2020 New York Liberty season

2020 New York Liberty season
CoachWalt Hopkins
ArenaOriginally: Barclays Center
Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance0 per game
Results
Record2–20 (.091)
Place6th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Team Leaders
PointsKia Nurse – 12.2 ppg
ReboundsAmanda Zahui B. – 8.5 rpg
AssistsLayshia Clarendon – 3.9 apg
Media
TelevisionYES

The 2020 WNBA season was the 24th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The Liberty opened the regular season on July 25, 2020, versus the Seattle Storm.[1]

During the off-season the Liberty announced that they would return to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as their permanent home.[2] In the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the Liberty's primary home venue was the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York. Additionally, the Liberty announced that Walt Hopkins would replace Katie Smith as head coach.[3][4]

This WNBA season had planned to feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games.[5] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24.[7][8]

The Liberty's shortened season started slowly, when they lost their first five games. Their first win came on August 7, but was followed by another seven straight losses. An eight-game losing streak saw the team finish 2–20 for the season. Number one overall draft pick Sabrina Ionescu only played in three games for the Liberty. Their .091 winning percentage was the worst in team history.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2020 WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 1 Sabrina Ionescu  United States Oregon
1 9 Megan Walker  United States UConn
1 12 Jazmine Jones  United States Louisville
2 13 Kylee Shook  United States Louisville
2 15 Leaonna Odom  United States Duke
3 26 Erica Ogwumike  United States Rice

Trades/Roster Changes

Date Details
February 10, 2020 Signed G Layshia Clarendon[9]
February 24, 2020 Re-signed G Marine Johannès[10]
April 11, 2020 Engaged in a three team trade where the acquired the 13th pick in the 2020 draft and sent Sugar Rodgers to Las Vegas.[11]
April 15, 2020 Engaged in 3 team trade where they acquired G Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, the twelfth pick in the 2020 WNBA draft and the first, second, and third round picks in the 2021 WNBA draft from the Washington Mystics in exchange for Tina Charles. They also acquired Tayler Hill and the ninth and fifteenth pick in the 2020 draft in exchange for the Mystics' 2021 first-round pick and New York's 2021 second round pick.[12]
April 17, 2020 Traded the draft rights for G Erica Ogwumike to Minnesota in exchange for F Stephanie Talbot.[13]
Acquired the draft rights to G/F Jocelyn Willoughby from Phoenix in exchange for G Shatori Walker-Kimbrough.[14]
April 21, 2020 Waived G Brittany Boyd[15]
April 29, 2020 Waived G Tayler Hill[16]
Announced that F Stephanie Talbot would remain overseas for the 2020 season.[16]
June 25, 2020 G Rebecca Allen opts out of the 2020 season.[17]
June 26, 2020 Signed F Joyner Holmes.[18]
July 7, 2020 G Asia Durr opts out of the 2020 season.[19]

Current roster

New York Liberty roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G7United StatesClarendon, Layshia5' 9" (1.75m)158 lb (72kg)1991-05-02California7
G25United StatesDurr, Asia5' 10" (1.78m)151 lb (68kg)1997-04-05Louisville1
F10United StatesHolmes, Joyner6' 3" (1.91m)200 lb (91kg)1998-02-22TexasR
G20United StatesIonescu, Sabrina Injured5' 11" (1.8m)165 lb (75kg)1997-12-06OregonR
G4United StatesJones, Jazmine6' 0" (1.83m)160 lb (73kg)1996-10-15LouisvilleR
G22United StatesKea, Paris5' 9" (1.75m)142 lb (64kg)1996-04-07North Carolina1
G5CanadaNurse, Kia6' 0" (1.83m)168 lb (76kg)1996-02-22Connecticut2
F0United StatesOdom, Leaonna6' 2" (1.88m)168 lb (76kg)1998-03-26DukeR
F24United StatesShook, Kylee6' 4" (1.93m)200 lb (91kg)1998-03-18LouisvilleR
C41TurkeyStokes, Kiah6' 3" (1.91m)191 lb (87kg)1993-03-30Connecticut4
F3United StatesWalker, Megan6' 1" (1.85m)175 lb (79kg)1998-11-23ConnecticutR
G/F13United StatesWilloughby, Jocelyn6' 0" (1.83m)180 lb (82kg)1998-03-25VirginiaR
C17SwedenZahui B., Amanda6' 5" (1.96m)250 lb (113kg)1993-09-08Minnesota5
Head coach
United States Walt Hopkins
Assistant coaches
United States Shelley Patterson
United States Kelly Raimon
United States Dustin Gray
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured
  WNBA roster page
East
ATL
CHI
CON
IND
NY
WAS
West
DAL
LV
LA
MIN
PHO
SEA

