Valkyries training camp notebook: How the first ever week of camp looked for the WNBA’s newest franchise

A killer mentality

The Valkyries’ roster will be made almost entirely of players who haven’t played together before in the WNBA. Of the 18 players attending training camp, 11 were added through the expansion draft, two came through the rookie draft and Golden State picked up five free agents. With a lack of preexisting chemistry, the team has been trying to build an identity along with getting to know one another through this first week of camp. Kate Martin, one of the players the team added through the expansion draft, feels without previous chemistry and experience as group to lean on, the team will have to be “killers” on the floor.

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“I mean, we know what we want our identity to be, and it’s killers,” Martin told reporters. “We want to be gritty; we want to be relentless. We want to be the ones diving on the floor for loose balls. We want to be getting stops on defense. We want to be playing together. We want to be working our tails off and that’s our identity for sure.”

What this mentality will look like in terms of the x’s and o’s remains to be seen, but the team has embraced the idea of being an underdog, and an unknown. Each player has brought their own mindset to what is essentially a blank slate, but as a collective, they want to be killers. They want to make sure they are outworking their opponents, diving on the floor for loose balls and doing all the little things that may not show up on a stat sheet.

They feel that even though they may not be the biggest, strongest or most talented team, they can even the playing field by having this mindset. They want to use this identity in year one to help build the foundation for the Valkyries going forward.

“Our identity is just killer, killer mindset,” Forward Monique Billings told The Next. “I think collectively, that’s the standard that [head coach Natalie Nakase] has set, and I think that’s what we’re picking up and trying to follow.”

Finding leadership

As a team with all new players and no history, the Golden State Valkyries are trying to learn each other while also finding leadership. However, they aren’t trying to force it. They are letting those who feel comfortable leading step up into those roles and giving everyone an opportunity to lead.

Who has been leading so far isn’t a huge surprise, it’s a lot of the most veteran players on the roster. Tiffany Hayes, Kayla Thornton, Temi Fagbenle and Billings have been the vocal and on court leaders so far for Golden State. Those four have a combined 32 years of experience in the WNBA and have been trying to help the others along as the franchise heads into its rookie campaign.

“When you’re [an] older player, you set the tone,” Billings said. “You know, in past years, I’m looking at, okay, who’s setting the tone? Who’s my vet? My rookie year, Angel McCoughtry, she’s the one I gotta follow. Now, the young girls are looking at me, and I have to be that example every day … we’ve been in the league for a while now, so we’ve played with leaders, and now we’re the ones that need to bring that to this team and start that culture.”

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While long-time WNBA veterans stepping up in leadership spots for Golden State isn’t surprising, one that may be is Veronica Burton. Burton is in just her fourth year in the league and has never played more than 15 minutes a game. However, she has played with some great guards in both Dallas and Connecticut and learned a lot from those experiences.

As a point guard, she is required to know everything that is supposed to happen on the floor. She needs to know not only what the play is, but where everyone is supposed to be and how the play is supposed to run. This experience as a point guard has helped her so far through the first week of training camp. She says she had a goal of being more vocal coming into camp, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaches.

“Leadership I don’t think has an age,” head coach Natalie Nakase said. “It’s more like what [Burton] knows and what she’s comfortable in saying. As a point guard, as a former point guard myself, point guards usually have to know every single position, all the plays and everything. That’s just second nature for her. Being a leader for Veronica is nothing new. It’s more to the passion and the energy that she puts behind it that I think is the true value to her.”

International flare

It has been well documented that the Valkyries initial roster is full of international talent. Of the 18 players who were invited to camp, 10 were born outside the United States. The international talent has brought a different feel to training camp. For some of those international players, camp has almost felt like playing on a European or Australian team, where the number of players from Europe outnumbers the number of players from the US.

“I think it’s an advantage for me personally, because I know these players from playing either against or with them for so many years,” guard Julie Vanloo told reporters. “It’s definitely different than last year in D.C. It’s very international but, to me, it’s definitely an advantage.”

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With all the players from overseas, the Golden State Valkyries may play more like a European team than other teams in the WNBA. Nakase has emphasized defense, but said the number of international players may lead to them playing with a different style on offense. She wants the Valkyries to space the floor and play with pace, but understands things might take on a different feel with all the international influences.

“I think I’m telling my coaching staff, but the same thing with players, like be open minded,” Nakase said to reporters. “We’re coming from all over the world. So, what we’re putting in is actually going to bring out the best in everyone. We’re going to have a lot of space, we want to play with pace, and at the end of the day, playing the right way. I think no matter if you’re from international or if you’re from here, like, that’s kind of universal basketball, right? Yeah, just play the right way, you know, and have fun. You gotta have fun. I think when people are smiling, you know, and playing with joy, I think that brings out the best in your game.”

Nakase also understands with all the international players, they may lose a some of them for a few weeks during the season due to EuroBasket. EuroBasket is a competition where the top teams in Europe compete against one another for 11 days. The Valkyries have six players in training camp who could leave in June to participate in the event.

Despite this possibility of losing up to six players for a couple of weeks in June, Nakase is excited for her players who play in this event. She wants them to participate and knows it will be good for both them and Golden State. Nakase also says the team will approach the situation with each player when it arises.

Learning and growing through the process

As camp has progressed, the Valkyries have been growing on both sides of the game. Nakase has been making sure the team doesn’t skip any steps and focuses on the most important things every day. On Friday, May 2, the Valkyries did an intra-squad scrimmage. Nakase left the scrimmage feeling pleased but after watching the film, she wasn’t as happy as she initially thought. The main culprit: turnovers.

“[Saturday] was a big leap for us just because of the accountability piece that, we watched film last night of our scrimmage,” Nakase said. “I was not in a good mood, I thought I was, until I watched it. So we cleaned it up. All the coaches really did individual film on top of all teaching on the court. So it cleaned up a ton, and today it was like smooth sailing. We had a lot of turnovers. If we’re turning the ball over, that means the other team is getting more possessions and we definitely don’t want that. So just taking care of the ball and really understanding the value of it.”

Despite the turnovers in the scrimmage, Nakase has seen a lot of growth in her team through the first six days of camp. She knew the process was going to be slow and long, but she has seen significant improvement from her team in just the first week alone. 

Throughout the first week, Nakase hasn’t been asking the players to do anything crazy. She wants them to be themselves and do what comes naturally. She is trying to put together a roster of the 12 players who best fit together. While she hasn’t yet figured out what the finished puzzle will look like, that is what training camp, and the team’s two upcoming preseason games, are for. The Golden State Valkyries have their first preseason game on Tuesday, May 6, against the Sparks and Nakase along with the team are excited to get on the court and play against someone besides themselves.

“It’s so, so important,” forward Temi Fagbenle told reporters. “I’m so happy that we get that chance, because we’ve just been fighting against each other the whole time. We just want that opportunity to fight someone else. It’s different when you’re playing a completely different team, the vibe is different, and we give it our all even more. It’s kind of strange how that switch changes, but it’s going to be exciting to see how we match up against the rest of the league.”