, who offers an edge to the workforce on the glass, additionally sustained a proper knee damage and missed fairly just a few video games. The workforce did usher in Natasha Cloud earlier than the offseason to deal with Vandersloot’s absence, however the chemistry the workforce had in 2024 by no means materialized below Sandy Brondello final yr, with inconsistency relating to accidents and stagnation on the court docket at occasions.
On prime of that, the Liberty weren’t clear on the court docket, particularly on the boards, the place the workforce noticed a serious drop-off from north of 36 rebounds per recreation in 2024 to round 33 final season. Stewart had additionally hinted that the workforce does not have a Championship-level mentality within the locker room halfway all through the season.
After dropping to the Phoenix Mercury within the common season, Stewart stated, “This is not championship-level basketball at this point, and everybody needs to recognize that and understand that we need to get there.”
Jun 27, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; New York Liberty ahead Breanna Stewart (30) seems to be on in opposition to the Phoenix Mercury throughout the first half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
While the 2025 season was marked by all these exterior elements and a level of desynchronization, the NY Liberty has assembled a bunch of Avengers heading into the subsequent season. And veteran Stewart is kind of optimistic for the speedy way forward for the workforce in that regard.
commercial
Breanna Stewart Sounds Positive About Her Team’s Depth and Chemistry Going Into the Upcoming Season
For the NY Liberty, most of their worries bought eased instantly within the free company. liberty‘s entrance workplace performed a masterclass, bringing again its Big Three. On prime of that, the workforce additionally signed star ahead Satou Sabally so as to add extra firepower to their frontcourt. Speaking in an interview after just a few days within the coaching camp, Breanna Stewart you’ve gotten emphasised that the depth and physicality of gamers like herself and Jones may be their ace heading into the season.
“It seems like we just have a lot of length,” Stewart stated. “Anywhere you look. We’re long and we’re tall, and we’re gonna kind of use that to our advantage. I’m sure some people are gonna think that, ‘Oh, we’ll be too big.’ But [it] “It seems hard to stop.”
The three-time WNBA champ also doubled down on team bonding during camp, especially with an array of new players on the roster. “So far, it looks like the team has really gelled and got the hang of it quickly,” she said. “I was able to be in for most of practice today, which I was happy about, and then ramp up for Saturday.”
advertisement
All in all, it will be interesting to see how this physicality and team bonding play out for them this season. After all, they also had the same core and removed a substantial firepower, but the results didn’t turn out for them. With a new coach, Chris DeMarco, Breanna Stewart, and the Liberty hope to see their on-paper strength materialize into another championship-winning season, starting in a few weeks.
The post Breanna Stewart Flags ‘Flow State’ Loss Behind Liberty’s 2025 Struggles Under Sandy Brondello appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add PrimarilySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
