NEW YORK — Sabrina Ionescu’s season had just ended with a disheartening defeat, the type of fourth-quarter collapse in a do-or-die playoff game that tends to linger on the mood.
Yet Ionescu, the star and face of this Liberty franchise, remained entirely optimistic about her circumstances. After all, she said, it was only a year ago that she sat at “the low point” of her professional career, when the former first overall pick couldn’t shake the ankle pain that sabotaged her first two WNBA seasons.
Now she’s an All-Star with evidence to undermine the naysayers, even if it didn’t carry over to the playoffs.
“If you want me to be honest, I’m happy,” Ionescu said Tuesday night after the Liberty were eliminated by Chicago Sky in Game 3 of the first round, 90-72. “I never thought I’d be able to complete a full season. I was at my lowest point a year ago. Obviously, I hate losing more than I love winning. But at the end of the day, I just have to look big picture and understand that a lot of people counted me out and didn’t think I’d be able to play at this level.
“So being able to come back in my first year healthy and kind of show everybody that isn’t the full player that I am but I’m still able to do it is something I’m excited about and something I’m going to take into the offseason. It’s fuel to the fire.”
There are certainly reasons to feel good about Ionescu and, by extension, the future of the Liberty. The 24-year-old was an all-around force while becoming the first in WNBA history to record 500 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists in a season. She started to live up to all that hype.
But it didn’t end well. In the biggest moments of her professional career — and with an opportunity to give the Liberty its first playoff series victory since 2015 — Ionescu produced two duds. She managed 21 points combined in Games 2 and 3 with more turnovers (8) than assists (7). On Tuesday night, Ionescu contributed to the Liberty’s fourth-quarter collapse by missing her final five shots, all during the Sky’s 16-0 game-breaking run.
Despite her strong season and stature, Ionescu isn’t a dominant one-on-one player and couldn’t crack the Sky’s hounding defense. It will be a focus of her offseason training, which Ionescu repeatedly emphasized as significant to her development because its her first healthy as a professional.
“(Beating defenders off the dribble) is definitely something I’m capable of. I just haven’t been able to train at for the last two years,” Ionescu said. “I’m definitely excited to bring that next season.
“I think it should have in my pocket that I continue to use. This year, I faced a lot of teams trapping and hard hedging and bringing two on the ball. If I’m able to create offense without using a ballscreen, it helps that much more.”
It’s a low bar in New York City, but the Liberty won more playoff games this year (1) than the two NBA teams from the five boroughs. The Liberty also improved dramatically from winning just two games in 2020, with Ionescu setting the bar higher moving forward.
“The goal for me and my career is to be able to put this team in the playoff conversation every year,” she said. “And not the seventh or eighth seed. A lock. So that’s the goal next year. Not to have our backs against the wall.”
