WNBA coaching is often framed as a tight-knit camaraderie. Competition lives, and dies, on the court. Respect is mutual and well-advertised. However, it’s safe to say that the New York Liberty’s Sandy Brondello and Minnesota Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve are a bit tired of eyeing each other from the sidelines.
Last time the coaches met in a dual-elimination game, their rosters looked different. Liberty supernovas Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, proudly donning Team USA jerseys, were taking their orders from Reeve. Brondello and her Australian pack perched on the opposite sideline. As experienced as the Opals were, their talent paled in comparison to the red, white and blue. Reeve and Team USA blazed towards the gold medal game, while Brondello and the Aussies fell into bronze. Not even three months later, Brondello found herself matched up with the WNBA Coach of the Year once again.
Forward thinking
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The untrained eye may discredit Brondello’s coaching feats under the context of her resources. She’s got Stewart, Ionescu and Jonquel Jones? Of course she should win! Well, when Ionescu shoots 1-for-19, Stewart shoots 4-for-15 and Jones shoots 5-for-10, a Game 5 victory is an undeniable feat of generational game management.
One of the most prominent successes of Brondello’s Game 5 was her determination to enable New York’s role players—something that Reeve wasn’t able to replicate. Through Game 2, reserves on both teams had combined for less than 12 percent of the series total points. Game 3 and 4 followed suit. However, on Sunday night, it was clear that Brondello would be going home empty if she didn’t trust her supporting cast. Her Big 3 was struggling.
Amidst her team’s inefficiency, Brondello turned to an unexpected face: Nyara Sabally. The sophomore German forward averaged a hair under five points per game this season, and had only scored three baskets through the first four games of the Finals. She only played five and nine minutes in the first two games, respectively. So why Sabally?
Brondello knew she needed to go big. Coming out of halftime, New York slowly incorporated a scarcely-before seen lineup of three forwards. Sabally, Stewart and Jones. 6-foot-4, 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-6. Minnesota has size to match, but Reeve wasn’t willing to test their synergy. Instead, the Lynx decided to stay small and hope that their guards could body up against the New York skyscrapers. Sabally wreaked havoc on mismatches. She recorded 13 points and seven rebounds on 71 percent shooting. She also prevented Napheesa Collier from hunting mismatches on guards. Three forwards on the court meant three defenders capable of sticking with Collier in one-on-one coverage. Even if she scored, it wouldn’t be easy.
With points at a premium in overtime, Sabally intercepted an elbow entry pass meant for Collier, taking it 72 feet for a transition layup that gave New York a two possession lead. Even with three minutes left, that steal was the dagger.
Sabally deserves the praise for her own heroics, but Brondello’s lineup abstraction took the Liberty through the finish line. Most coaches would willingly die, wrapped in the comfort of their own stars, refusing to experiment with a championship on the table. Comically-bad shooting percentages weren’t enough to make Brondello waive the white flag. She took to the drawing board with 20 minutes left in the series, and went home with a trophy to show for it.
