After their final game of the regular season, New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said that “every bench is important,” adding that she expects them to come out and bring energy even if the final result of a game is handing in the balance.
“They’re vital to our success. Marine does what she does, KT does what she does at both ends. And you know, Stef, you just have another experience playing her. So it’s going to be important for us. We want them to be calm, confident when they’re out there and do what they do best,” added Brondello.
Taking a look at both teams’ bench units can shed some light on what holes each team needs to cover to make two already successful seasons all the better with a championship.
For Las Vegas, a key bench player has already won the honor of this year’s Sixth Player of the Year award from the league, Alysha Clark. Clark, who immediately began crying upon receiving the news that she was set to receive the award, has been a force for the Aces. The ten year veteran brings a certain stabilizing quality to the bench, which could be a combination of her experience in addition to the fact that she plays nearly 23 minutes per night, making her a big contributor to not only what the bench is showing opposing second units but to what the starting unit looks like on a given night.
“They’ve been important to us all year. I think our bench is great. You know, led by AC. She could be a starter in this league. She’s been a starter. She’s a star,” said Aces starting guard Jackie Young about Clark’s contributions this season to the team.
She added that the bench has always stayed ready, and that the team can “count on them, and we trust them” whenever they are plugged into the game by head coach Becky Hammon.
Beyond Clark, the Aces bench has been a bit of a question mark this season. Their starting unit is one of the best to have ever suited up, boasting a 97.7 defensive rating (DRTG) alongside a potent 113.0 offensive rating (ORTG), but the bench has had to rely on Clark’s contributions heavily as they sought to find roles for players like Kiersten Bell, Sydney Colson, Cayla George and Alaina Coates.
In their last two postseason series against the Chicago Sky and Dallas Wings, the bench outside of Clark has played a total of 68 minutes, mostly in garbage time, compared to the 105 total minutes Clark has played so far in these playoffs. A shorter bench rotation is always expected when entering the season of meaningful basketball, and Las Vegas seems content with relying on Clark for meaningful bench minutes in relief of several of their starters.
As for New York, we’ve seen a bit of a different picture depending on what series you look at so far this postseason. Against the Washington Mystics, the Liberty gave minimal minutes to Marine Johannes and Stef Dolson, whereas they utilized Kayla Thornton heavily in Game 2 with 17 minutes of action. In their Connecticut Sun series, those bench minutes were given out more frugally.
This season, though, the Liberty were not afraid to get deep in their bag when it came to their bench. It was Johannes, after all, who threatened to take the Commissioner’s Cup Most Valuable Player award from Jonquel Jones after she lit Las Vegas up on their home floor. However, New York has managed to find bursts of time for their second unit to enter, provide defensive stopgaps here and there and promptly return to their seat in a way that suits the flow of their offense best.
Johannes also happened to be the most active player for the Liberty in Game 1. Despite dropping the series opener, New York found great success in Johannes’ minutes, as she scored 14 points in just the first half on 4 for 7 shooting in three-point percentage. Her one legged three-point shots were hitting nothing but net, and she brought a sort of pop to the Liberty backcourt that looked flat all game.
However, the Liberty went away from her in the second half after the Aces were able to trap her, forcing others to make their shots.Successfully closing in on New York, Las Vegas pulled away, showing just how important Johannes was off the bench for the team as they lost her spark the last 20 minutes of play.
It is the tale of two benches for these two high-octane teams hurtling towards a fateful encounter this Finals. Whether each coach feels necessary to go down their bench or try something new, it depends on how each game and minute goes in this series. But both units are held up by strong players, like Clark for Las Vegas and Thornton or Johannes for New York.
Liberty rookie and bench contributor Nyara Sabally recently shared her mindset about second-unit preparation ahead of such an important series.
“Staying ready and staying locked in, paying attention… it’s just the little things,” she said.
“All of us are professionals. So it’s like, you know, what do you have to do to stay ready? What do you have to do for extra conditioning? Because you’re gonna get called at any moment.”
