Liberty runs right into Storm in WNBA opener

The new-look Liberty will soon have its first real test.

As training camp continues at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. the players and coaching staff have admired the way their team has been able to come together. After Day 2 of camp, assistant coach Shelly Patterson said the team looked as if it was in Week 2 of camp with how well it had progressed in such a short period of time.

That being said, practice and the regular season are two totally different monsters. The WNBA released every team’s schedules on Monday and the Liberty’s first challenger will be the Seattle Storm, which has players with a wealth of experience.

The 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick Sabrina Ionescu will lead the rookie-laden Liberty against Sue Bird and the powerhouse from Seattle on July 25 — the opening tip-off of the 2020 season. The game will air live at noon on ESPN.

“I don’t think I feel any pressure,” Ionescu said during the Liberty’s virtual media day. “Obviously there’s going to be ups and downs, it’s gonna be a grind entering the best professional league and coming in as a rookie, there’s gonna be more players that have more experience, that are better, that are stronger and so I’m just excited to learn.

“I know there’s going to be times when things are going well and that’s all part of the process,” Ionescu continued. “I’m just excited to struggle a little bit and be able to grow through that time and get better.”

The Liberty roster is made up of six rookies (seven if Megan Walker recovers from coronavirus and can join the team this season), a rookie head coach, and just four veterans. Two of those veterans didn’t even play with the Liberty last season: Layshia Clarendon is in her first season with the team, and Kiah

Stokes didn’t participate in last season for personal reasons.

After the Storm, the Liberty might get some reprieve as it faces the Dallas Wings (who finished last season with the same record as the Liberty), the Atlanta Dream (the only team with a worse defensive rating and record than the Liberty in 2019) and the Phoenix Mercury.

This Liberty may have chemistry, but it’ll need to find its footing by the fourth game of the season when it faces the Minnesota Lynx on August 5. After that, opponents only get more challenging.

“No one expects us to succeed,” Ionescu said. “So I think kinda having that underdog mentality that we’re all going to have, it’s going to help us. Maybe teams are going to overlook us, you know, maybe we’re gonna surprise some teams and who really knows.”

The Liberty’s remaining 17 games include two games apiece against the reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics, Las Vegas Aces, Los Angeles Sparks, Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky, teams that all had more than 20 wins last season and were the top playoff contenders.

Sixteen of the Liberty’s 22 games this season will air over national airwaves on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC or CBS Sports.