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log
Total: 2–20
July
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 July 25 Seattle Storm L 71–87 Clarendon (20) Stokes (9) Ionescu (4) IMG Academy
0 		0–1
2 July 29 Dallas Wings L 80–93 Ionescu (33) Zahui B. (11) Ionescu (7) IMG Academy
0 		0–2
3 July 31 Atlanta Dream L 78–84 Jones (20) Stokes (7) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy
0 		0–3
August
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
4 August 2 Phoenix Mercury L 67–96 Nurse (17) Zahui B. (9) Tied (4) IMG Academy
0 		0–4
5 August 5 Minnesota Lynx L 66–92 Zahui B. (13) Stokes (8) Clarendon (6) IMG Academy
0 		0–5
6 August 7 Washington Mystics W 74–66 Nurse (17) Zahui B. (14) Clarendon (6) IMG Academy
0 		1–5
7 August 9 Las Vegas Aces L 76–78 Zahui B. (20) Stokes (12) Clarendon (8) IMG Academy
0 		1–6
8 August 11 Los Angeles Sparks L 78–93 Jones (24) Zahui B. (10) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy
0 		1–7
9 August 13 Indiana Fever L 79–86 Nurse (21) Stokes (8) Tied (3) IMG Academy
0 		1–8
10 August 15 Minnesota Lynx L 64–94 Jones (13) Zahui B. (8) Nurse (3) IMG Academy
0 		1–9
11 August 18 Seattle Storm L 64–105 Nurse (21) Tied (6) 3 tied (2) IMG Academy
0 		1–10
12 August 20 Chicago Sky L 85–101 Jones (18) Stokes (9) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy
0 		1–11
13 August 22 Connecticut Sun L 65–82 Nurse (17) Zahui B. (10) Tied (5) IMG Academy
0 		1–12
14 August 25 Chicago Sky W 101–99 Zahui B. (22) Zahui B. (12) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy
0 		2–12
15 August 29 Las Vegas Aces L 63–80 Key (14) Zahui B. (21) Clarendon (4) IMG Academy
0 		2–13
September
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
16 September 1 Connecticut Sun L 65–70 Nurse (18) Zahui B. (10) Tied (3) IMG Academy
0 		2–14
17 September 3 Atlanta Dream L 56–62 Tied (12) Zahui B. (11) Zahui B. (3) IMG Academy
0 		2–15
18 September 5 Phoenix Mercury L 67–83 Holmes (13) Holmes (13) Clarendon (3) IMG Academy
0 		2–16
19 September 8 Los Angeles Sparks L 70–96 Willoughby (21) Stokes (8) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy
0 		2–17
20 September 10 Indiana Fever L 75–85 Kea (21) Jones (10) Tied (4) IMG Academy
0 		2–18
21 September 12 Washington Mystics L 58–75 Tied (15) Tied (7) Jones (6) IMG Academy
0 		2–19
22 September 13 Dallas Wings L 79–82 Jones (21) Zahui B. (10) Nurse (7) IMG Academy
0 		2–20
2020 season schedule

Awards and honors

Recipient Award Date awarded Ref.
Jazmine Jones All-Rookie Team September 27, 2020 [20]

