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While Kayla Thornton recorded an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double for the second game in a row, and Janelle Salaün collected a career-high 21 points, only one Valkyrie made WNA history in Golden State's overtime win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Temi Fagbenle became the first WNBA player to record 8+ offensive rebounds, 4+ steals, and 4+ blocks in a single game. The Valkyries' all-around center finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, and four blocks to power them to an 89-81 victory.
Fagbenle's offense in Golden State's pick-and-roll game powered the team to an early 15-8 first-quarter lead. After the game, Thornton talked about how the Valkyries leaned on Fagbenle's offense in the first half.
“Our pick-and-roll offense was working, and she was attacking the rim, which is what she does best,” Thornton said. “We just had the utmost confidence in her.”
But as important as Fagbenle's offense was for the Valkyries in the first half, her defense was equally important in the clutch. With the game locked at 75-74 in regulation, Fagbenle came up with two big blocks to keep the Valkyries within striking distance. And in overtime, up 84-81, Fagbenle got a critical block on Sparks' Kelsey Plum. On the next possession, Thornton buried a dagger 3-pointer to ice the game.
Fagbenle collected 8 of the Valkyries' 17 offensive rebounds, which was the difference in the game. In her post-game press conference, Natalie Nakase talked about the importance of Fagbenle's and the team's efforts on the offensive boards.
“We only had five offensive rebounds at half. So I'm losing my mind; I'm going crazy at them at halftime,” Nakase shared. “It was the first time I had to dig deep and go in on them, but they responded. We knew five wasn't enough to beat this team. So extra possessions, credit to our whole team. And then Temi had eight, so that's a lot of extra possessions. Credit to them and their hunger for the win.”
The Valkyries ‘let it fly' mentality
The overtime victory over the Sparks was the Valkyries' second win in a row. It also just so happened to be the second game in a row in which Golden State had five players reach double figures. The 89 points against the Sparks and the 95 points against the Aces are the most the Valkyries have scored in a game this season so far.
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Entering the season, pundits doubted the Valkyries' ability to be competitive because they lacked star power. And while that was evident against powerhouses like the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty, the Valkyries have demonstrated their peak when everything is humming. A big reason behind the offensive boost has been the slight adjustment in their shot diet.
Nakase's designed this Valkyries offense around shooting a lot of threes and fighting for extra possessions on the offensive boards. It's a system designed to mitigate the lack of a go-to scorer. Nakase explained that philosophy once again in her post-game press conference.
“We call it ‘let it fly' mentality. We just say, ‘hey, if it's wide open,’ which they were, they were wide open, those are great shots for us. But then we talk about intentional crashing,” Nakase explained. “You got to do both. If we're going to shoot those threes,… they're going to be long rebounds. So we know the specific gaps and routes that we're supposed to take.”
Mathematically, it should result in more points because threes are worth more than twos. And offensive rebounds give you more chances than the other team in a game with only around 80 or so total possessions. But at the beginning of the season, their league-high 3-point attempts weren't falling. And the main reason was that they weren't setting them up by attacking the paint.
Before the last two games, the Valkyries were a league-low 25.4 points in the paint per game. They were too hesitant to attack the paint and too willing to shoot questionable threes. However, in these last two wins, the Valkyries have averaged 42 points in the paint. According to Thornton, that improvement has been a point of emphasis for them.
Yeah, I think we worked on that. Once we get into the paint then our threes open up,” Thornton explained. “Before we were trying to shoot threes and we wasn't really getting into the paint, so it was kind of tough. So I think our penetration, especially from V [Veronica Burton], getting into the paint. And creating for us has been taking what the defense gives us.”
This team will live and die on their 3-point volume. But that volume will get more efficient if the Valkyrie keep playing inside-out
