Last season, the Golden State Valkyries powered an unexpected playoff berth behind a disruptive, often chaotic, high-pressure defensive front. They were ranked 3rd in the WNBA for defense at the end of the season, according to the WNBA advanced stat tracking. But it wasn’t enough and they’re doubling down on the defensive mindset.
This year, the Valkyries want to be the best defensive team in the WNBA. They aren’t there yet. At present, they have the fifth-best defensive rating in the WNBA out of 15 teams and the third-fewest points allowed per game at 80.1.
“Definitely not satisfied,” point guard Veronica Burton said. “Some games we start off really focused on our game plan and executing it to a high level, then other games we don’t.”
Nevertheless, they have the pieces to improve their rating. The Valkyries signed former WNBA defensive player of the year Gabby Williams this year along with former first-team defensive player Kiah Stokes. Those two joined all-WNBA second team defender Burton to make up the core of a defensive-minded roster.
“We’re a defense team first, and then our offense goes,” said forward Kayla Thornton. “That’s how we’re going to win games.”
What does it actually take to generate offense from an elite defense, especially with a distinct lack of size (the Valks tallest player on the court, usually Kiah Stokes, is generally inches shorter than the bigs on the other team)?
For one, it takes the most intuitive basics of defense: stealing the ball and forcing errors.The Valkyries force the fourth-most turnovers per game at 14.5. By taking possessions away from other teams, they use their stops to give the offense a chance to score. Gabby Williams and Cecilia Zandalasini each average more than a steal per game.
If the opposing team does get a shot, the Valks want it to be the worst possible angle with the most interference they can create. They’ve done a good job this season shutting down teams in the paint by forcing turnovers and clogging passing lanes into the post. Their 30.0 points allowed per game from the paint are the fewest in the WNBA.
That means they are pushing teams to take shots further from the basket. Teams are making only 42.5 percent of their shots against the Valkyries due to the solid defense by Golden State.
However, 36.9 percent of opponents’ shots from three-point range are going in, which ranks the Valks in the bottom three of all teams at preventing successful three-point shots. So while teams have struggled to score against the Valkyries generally, this has been their way to get buckets.
Since the majority of the shots that opposing teams take against the Valkyries do not go in, rebounding is key.
“We got to box out,” Coach Natalie Nakase said, referencing a technique that allows players to claim space and be in the best position to grab balls from the air. “A lot of teams, the majority of them probably are going to be taller, and so for us, we got to hit first. We got to box out.”
Burton, the team’s starting point guard, agreed. “If it’s any loose balls, any long rebounds, like that’s on our guards, and that’s on me.”
The Valkyries are sixth in the league with guards rebounding 11.8 times per game.
Their center rebounding is at 5.0 rebounds per game, also sixth in the WNBA. Not bad, but not the best.
That number has likely been driven down by the fact that the Valks can’t play Stokes for the entire game. Sometimes they go with a “small ball” lineup, where players like Kayla Thornton and Janelle Salaun, typically small forwards, have to fill Stokes’ or Laeticia Amihere’s role at center. But the small ball line up has struggled defensively, allowing 35.7 rebounds per game, the third most in the league.
With that in mind, the Valkyries might still need some size in the long-term. Last Sunday, they signed 6-foot-4 center Nadia Fingall, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate who has excelled in Europe but has never played in the WNBA. She could have a role in solving their height issues.
But even without Fingall the defensive scheme has mostly worked. And on the plus side, the Valkyries are a better offensive team than a season ago, so there is slightly more room for error.
But if the Valkyries want to be the best defensive team in the league, they’re not quite there yet.
“We know we rely on our defense, it starts there,” Nakase said. “So we just have to make sure we stay on top of that.”