New York Liberty head coach and general manager Bill Laimbeer is nothing if not outspoken and in an interview with Ryan Dunleavy at the Scarlett Scuttlebutt blog during this weekend's Maggie Dixon Classic he was clear that he won't necessarily be maintaining the status quo in NYC.
That might include the future of Essence Carson and Kia Vaughn on the team.
Q: Talk about Essence Carson, Kia Vaughn and Cappie Pondexter, the three former Scarlet Knights on the Liberty?
A: "They’re known for the hard-nosed defensive stances. Cappie obviously is First-Team All-WNBA and can get her own shot. The other two are still learning how to play and find their way in the WNBA. They’re both restricted free agents. Time will tell whether it works out for both (parties) for all three to be on the team. I don’t have that answer right now. I have to go through the process next month. But they’re good at defense and you can’t win without playing defense."
To their credit, both Carson and Vaughn have been among the most improved players in the WNBA over the past two seasons and development on the offensive end - both have improved their shooting efficiency in the past two seasons, despite dips last year - has been the primary area of improvement.
Scoring is clearly something the Liberty could use more of to complement and take some pressure off of Cappie Pondexter and it will be interesting to see how they go about that with Laimbeer at the helm.
For more on Laimbeer's hire, visit our storystream.