Leonie Fiebich’s appearance forces Liberty to restructure

There was a learning curve in the games and months — actually, most of the season — leading up to Leonie Fiebich's breakthrough, before the Libertys' lineup change on Sunday that put her in the starting lineup for Game 1 against the Dream, and before the career-high 21 points that all but sealed her place.

This could happen to any beginner.

Six minutes here. Five minutes there.

Finally, Courtney Vandersloot and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton both missed a game, a first start.

Sandy Brondello knew that Fiebich, whose rights were acquired last year and who signed with the Liberty ahead of the 2024 season, would have to adapt to the WNBA.

The Liberty, who were able to return their entire starting lineup from last year's run to the WNBA Finals but revamped their bench, also had to learn how the winger would complement the rest of the lineup.

But that changed on June 9 against the Mystics, when Fiebich played the entire fourth quarter against Kayla Thornton – who had been playing without Vandersloot – and teamed with Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Laney-Hamilton to close out the Liberty's narrow five-point victory.

That wasn't a slam dunk either. Instead, it offered one of the first glimpses of the lineup Brondello unveiled on Sunday, with Vandersloot moving to the bench and Fiebich starting.

Back then and during the rest of the regular season, when Brondello needed this group of players, they were merely the closers.

Their joint cameo appearances were limited to smaller groups at the end of the games.

Since the Olympic break, the Liberty lineup with Fiebich and the other four regulars has had a net rating of 22.1 over 36 minutes, and their 23.8 for the season puts them at the top of all combinations in the league.

In the 68 minutes since the break that Vandersloot was in the team, the net rating dropped to 1.6, with the defense experiencing the most significant drop in performance.

“We knew it,” Brondello said after the Liberty's shootaround before they tried to close out their first-round series against the Dream on Tuesday night at Barclays Center. “We study analytics. We go with the numbers and what works, but it's not even about analytics. It's about what you see. Sometimes I go with what I see, what works best, and trust my gut feeling out there, what I see too.”

“But yes, the analysis shows how much tougher we are on both ends. We are tougher on both ends when we have Leo in there. And Leo is the denominator.”

However, it took a while for everything to come together.

It took a while for the Liberty to realize what would ultimately become their best combinations.

Their new lineup, which opened Games 1 and 2 of the playoffs, still only managed 122 minutes together in 21 games during the regular season.

Vandersloot missed time for personal reasons.

Laney-Hamilton missed much of the season due to a knee injury and subsequent recovery from minor knee surgery.

Stewart, Jones and Ionescu also missed all games.

Nevertheless, there was no noticeable difference between the team lineups before the Olympic break.

The lineup with Fiebich had a net rating of 24.6.

The lineup with Vandersloot, a four-time WNBA All-Star, was just one point lower.

Ultimately, however, the line-up with Fiebich proved to be the strongest.

Stewart said the length – Fiebich is 6-foot-4, and everyone in the new starting group is at least 6-foot-4 – has allowed the Liberty to avoid uneven matchups.

Stewart can take over a guard in transition. Fiebich or Laney-Hamilton can take over Stewart's original role. And everything falls into place from there.

“I think that just sets the tone for the defense,” Fiebich said Tuesday. “I think if we play like we did last game, it's really hard to play against us when we defend like that.”

The lineup change could also have long-term consequences. Fiebich has quickly developed from a bench to a potential player for the future.

Vandersloot, whom Brondello plans to use as the primary ball handler for the Liberty's second unit in the postseason, will become a free agent after the season and begin the 2025 season at age 36.

But today Brondello followed the analysis. She followed her instinct. And that led her to Fiebich.

“I think you win championships on defense,” Brondello said. “We need our best defensive lineup out there, and I think we have that.”