In just two games, the Golden State Valkyries are already showing who they could become

“I think day by day, we’re learning each other,” Kayla Thornton told reporters. “We’re getting 1% better each and every day, and it’s just a process. We gotta embrace the process. This stuff is not gonna come overnight, so we just have to continue to watch film and execute what we didn’t do and get better. I told some of the point guards, sometimes I don’t know if they’re going all the way in [to the basket], so do we cut. That’s just the communication talking to each other about it”

Save 30% when you order “Becoming Caitlin Clark”

Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.

Click the link below to order and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout.

Secure your copy!

So far, the Valkyries have shown both the strengths and weaknesses of being an expansion franchise on both sides of the ball. Throughout training camp, head coach Natalie Nakase emphasized wanting the team to play with pace and space. She wants them to shoot a lot of threes and be aggressive getting to the rim.

In their first two games, Golden State ran a lot of actions to give players driving or cutting lanes to the basket. They ran a lot of high on-ball screens on the wing and at the top of the key to give their slashers a chance to get to the basket or create for others. Guards also set screens for other guards before handing off to a post player, simulating a ball screen.

You saw some of this action in their May 16 game against the Sparks; Kate Martin ran pick and roll to perfection with Temi Fagbenle and was able to find her for a wide open layup. Golden State also had Fagbenle screen for a Valkyries guard and hit a three after her defender helped on the driving guard.

““Having an understanding of the game, of our momentum, of their momentum, what do we need? Who needs to get a shot here?” Veronica Burton told reporters. “I think that comes with time and experience and chemistry as we continue to build on that. The more time we’re on the court together, the more I grow in understanding of that, and same with the other point guards. It’s also just being more vocal, putting the ball on your hip, and knowing when to slow things down, when to attack. At times our offense looked phenomenal, we were flowing, we were moving the ball, and I think we were very unselfish team, and that’s a great thing, and then just shooting our shots with confidence, so we’ll build on that.”

Late in third quarter against the Sparks, Julie Vanloo hit back-to-back threes, forcing an L.A. timeout. Out of the timeout, the Valkyries ran a play to get Vanloo a look and she buried her third triple in a row. Nakase has talked about how the Valkyries have been very intentional about finding teammates after they’ve hit a shot. They seem to subconsciously seek out the hot hand.

Tune in to Locked On Women’s Basketball

Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.

Listen now!

It happened again in Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Mystics. Nakase ran the first play of the game for French rookie Janelle Salaun and she scored a layup. The Valkyries then ran another play for Salaun a minute later and she scored their second bucket of the game. Salaun arrived in the Bay Area just a day before the season opener, but by Wednesday, she was in the starting lineup. It was easy to see why the Valkyries were so high on her and the impact she can make on the team.

“She just seemed like she was meant for these moments,” Nakase said of the 22-year-old French forward. “She just stepped right in. We drew her the first play, and she was able to just knock it down … her ability to [play make] does help take a little bit pressure off of Tiffany who is handling a lot in pick and roll. So just having another person who can handle in pick and roll just gives them a little bit more freedom.”

The Valkyries were able to find success offensively by following their own momentum, but they also did smaller, under the radar things that could improve their offense as the season continues. For example, in both games, the team had at least nine offensive rebounds. Golden State isn’t the biggest team, but so far they are clearly motivated to collect second chance opportunities. Nakase wants her team to create as many extra possessions as possible and offensive rebounds is one way to do that.

Through two games, the Valkyries’ leading offensive rebounder is not one of their forwards, but rather point guard Veronica Burton. She had four offensive rebounds on Wednesday night, part of her career night where she scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The Valkyries brought Burton in through the expansion draft as a defensive stopper, but if she can consistently have offensive games as she did against the Mystics, she could be a bright spot on this Valkyries offense as well.

“She always had an offensive game,” Thornton said of the 24-year-old guard. “Just the opportunity now that she has the freedom to do what she needs to do and I just tell her that, you know, she’s in a different position now. She’s not where she used to be and you know, she’s our point guard, so she has to lead in that way. I just tell her you have the ultimate confidence, do what you have to do. I just keep telling her and tonight was a proving night of what she’s capable of doing.”

Golden State also attacked in transition and got to the free throw line in both games. They have shot 41 free throws so far, and rank second in free throw percentage in the WNBA. 

On Wednesday night, when the Valkyries outside shots weren’t falling, they were more aggressive getting downhill to the basket. They made their comeback against Washington by attacking in transition and getting to the foul line. Nakase wants this team to shoot a lot of threes, but knows getting to the line will help open their offense up and make their three-point looks easier and cleaner.

The Valkyries haven’t been immune to struggle, though. In their first game, they had 22 turnovers, the most by a single team in a game so far this season. You could see they were excited to play in front of their packed house on opening night, but perhaps had a little too much energy.

“When we get stagnant a little bit, you gotta force the passes,” Vanloo said. “We gotta learn how to play with each other, still. It’s been, what, two weeks, I don’t even know, two weeks, not even two and a half. Let’s be honest, it’s not easy. You can see L.A., there’s a lot of people that already play with each other. We’re new. Everything is new, so you got to work through it … I think that it’s going to be a process for us, a lot of ups and downs, as long as we keep staying together and we keep learning from our mistakes, I don’t see any problems for this team”.

They started Friday night’s game by giving the ball to the Sparks seven times in the first quarter alone. As the game progressed, their offense got stagnant and they began forcing passes to get the ball moving or over-dribbling and getting caught in difficult spots on the court.

Early in the fourth quarter on Friday night, Golden State cut the Sparks’ lead to four, but after turning the ball over in four of their next six possessions, the Sparks pushed their lead back out to eight. The Valkyries never got closer the rest of the night. But Nakase understands they have only played 80 minutes of basketball together as a team so far and is okay with the mistakes. In fact, as they continue to learn one another as this inaugural season begins, she wants them to make mistakes.

