NEW YORK – –The sting of loss gave way to calculated optimism for New York Liberty head coach Bill Laimbeer following his team’s loss to the Indiana Fever in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. After taking a step back to look at the broader scope of the season, the fact the Liberty accomplished what they did was a positive in itself.

The 2015 season began with uncertainty surrounding the Liberty. Many questioned the direction of the team, while others simply wondered if they would be able to compete this season. But quietly and confidently, Laimbeer’s team – headlined by its defense – went out and shut down all of those questions.

“Are we disappointed? Yes,” Laimbeer said. “But at the same time, when we started the season it was an adventure. It was embarking on an adventure to compete for a championship. And we did compete for a championship, we just didn’t compete in the Finals.”

Tuesday’s loss was a two-fold problem, if you ask Laimbeer. Fever head coach Stephanie White had her team locked in defensively, as they worked to slow Tina Charles and Epiphanny Prince, and they did a tremendous job of clamping down. Charles consistently faced double teams in the post and was not given much space when she received the ball at the elbow.

But Laimbeer was quick to note that the Liberty simply didn’t shoot the ball well. The large crop of turnovers didn’t help either.

“Indiana played solid defense, but still, they only scored 66 points,” Laimbeer said. “We should win the basketball game, and we didn’t get it done. Did their defense help? A little bit. Our unforced turnovers, 22 turnovers many of them unforced and easy missed shots are what did us in.”

“But we got beat,” Laimbeer added. “You can’t take that away from Indiana. They beat us. We didn’t play well, but we still lost the basketball game.”

In the end, the Liberty enter the offseason with an understanding that this year’s team laid the groundwork for what the franchise is ultimately working to accomplish. James Dolan – Garden CEO and owner of the Liberty – talked to the team in the locker room after the game and gave the players and the coaching staff his vote of confidence.

Like so many others, he enjoyed watching New York play winning basketball inside Madison Square Garden all season. The team generated buzz in the city and around the league. Laimbeer’s style of play, which featured ferocious defense coupled with a roster full of plug-and-play options, made for high octane basketball.

Now, New York moves on to an offseason where Laimbeer said he hopes to bring in even more options. The team will take the loss and move forward from it, and they’ll do what any good team does: grow and get better.

“That’s one of our tasks to embark upon – trying to secure more talent,” Laimbeer said. “And our players are going to grow up. They had a good growing experience. This is the first year they’ve played together, we had a lot of inexperience.”

In the end, though, Tuesday night’s reality will hurt. Laimbeer told his team after a loss in the Conference Semifinals that they simply needed to win the rest of their home games and they would be WNBA champions. But they came up ja few wins short. Still, Laimbeer understands the balance between the searing pain of loss and looking ahead to what appears to be a bright future.

“Yeah, it hurts today, hurts tomorrow, it’s going to hurt next week,” remarked Laimbeer. “But still, it’s about the body of the work and where we want to be. And I’ll take this season as is all day when I started.”