Playing one game in the past 11 days, the Liberty have had plenty of time to think about what’s gone wrong this season. But will the time off be time well spent?
After snapping their second three-game losing streak of the season last Thursday, the Liberty (3-6) return to action tonight at the Garden against Los Angeles (3-6). They will finish their three-game homestand against Atlanta (5-7) on Saturday and then have another week off until their next game.
“When you’re playing at home it’s always better,” said Shameka Christon, the Libs’ leading scorer (18.4 ppg). “Having our fans behind us and playing in the Garden, it’s the most magical place to play. I do think we are better at home than we are on the road.”
Lacking a plethora of reasons for optimism thus far this season, the Liberty are in good position to start the climb back toward .500 over the next two games. Two of their three wins this season have come at home and they are 3-1 against teams with losing records.
“When I see this team work as hard in practice as it does every day, you just have a lot of confidence and a lot of hope in it,” Christon said. “I have a lot of confidence in my teammates. It’s early, but we definitely are starting to get to where we want to be.”
Christon is certainly where she wants to be. She has scored over 20 points in three of her past four games, is averaging a career-high in points per game and has matched her career-high average in rebounds per game (4.5). Nevertheless, the inconsistent Liberty offense needs other reliable options, since Janel McCarville is the only other player averaging in double figures (10.3 ppg).
“Everyone’s pretty good with confidence. We’re just searching for solutions of getting it done on the court,” Christon said. “I’m not gonna discredit my team and say we’re not playing hard, but I think there’s a difference between playing hard and competing, and we gotta do both.”