“Allow them to make as many mistakes as they want and then support it,” Nakase told reporters. “Because I know I’m putting them in a different position. Tell them make as many mistakes as you want, fail as much as you want, and I’ll support you going through the process … We are at three weeks, almost two days over three weeks right now that we’ve been together, that we’ve been under one roof. We’ve had a couple meals together, we’ve had a lot of conversations, but it is still really early, so I am giving them time to make mistakes.”

During Wednesday night’s game, the Valkyries were able to clean up their turnovers but struggled to make shots. As a team, they started the game 0-for-17 from beyond the arc, an ice cold start that tied a WNBA record for most misses to start a game from three.

The team’s first make from three came with just over two minutes to go in the second quarter. Down the stretch, they made their final three triples to secure the franchise’s first win by a narrow 76-74 margin. Yet through two games, the Valkyries are shooting just 22% from deep, which is third worst in the WNBA despite taking the second most threes in the league.

Your business can reach over 3 million women’s sports fans every single month!

Here at The Next and The IX, our audience is a collection of the smartest, most passionate women’s sports fans in the world. If your business has a mission to serve these fans, reach out to our team at editors@thenexthoops.com to discuss ways to work together.

Shot quality from three for Golden State has been good, but the team often forces some of those shots. They haven’t taken a lot of contested threes, but the looks have been semi-contested more than they have been wide open. Timing when they take their threes is also something Nakase wants to work on.

“Well, we talked about the timing of [three point shots] too,” Nakase said after the win against Washington. “In the second half, we’re just like, ‘Hey, y’all actually can get to the paint too and get to the free throw line.’ That was just one thing we emphasized, we’re still gonna get the three, but let’s try to get to the paint first. And that’s what Veronica did. Veronica went straight down the gut a lot of times where she was able to get past her defender. They followed the game plan, the adjustments were made at half, and credit to them for executing.”

The Valkyries have had good moments on the defensive side too. In both games, they had success using an extended 2-3 zone, which is becoming more and more popular throughout professional basketball.

The Valkyries used the zone for the first time in the second quarter against the Sparks on Friday. They continued to use it multiple times in the second and third quarter against the Sparks, but went away from it in the fourth. They started in it on Wednesday night and it stymied the Mystics, as Golden State held them to 14 points in the first quarter. However, Nakase admitted she had them play it too long during Wednesday’s game, allowing the Mystics to grab nine-and seven-point leads respectively in the second and third quarter.

One of the reasons the zone has worked well for Golden State is that they have many European players on their roster and zone is used more in European professional basketball than in the United States. Despite that, the Valkyries barely practiced it leading up to their season opener. The limited practice seemed not to matter, as they played it fairly successfully in both games. Burton chocks up their defensive success to their communication, which they’ve built up well in a short period of time.

“It’s impressive honestly, we definitely had not put a ton of practice time into [the zone],” Burton said. “I think that’s a testament, one to our coaching staff, being willing to trust us to, put it in mid game, and then a testament to our IQ. I think we have a really intelligent team, and so we have a good understanding of where to be on the court, on both sides of the basketball. That’s big defensively, and the communication was big and even though we had a really loud arena, we were able to hear each other and communicate pretty well. So I was impressed with us and being able to do that, and it’s good to have that as an option.”

The Valkyries also forced their fair share of turnovers. Through two games, Golden State has forced 30 turnovers, which is second best in the league on a per game basis. It played a major role in Wednesday night’s win, when they forced 18 Mystics turnovers. A lot of deflections came from their zone and hustle for loose balls by every player that stepped on the floor. When the offense gets stagnant, playing out of their defense will be vital for Golden State. So far, they have scored 32 total points off their 30 opponent turnovers. Nakase emphasized that getting as many extra possessions as possible and forcing turnovers is big for a team that wants to pride itself on defense.

Despite finding success on defense at times through the first two games, the Valkyries struggled to slow down their opponents’ best players, especially guards. In their season opener, Los Angeles’ Kelsey Plum scored 37 points against the Valkyries, and got to the free throw line 11 times. She added six assists and five steals. On Wednesday night, Washington’s Brittney Sykes scored 30 points against Golden State. She got to the free throw line 14 times and added five rebounds to her night.

Plum and Sykes’ performances are two of the four highest scoring games by a single player so far this season. The WNBA is a league full of star players, but to find success, you need to make other teams beat you. On Wednesday, the Valkyries were able to slow down the others around Sykes, but it’s hard to win consistently when you give up 30 points to an opposing player.

“Defensively, we let the hot girls get hot,” Tiffany Hayes said after Friday’s loss. “At the end of day, we just gotta learn from our mistakes on defense, learn to, you know, make the ball go to someone cold, not let the hot person keep getting those shots off. We had way too many turnovers, especially in that fourth quarter. So, we have to learn from those.”

Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?

Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.

Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.

Being a new expansion team, the Valkyries faced a lot of questions about what their on-court product would look like. Even so, they were able to secure their first ever win in just two games. The Atlanta Dream, the last expansion team before Golden State, didn’t win their first game of their inaugural season until July. Despite the win, the Valkyries still have a lot of work in front of them. But Nakase knows they are a work in progress and the more minutes they get on the floor, the more cohesive they’ll be in all facets of the game.

“I mean, we’ve been working really, really hard for this,” Nakase said. “Like I said, we’ve only played 40 minutes, now 80 minutes together. It’s just credit to everyone prepping, you know, putting in all the hard work … I think it’s just a collective effort of everyone, and then everyone kind of being intentional for execution.”