• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

June 4th 2017

Madison Square Garden

NY Liberty 88 Phoenix Mercury 72

TEAM

 

I looked in the dictionary (on my MacBook because who the heck uses an actual hard-copy these days?) for a definition of the word team. I wanted to find exactly what the word meant and this is what I found. Team: a group of two or more people forming together to achieve a common goal or outcome. Basketball is a team sport and just forming a team doesn’t equate to achieving goals, in the sports world those achievements would be wins. Unsatisfied I searched for another term, teamwork.

 

A team would have to work well together to achieve this goal or outcome. The definition of teamwork is the combined action of a group of people. But how would they achieve teamwork? Is there a magic formula? I thought about team building and what the actual definition was. The action or process of causing a group of people to work together effectively as a team was the answer I was looking for. But wait, one more thing seemed to be missing.

 

To get a group of people to get on a team, build as a team and work well together still lacks one thing. I came up with the word trust; they would have to trust each other to achieve their common goal.

 

Ok now that we have sat through a vocabulary lesson for a few moments lets get to why I was thinking about this after the NY Liberty picked up their second consecutive win on their current 5 game home stand.

 

After the game all the players spoke about being a part of the team and how they have been moving in the right direction since some early season up and downs. One player in particular had been struggling early on, however in the last two games Kiah Stokes has regained her confidence on the floor and it’s a tribute to the great teammates that she has.

 

“ I think Kiah Stokes could be one of the greatest WNBA players ever, the fact that she wants it makes it easier” -Tina Charles

Tina Charles spoke about how she has helped Kiah to get to where she wants to be. As the leader of the team Charles had some very encouraging words for Kiah and her teammates. As a team Tina thought they won the hustle plays. She also spoke about Shavonte Zellous and her aggressiveness on the floor.

In regards to Shavonte, I see her as the emotional leader on the team. She is always animated and her energy can be contagious. She finished with 21-points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Her scoring was important but her teammates relished her defensive attributes as she also assisted with the team defense against Diana Taurasi.

 

 

“It’s a team effort but Z also did a really good job on her.” Bria Hartley on defending Diana Taurasi

Bria Hartley got her second consecutive start for the Liberty and echoed some of the sentiments of the team idea. She spoke about the team defense against Taurasi and Zellous’ in particular. Bria had 7-points yesterday and is becoming more and more comfortable in her role on the team. She rated her play as “decent” but her teammates and coaches have noted her progress.

 

“I think everyone on this team instill confidence in each other.” Lindsay Allen.

At the end of the game against the Dallas Wings, coach Laimbeer stated how difficult it was to cut Lindsay Allen after training camp. This has been her second game with the team and has had moments where she played in important stretches of the game. She has handled the pressure well and has been running the team and setting up her teammates when she is on the floor. She stated that she still has a way to go with her overall progress but she knows she has to work hard.

 

 

“I give credit to Tina.” Kiah Stokes

When you are on a team you should feel comfortable and confident in your ability to perform in your role knowing that your teammates also feel that you can be confident in your role. This is what I came away with after watching the Liberty yesterday. Kiah finished with a big double double. With 23-points and 14 rebounds she led the team in both categories however she did not hesitate to give her teammates credit for believing in her.

 

That’s a team!

Thanks for reading.

Sherman Gomez is a Staff Writer for PureSportsNY.

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By Sherman Gomez

"Basketball is my favorite sport, I like the way they dribble up and down the court." "I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller." "Last week messed around and got a triple double." I write about basketball sometimes and then I try to go play....

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