Liberty Building Roster That Can Grow Together

The phone conference introducing Epiphanny Prince as the newest member of the New York Liberty highlighted the return of another native New Yorker to the fold. Epiphanny is excited to return to the site of her early successes.

“It’s a dream come true, playing at home, its unbelievable,” said Prince.

The recent trade to acquire Epiphanny for Cappie Pondexter is the latest move to not only get better but younger. It was a repetitive theme throughout the press conference.

Tina Charles is in her prime and the re-signing of Alex Montgomery, another player in her 20’s along with the addition of Prince, four years younger than Cappie. Its become apparent that there is a youth movement going on here.

“We are building for years to come, players of similiar age, mid 20’s, who will blossom and grow together, that’s our plan,” head coach Bill Laimbeer explained.

The Liberty are removing themselves from the pressure to win now to building for the long haul. The timetable to the desired goal will depend on how quickly the players can jell and the chemistry as they move along. Epiphanny will be expected to provide leadership along with the veterans still on this squad.

“We compete every night, we can do something special,” Epiphanny explained. “Nothing happens overnight.”

Bill Laimbeer, who cited lack of practice time as a problem in their poor start last year sees it differently this year as returning players familiar with his system and WNBA schedule adjustments seem to have resolved that issue.

“The WNBA calendar was extended three weeks so that opens more practice time,” Laimbeer said. “I don’t anticipate problems there. The players know the system now, we are well down the road.”

Finally, the Liberty have transformed themselves from a plodding team of bigs with guards unable to keep up with faster teams, to one who will now depend on speed of foot to win.

“We are very wing dominated, not as much size, but that’s ok,” Laimbeer assessed. “We will have to play small ball with the lineup we have.”

The Liberty youth movement are the buzzwards for the 2015 season. They sound confident that they can create a culture that will both entertain and in the end, finally garner the WNBA Championship. Its all up to them.

“We are doing it the right way, building a core,” Laimbeer said. “We are building for the future, to be exciting for years to come.”