Liberty 83, Sun 76: Ray Floriani's Photo Essay

New York City - Optimist or pessimist?

The optimist sees the positive, the glass is half-full. The latter reads doom and gloom into every situation. Yes, pessimists would say, that proverbial glass is half-empty.

This came to mind as the Liberty struggled against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday. The Liberty were able to hold off a Connecticut team entering Madison Square Garden with a 6-15 record. The 83-76 final score necessitated a strong final quarter on the part of the hosts, now 17-7 and on top of the WNBA Eastern Division.

On paper, this should have been a yawner, with the Liberty running away from their Nutmeg State competition. The half-empty crowd would point to just getting by a team well south of .500 as proof you really are not a contender. In reality, this was a Connecticut team playing much better of late, better than their record and owners of a recent win over Minnesota.

The half-full attitude would look at this as the Liberty doing what needed to be done on an afternoon when not everything was clicking, especially on a turnover prone offense. Getting it done in the face of adversity is a trait of a championship-caliber team. This, the optimistic view would say, is yet added evidence this Liberty team will be very dangerous come the WNBA’s second season, the playoffs.   

No matter which perspective you subscribe to, both parties would certainly find a point to agree on: This is a team taking on the tough, aggressive attitude of their coach, Bill Laimbeer, ateam that will not concede without a battle.

Entering the Garden on the sixth floor, with chicken and fries on the board 45 minutes before the tip:

In one of the Garden lounges, a personal favorite: Chuck Berry and Mick Jagger meeting in 1969:

Brittany Boyd running the Liberty offense:

Connecticut breaking the huddle after a timeout:

Tina Charles shows her form at the foul line:

Officials Don Hudson, Jeff Wooden, and Sue Blauch huddle during a late timeout:

With the victory in the books, Bill Laimbeer meets the media:

Exiting MSG's sixth floor at the end of the day: