Breanna Stewart put her hands together and looked up, like she was thanking God for answering her prayer.
Perhaps there’s no one more excited for Leonie Fiebich’s return to the Liberty’s rotation than Stewart, the team’s defensive anchor and leader who shouldered the burden of trying to keep the team afloat amid a choppy start to the season.
“Leo’s a top defender,” Stewart said before the Liberty’s 84-74 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday night at Barclays Center. “But just the chemistry that she has with the people on the court knowing that her and I can definitely play like a great two-man action together defensively and bring added length, you know, it’s also that awareness of knowing where she needs to be.”
The Liberty haven’t found their defensive identity yet this season. They entered Wednesday having conceded an average of 86.9 points per game and posted a defensive rating of 106.5, good for eighth in the league.
The Liberty’s perimeter defense has particularly been an area of concern. New York allows an average of 29.7 attempts from deep per game, the most in the league.
Fiebich was eager to report for duty Wednesday after watching the team drop three straight.
“Whatever the team needs,” Fiebich said. “If that’s ball pressure, if that’s picking all defense, if that’s, you know, whatever, whatever the coaches and team needs for me.”
Any lingering jet lag Fiebich is dealing with wasn’t apparent. She made her presence felt on both ends of the floor, especially during the team’s thrilling 23-0 run in the third quarter.
Fiebich finished with nine points on 3-for-4 shooting, with two steals in 32 minutes. Her stat line, though, doesn’t tell the full story, especially when it comes to her defensive impact.
Coach Chris DeMarco said Fiebich was “as advertised.”
“She’s so steady,” DeMarco said. “She gets her hands on the ball defensively, made a big-time 3, she just gets it. She knows how to play. Really good addition and obviously with her being new here this season and just playing for the first time. … There’s some growing pains right there, but she was fantastic.”
Fiebich’s skill set complements the offense DeMarco is trying to run. She can drill timely 3s, like the corner trey she drained to open the game. She’s smart with her cuts, too, and will benefit from the overall spacing.
It’s a small sample size, and Fiebich hasn’t had a full practice with the team yet. But one game in, it appeared Fiebich had a good grasp of the team’s spacing concepts.
“It’s a lot of freedom,” Fiebich said of the offense. “I think everybody can really showcase what they got, their skills.”
