Cappie Pondexter Liberty Diary: We're a 'Band of Sisters'

The beginning of every season is always full of some level of excitement and expectation for me. As I've been gearing up for this season's start, I've felt that it had a little bit more significance. Coming off of a very successful European season this summer, winning a championship with my Turkish team, has me hungry to bring that same feeling to New York. Our fans are so passionate and dedicated to us that putting on a first-class performance for them is very important to my teammates and me. On top of that, getting to play the first home game of the season at Madison Square Garden is going to be an awesome way to kick-off the season.

In my third year in New York, I feel like I have a responsibility to the city to do everything I can to ensure that we are successful. Anyone who spends any time with me or my teammates will get that same sentiment. You'll hear us say all the time that a Championship is our goal and we won't accept less than that. For us, that's not just words. It's in everything we do, from Coach John Whisenant on down.

Most of us spent the offseason playing on championship teams overseas. In a way, that's a great thing because we came back home with that intensity, but we also got less time together on the court during camp and preseason. Time every team needs to get comfortable with a system and each other. As one of the leaders on this team, I worked really hard to make sure that didn't become a handicap for us. Over the last few weeks, whenever we could be together we were. We've had many meals together and talked about our team goals on and off the court. We actually call ourselves, "the band of sisters" for that reason. We look at ourselves as a militia moving through the season as one unstoppable unit. That's exactly how we plan to approach every game from the start. We definitely have a very deep team full of talent and athleticism and I'm thrilled about what we can do together. We will be a very exciting team to watch.

Cappie Pondexter (@cappa23) has played guard for the Liberty since 2010. The Dolan family owns controlling interests in the Liberty, MSG and Cablevision. Cablevision owns amNewYork.