When Sandy Brondello was hired by the Phoenix Mercury ahead of the 2014 season, most of their key pieces, the ones that every successful team needs, were already intact for the head coach.

There was a core. They had proven stars, from Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner to Candice Dupree and Penny Taylor. All Brondello needed to do in her inaugural season was implement her system. And the Mercury reaped the benefits of that continuity, winning the title in ’14 and advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs in each of Brondello’s first five seasons.

“That was easier,” Brondello said on Monday, before the Liberty defeated the Aces, 95-84, to trim the gap between the second- and first-place teams in the WNBA, respectively, to 1.5 games. “It’s just me coming in with a new system. They knew how to play with each other.”

This year, it has been a different challenge for Brondello. Having taken over as the Liberty’s head coach in 2022, Brondello’s system was already in place before thoughts of a superteam residing in Barclays Center became legitimate.