Sandy Brondello Urges Sabrina Ionescu to Fix Costly Errors Following NY Liberty’s Game 3 Loss

The Las Vegas Aces had a clash of the decade set against the New York Liberty when both made it to the semi-finals of the playoffs. The Liberty had defeated the Aces thrice in the regular season and were now set to avenge their last year’s Championship Finale series loss against the 2x reigning champions. While the Liberty were successful in trumping their opponents during Game 1 and 2 of the semi-finals this year, outsmarting the Aces in Game 3 on Friday proved to be a monumental task for them as their main star Sabrina Ionescu was well contained by A’ja Wilson & Co. Taking note of the same, the Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello had valuable advice for her mentee.

In the postgame presser on Friday after Game 3, Brondello reflected on Ionescu’s role and how the Aces were successful in emerging victorious, which had all the fans realizing the triple-double queen’s mistake.

“Yeah, look obviously they did. She’s been playing great. So, of course, they want to make it hard for her. I think they did put her in action on the other end. They were being really aggressive in the pick and rolls this time. She wasn’t able to get downhill, it was more of a hard hedge and were very active with their hands. Their hands get deflections and you know make it really hard,” the head coach stated Aces’ strategy to cage Ionescu.

Ionescu, in the last two games, scored 21 and 24 points respectively. Hence was on the radar of the Aces. In this game, however, the Las Vegas-based team did not allow the Oregon alum to go on a rampage. She missed 6 of the 7 field goals and was contained for a whole minute up until the fourth quarter before she made a technical free throw. Known for her three-pointers, the guard could only attempt two as pressure mounted on her. But Brondello has all the faith in her star.

“She’s gotta continue to trust her and get the ball back to her and take the ones that are open. She missed some open ones that she usually makes but sometimes teams speed you up. So you know getting her off-ball a little bit… But she’ll be fine, she’s a competitor and she’ll take this on the nose and come ready to play in the next game,” Brondello stated.

Though Ionescu helped with 5 assists, most of her passes during crucial moments were cut off by the Aces. Overall, Ionescu could only score a paltry 4 points with 5 turnovers. This wasn’t a performance expected of the California-born as coming into this game she averaged a whopping 24.5 points in the playoffs. Hence, her coach Brondello gave her advice to improve her play during pick and roll. Notably, even other Las Vegas stars confirmed their aggressive play against Ionescu in this game.

Chelsea Gray and Becky Hammon reveal their strategy for containing Sabrina Ionescu

The New York Liberty, after missing the Championship title last time, made sure that they enhanced their gameplay in the off-season. Ionescu particularly, after her team’s initial wins, confirmed that she had learned to play better in the paint. “I have my three-point shots, but [by] continuing to manipulate defenses by getting into the paint… it helps my teammates and helps this team win,” the 2023 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup champion divulged. And she was doing just that in the playoffs, averaging 24.5 points. Therefore, when the Aces were stuck in a do-or-die situation at home, they were clear that they needed to stop Ionescu in the restricted area.

The Aces head coach Becky Hammon pointed out after the game that their main strategy in Game 3 was to “trying to make Sabrina uncomfortable and trying to not let her get downhill (or into the paint).” Similarly, their star Chelsea Gray also opined that “our attention to detail coming off the pick-and-roll and just making sure she’s not comfortable.”

The result of which was that Las Vegas executed their plans successfully and won the matchup by a 95-81 tally. The third quarter was quite interesting in particular as Hammon and her mentees were at the zenith of their prowess. They only allowed the Liberty to score 6 points whereas they hammered 21 during that span, which negated any chances of New York making a late comeback into the game.

Hopefully, Ionescu will listen to Brondello and try to add to her game. And that would be clear when the Liberty tackle the Aces next on Sunday in the Michelob ULTRA Arena.