NFL
June 18 –
By: Ashmere Prasad
“For the first time, I’m disappointed in just how we fought,” head coach Natalie Nakase said after Golden State lost to the Dallas Wings on Tuesday night, 80-71. The Wings were on a seven-game losing streak going into the matchup and recorded one win.
Golden State has made it clear that its two key strengths are a disruptive defense and rebounding. The Wings dominated in the second category, out-rebounding the Valkyries 39-28. The Valkyries were on a high from their three-game win streak, but Kayla Thornton believes the team needs to settle back into their feet.
“There’s no way teams should out-rebound us, knowing what our identity is. This is just a game to reflect back on and kinda wake up. We were a little high, I think we were a little high, too high. Now we gotta come back to Earth a little bit and just get back to work.”
This matchup was the Valkyrie’s first without their international superstars who are all playing for their respective countries: Janelle Salaün (France), Cecilia Zandalasini (Italy), and Julie Vanloo (Belgium) andTemi Fágbénlé (Great Britain).
Monique Billings was in the starting lineup for the first time, replacing Fágbénlé in the post. Billings had 18 points and was 2-of-3 from the arc, her most made threes in a game in her career. With 4:56 left on the clock, Billings’ triple tied the game at 70, but the Valkyries were unable to get a lead.
Veronica Burton was held to single-digit scoring for the third straight game and had more fouls (5) than points (4). Stephanie Talbot was scoreless, but recent addition Laeticia Amihere was 6-of-7 from the field. Tiffany Hayes had 10 points in her first game back from a nose injury and struggled to get her offensive rhythm going with only eight points.
Nakase stated that their lack of effort may be due to working too hard. She constantly emphasizes the team’s desire to work hard in practice and also to be coached hard in practice. It’s what makes the team great, but could also be their downfall during a long week such as this one. The Valkyries are playing nearly every other day until the end of June.
“To me, I saw a little bit of heavy legs, fatigue. So, how can I manage that better in between games, maybe a super short practice? Maybe my practice was too long, so I have to figure out what best works for players that just love to workout, they love to practice. I think we gotta come to an agreement with how much do I give them that freedom to work or when I can say ‘hey that’s enough, let’s just focus on the game.’”
The Valkyries (5-6) return to Chase Center and face Caitlin Clark and the Fever (6-5) for the first time this season on Thursday for a five-game homestand.
The expected adjustments from the team going into Thursday all come down to their effort, according to Nakase.
“I mean, that is the epitome of who we are, is literally a defensive-minded team that loves to be physical, disrupt, pressure, take away the top scorers, that’s kind of our identity. But if you don’t have any effort, then that kind of becomes irrelevant. I mean, Paige (Bueckers) got 20 and Arike (Ogunbowale) got 19. That wasn’t the game plan. So we’ve got to do the game plan, but it’s got to have effort behind it. You can have an amazing game plan but if we’re not committed to the effort and the physicality, in which, again, five offensive rebounds, that’s not who we are, and we’re not going to win games that way.”
