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The Golden State Valkyries were one or two plays away from upsetting the New York Liberty. Trailing 78-77 with 42.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the two teams' second meeting this week, head coach Natalie Nakase called a timeout to set up a set baseline out-of-bounds play. It was a smart timeout considering the Valkyries had just missed two chaotic 3-pointers in a row on the same possession.
But what resulted from the after timeout play (ATO) Nakase drew up was a worst-case scenario. With Veronica Burton inbounding the ball, none of the four Valkyries in the field of play could get open. And when Julie Vanloo broke free at the very end of the play, the officials signalled for a 5-second violation just as Burton found the guard for what would have been a wide-open layup.
After the game, Nakase went in-depth on the 5-second violation call from both a play-calling standpoint.
“I just got to do a better job. End of the game [play] calling exactly. I told them, ‘We're gonna feel out one play that I really like, Nakase admitted. “Haven’t found it yet, but Julie [Vanloo] and V [Burton] called a lot of the plays in the fourth, which I'm really proud of.”
The head coach also commented on how Burton handled the inbounder's responsibility.
“[Burton] could have called a timeout or whatever, but I actually thought she released it. “That’s what I thought, because as she released it, according to my ears, [the official] raised his hand,” Nakase said. “But again, it's just an opinion. So I don't know. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I told V it looked good to me.”
The 5-second violation was a sliding doors moment in the game. On the very next possession, Sabrina Ionescu found Natasha Cloud for an easy layup on a designated handoff out of Liberty's own ATO. Down 80-77, the Valkyries still had a chance to tie the game but all they got was a contested missed three from Cecillia Zandalasini.
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While the Valkyries dropped both games to the Liberty in their short East Coast trip, there were some encouraging takeaways. In the same press conference, Nakase spoke highly of the Valkyries' defense versus the defending champs.
“When we follow the game plan defensively, we can beat anyone,” Nakase said when asked about some of the positives in the close loss. “Our goal is to be number one in defense. I do thnk we can get there. I think it's been three weeks, it's been 30 days since we've been together. So for me, I'm very happy, very pleased that they're trusting us with the game plan and they're executing with all the effort and physicality.”
The Valkyries' defensive execution was much improved from the loss on Tuesday. Golden State held them to a 37.7% field goal percentage after the Liberty shot 50% from the field in the first game. They also outrebounded New York 49-to-41, which includes 15 important offensive rebounds. For a team that looked overwhelmed physically earlier in the week, they matched New York's size despite the loss.
No one on the team is looking for moral victories, as Janelle Salaün and Monique Billings said post-game. But it's a good sign the defense is playing its way into cohesiveness. It's as Nakase said. As long as that side of the ball is intact, the Valkyries can compete with anyone in the league. It's admittedly a search, a work in progress, but it's coming together.
“We're always going to be confident,” Nakase continued in her post-game press conference. “For me and my staff, it's just finding that game plan that's always going to fit in terms of how we're going against a specific defense. So every game's pretty much like a puzzle that we've got to figure out. I appreciate the girls trusting [us].”
