“It’s been really rewarding to see my true self come out,” Sabrina Ionescu told The Athletic yesterday. Determined to take the New York Liberty to their first WNBA trophy, Ionescu has branched out from her usual guard role for a wider range across the court. She’s still the same No. 20 who broke the three-point contest last year to go up against Stephen Curry in a shooting contest. But after 2023’s bitter Finals loss, it was time to change things up by taking a note from her Oregon days.

Improving her statistics near the rim was the number one priority for Ionescu last offseason, who says she stuck herself in the gym day and night. Who emerged this season, even through a bit of a slump post the Olympics, was a powerhouse ready for the playoffs. When a reporter recently asked her, “You’ve been a guard your whole life. All of a sudden you’re like defending a screener with all these actions. Has that been a challenge? How would you approach that?”

Ionescu smiled and reminisced, “Yeah I guess it brings me back to my college days when I played the four a little bit. I haven’t done it in the W yet but I was out there hedging in college. So I guess that’s equipped me to be able to do it in the league.” Ionescu’s career triple-doubles with the Ducks (23) was a record not even Caitlin Clark managed to match (17). Her versatility on the court was one of her biggest selling points and Ionescu is ready to bring it back in the W.

She continues, “But like I said, the playoffs is like a chess match – you gotta be able to figure out ways to adjust. Maybe give teams a different look here and there that they haven’t been able to prepare for. And so it was nice to be able to guard a four I guess, last series.”

The Liberty vs. the Aces in the semifinals was New York’s revenge. Last year’s Finals got so stressful at a point that Ionescu famously threw up in a trashcan in Game 4. The feeling in the locker room after that series was something no one wanted to revisit, and so Las Vegas had to be defeated. Now it’s the Minnesota Lynx’s turn.

This year, Ionescu brought back more of her floaters, practiced with difficult self-imposed drills, and improved her shooting numbers. Moving up from 54 percent of her 74 field-goal attempts in the restricted area to 61 percent on 81 attempts, her midrange game also improved, per Defector. There has been such a huge difference in last year’s and this year’s Ionescu that even the Aces head coach was left speechless.

Becky Hammon calls Sabrina Ionescu “the head of the snake”

When the Aces were fighting for life against the Liberty’s dominance, it was clear that despite the multiple MVPs New York boasted, this was Sabrina Ionescu’s time. Even Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon was impressed, who said Ionescu is “what makes (New York) go with her pace, her ability to read, her ability to put defenses in different dilemmas,” calling her the Liberty’s “head of the snake.”

In Game 3, the Aces did try to shut Ionescu down and her four points did dip low, but by Game 4 she came back and scored a team-high 22 points. “I love her shooting, everything that she brings to the game. Even just her finishing around the rim, I think has been a bit better,” Hammon said. “It’s tough when you take really, really good players, and they get better.”

New York is now waiting for its first basketball championship since the 1970s (when the Knicks and Nets used to win) and the first for the Liberty. Given the pace at which the W team is progressing, 2024 might just be the year they clinch their first championship!