Standings

# Team W L PCT GB Conf.
1 x – Las Vegas Aces 18 4 .818 – 8–2
2 x – Seattle Storm 18 4 .818 – 8–2
3 x – Los Angeles Sparks 15 7 .682 3 5–5
4 x – Minnesota Lynx 14 8 .636 4 4–6
5 x – Phoenix Mercury 13 9 .591 5 4–6
6 x – Chicago Sky 12 10 .545 6 6–4
7 x – Connecticut Sun 10 12 .455 8 7–3
8 x – Washington Mystics 9 13 .409 9 6–4
9 e – Dallas Wings 8 14 .364 10 1–9
10 e – Atlanta Dream 7 15 .318 11 5–5
11 e – Indiana Fever 6 16 .273 12 4–6
12 e – New York Liberty 2 20 .091 16 2–8

Notes

x – Clinched playoff berth
e – Eliminated from playoffs
Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.
Updated to include results from September 13, 2020
Source


Statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Source:[21]

Regular season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Sabrina Ionescu 3 3 26.7 45.2% 35.0% 100% 4.7 4.0 0.7 0.0 18.3
Kia Nurse 21 18 27.5 27.3% 23.8% 86.4% 2.9 2.3 0.5 0.2 12.2
Layshia Clarendon 19 19 26.1 46.5% 34.1% 87.3% 2.5 3.9 0.9 0 11.5
Jazmine Jones 20 2 21.4 40.4% 33.3% 78.8% 4.1 2.3 1.4 0.5 10.8
Amanda Zahui B. 21 20 25.3 35.3% 34.0% 69.4% 8.5 1.9 0.9 1.2 9.0
Paris Kea 11 5 15.0 38.4% 39.4% 87.5% 2.0 1.5 0.6 0.3 6.9
Jocelyn Willoughby 22 5 17.4 35.8% 40.5% 83.3% 2.4 0.9 0.7 0.3 5.8
Kiah Stokes 22 22 27.3 37.2% 23.5% 57.1% 6.7 1.2 0.5 1.2 5.7
Leaonna Odom 22 16 20.6 49.0% 25.0% 87.0% 2.3 0.7 0.7 0.4 5.5
Kylee Shook 20 0 14.5 40.5% 17.6% 82.4% 2.8 0.6 0.4 0.5 4.1
Megan Walker 18 0 11.4 32.1% 14.0% 60.0% 1.5 0.3 0.2 0.0 3.3
Joyner Holmes 19 0 10.0 30.6% 10.7% 75.0% 2.7 0.7 0.1 0.1 2.9

References

  1. ^ "2020 New York Liberty Schedule". Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Nemchock, Eric (October 18, 2019). "New York Liberty set to make Barclays Center permanent home". Swish Appeal. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  3. ^ "New York Liberty Announce Head Coach Katie Smith's Contract Not Renewed". wnba.com. WNBA. October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  4. ^ Ayala, Erica (January 10, 2010). "What to make of the Liberty's hire of first-time head coach Walt Hopkins". The Athletic. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  5. ^ "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  6. ^ "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". April 3, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  7. ^ "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  8. ^ "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  9. ^ "Liberty Sign Guard Layshia Clarendon to Open Free Agency". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  10. ^ "New York Liberty Re-Signs Marine Johannés". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  11. ^ "Atlanta Dream Acquire Nia Coffey in Trade". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  12. ^ "Washington Mystics Acquire 7x All-Star Tina Charles in Three-Team Deal". wnba.com. WNBA. April 15, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  13. ^ "Get To Know Erica Ogwumike". lynx.wnba.com. WNBA. April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  14. ^ Metcalfe, Jeff (April 17, 2020). "Phoenix Mercury trade WNBA first-round draft pick for veteran Walker-Kimbrough". USA Today. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  15. ^ "New York Liberty Waive Guard Brittany Boyd". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. April 21, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Liberty Waive Tayler Hill, Talbot to Remain Overseas in 2020". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. April 28, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  17. ^ "Rebecca Allen Opts Out of 2020 Season". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  18. ^ "New York Liberty Sign Joyner Holmes". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  19. ^ "New York Liberty Guard Asia Durr To Miss 2020 WNBA Season". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  20. ^ "Rookie Of The Year Crystal Dangerfield Headlines 2020 WNBA All-Rookie Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  21. ^ "Team Stats". liberty.wnba.com. The WNBA. Retrieved October 1, 2020.