“We know what it takes to win, we know what it takes to lose.” Sabrina Ionescu’s words are ringing hollow after the Liberty’s shocking decision to get rid of head coach Sandy Brondello. Honestly? We still can’t process this front-office gamble by New York. The thing is, Brondello built up this team from scratch and took them to the Finals two years in a row! And even now, after this ‘disaster’ of a season, her team was still the sixth seed. So, is this firing justified?

Actually, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Instead of giving an opinion, we’ll just present you with the numbers: Sandy Brondello served as head coach of the New York Liberty for 160 regular-season games, of which she won 107. Impressive, right? You can’t fault a winning percentage of 0.668, after all. But that’s not the extent of her accomplishments for New York. In four seasons with the team, Brondello didn’t miss the playoffs even once. And as soon as she got the smallest bit of momentum on her side? The Liberty walked into two consecutive WNBA finals.

But was her stint with New York just a fluke? What does the rest of her coaching career look like? Well, her career record of 0.600 as a head coach should hold some value to her claim of the greatest of all time. Before committing to the Liberty, Brondello was a head coach in Phoenix for 8 seasons straight, and once for the San Antonio Silver Stars, and you’d be shocked to hear this–she has always brought her team to the postseason.

Her overall career stats are as follows:

• Total games coached: 452
• Games won: 271
• Games lost: 181
• Total playoff games coached: 72
• Games won: 40
• Games lost: 32

Not to mention, Sandy Brondello has two championships and three Finals appearances under her belt, and plenty of deep playoff runs too! So, when the coach is this experienced, you have to wonder–what exactly went wrong this season? The ex-Liberty HC had all the talent in the world to work with, sure, but there’s something no coach can account for… Injuries.

How did injuries ruin Sandy Brondello’s campaign with the New York Liberty?

“I’m confident in this team when we’re full.” Did you get the second meaning behind Brondello’s words when she said this? Let me spell it out for you–the defending champions didn’t regress; they were dealt a bad hand. It’s always tough to play without the team’s core, and injuries spared just about no one on the New York roster…

Breanna Stewart struggled with her knee, Ionescu banged up her toe, and Jonquel Jones’ ankle just wouldn’t let her go to work! That’s three out of five players in Brondello’s starting lineup already. It’s worth noting that these three stars only played in 12 games together, and you can probably guess the record: 12-0. That means injuries were directly responsible for the Liberty’s 17 losses this season, right? Well, that’s not exactly how it works, but they definitely didn’t help!

Sandy Brondello was rather open about her team’s struggle with injuries this season. “I’ve been in this league for quite some time as a player and a coach, and I don’t think I’ve ever been in this situation with so many players in and out. Especially your key players.” She said, ahead of the postseason. After all, she can’t will a starting 5 into existence. The team went a month without Stewart and Jones, and even Ionescu missed a solid 10 or so days during a crucial stretch this season.

Injuries stopped the Liberty from reaching its full potential, sure. But would they’ve had a perfect season if everyone was healthy? The simple answer is no, that’s not how it works. In the postseason, New York lost a battle of attrition with the Phoenix Mercury. Which is, quite ironically, the only other team Sandy Brondello coached to a championship.

Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally dominated New York’s equally star-studded frontcourt. There seemed to be a distinct lack of preparation, and perhaps the team was overconfident this season. After all, that tends to happen the year after a championship. No injury could’ve broken down the Liberty’s team chemistry and momentum as much as winning a ring could. That’s a fact.

Hirings and firings of coaches often don’t make sense to us because we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. Yes, Brondello is a legendary coach, and we should’ve been given a reason behind her departure. However, whatever the New York Liberty has planned must be huge if they were willing to let Sandy Brondello walk. Stay tuned for the latest updates as we cover the off-season exploits of the former WNBA champs.