SANDY BRONDELLO

The New York Liberty are a work in progress. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File) (Adam Hunger)NEW YORK — (AP) — The New York Liberty are a work in progress. The Liberty have won two of three games since it was announced that Laney would be out. There's still a lot of basketball to play through.”The Liberty sit near the bottom of the AP WNBA power poll. Minnesota (3-8): The Lynx have had success against New York with two of their three wins coming against the Liberty.

The New York Liberty are a work in progress.

Brittney Griner has been able to receive emails and letters from WNBA players to an account Griner’s agent set up to allow them to communicate with her.

Russia Brittney Griner WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner leaves a courtroom after a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) (Alexander Zemlianichenko)New York coach Sandy Brondello was on her way to her team's Friday morning shootaround when she heard the "disappointing" news that Russia had extended Brittney Griner's pre-trial detention another 30 days. Griner’s original detention date was set to end on May 19. Griner's agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas started posting on Twitter two weeks ago a count of the days that Griner's been detained overseas. “Only thing I can do, I’m great friends with Brittney, is continue to pray for her and her family,” Johnson said.

Liberty coach Sandy Brondello was on her way to morning shootaround when she heard the news that Russia had extended Brittney Griner’s pre-trial detention another 30 days.

International Players Basketball FILE - China's Han Xu (15) shoots over Serbia's Tina Krajisnik during a women's basketball quarterfinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Aug. 4, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. Han feels more ready to play in the WNBA and is one of 21 international players on opening day rosters from countries all over the globe, including Australia, Belgium, Canada and Japan. “During the past few years, she gained a lot of confidence and now is trying not to be in her head when she plays basketball,” Han said via interpreter. First-year Liberty coach Sandy Brondello has seen Han play many times overseas with China and is happy to have her back in New York. She returned to the U.S. earlier than usual this offseason after all the WNBA players left Russia because of the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Han Xu feels much more comfortable in her second WNBA stint with the New York Liberty.

Han Xu feels much more comfortable in her second WNBA stint with the New York Liberty. The 6-foot-10 center from China missed the last two WNBA seasons. Now the 22-year-old Han is back in New York after growing an inch.

Brittney Griner FILE - Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner sits during the first half of Game 2 of basketball's WNBA Finals against the Chicago Sky, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, in Phoenix. Griner is easily the most prominent American citizen known to be jailed by a foreign government. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File) (Rick Scuteri)The WNBA will honor Phoenix star Brittney Griner with a floor decal and allow the Mercury to pay her without it counting against the team's salary cap, the league announced Tuesday. I'm glad that they are trying to do something," said New York Liberty coach Sandy Brondello, who previously coached Griner in Phoenix. All 12 WNBA teams will have the decal on their home courts starting with the season opener Friday night.

The WNBA will honor Phoenix center Brittney Griner with a floor decal.

(AP Photo/Chase Stevens) (Chase Stevens)Diana Taurasi has the Phoenix Mercury back in the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2014. It's the first time since the WNBA changed its playoff format in 2016 that neither of the top two teams made it to the finals. GETTING A HEAD STARTChicago decided to fly to Las Vegas on Friday before the finals matchup was set. BIGTIME FANFormer President Barack Obama tweeted his congratulations to the Chicago Sky for making the finals. Congratulations to the (at) ChicagoSky for making it to the WNBA finals, and to the legend, (at) Candace_Parker for making all of us proud.

Diana Taurasi scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter, and Brittney Griner had 28 points and nine rebounds as the Phoenix Mercury beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-84 to advance to the WNBA Finals.

The WNBA playoff chase may come down to the final day of the regular season on Sept. 19.

The WNBA season is only a few weeks old and there already have been five games that have decided in overtime.

(Olaf Lange via AP)Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello called her husband Olaf Lange and good-naturedly ribbed him that he was late for a zoom interview. The first-year Chicago Sky assistant replied that he was logging in as they were speaking. While they have been living apart the first two weeks in the bubble, they have gotten together for a few family meals. The two met years ago in Germany when Brondello was playing and Lange was a young assistant coach on that team. Theyve coached together in San Antonio and in Russia and Lange is an assistant for Brondello with theustralian national team.