VALKS FAM\u2014<\/p>\n
Tonight is Game 2, but it\u2019s also a lot more than that \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s the first home playoff game in Valkyries history. So I went and asked The Players\u2019 Tribune if I could write something about it. I\u2019ll keep it short because to be honest none of it has to do with me, it\u2019s this team and the historic season they\u2019ve put together. But I have a few quick thoughts I wanted to share. Lynx fans, don\u2019t read this. Find another article.<\/p>\n
1. Ohemaa and Natalie are for real.<\/p>\n
The thing about Joe is, he legit loves this s***. Like he legit cares about women\u2019s basketball, and cares about doing it right. And all you need for proof of that is who he hired to be in charge \u2014 starting with Ohemaa as our GM and Natalie as our head coach. They\u2019re both geniuses and dope people, and not to seem cocky but the rest of the league might be in trouble. Because I\u2019ve gotten to know them a bit\u2026. and I\u2019m telling you: Those women are trophy hunters. We\u2019re winning championships.<\/p>\n
2. We have \u201ca team of sixth women\u201d \u2014\u00a0and that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n
I saw a quote from Temi the other day where she said that, and I loved it. It\u2019s just reality \u2014 with expansion, you\u2019re creating a team from the players who went unprotected. But I feel like Ohemaa actually saw that as a positive, or as a challenge,\u00a0and she built a roster who all had chips on their shoulders. So you\u2019ve got these players who have something to prove to the teams that let \u2019em go \u2026 and also who do the little things well, the stuff that\u2019s underappreciated but actually helps you win basketball games. Then you add a COACH OF THE YEAR on that same wave, who\u2019s stressing defense and toughness\u00a0\u2014 and you put it all together as this land of opportunity??? Now it\u2019s Kayla Thornton, All-Star. Veronica Burton, Most Improved. Janelle Sala\u00fcn, All-Rookie. And I feel like those individual accomplishments just kind of speak to what we\u2019re building here with this group \u2026 where it\u2019s like: Come to the Bay if you\u2019re trying to shut up your haters and win. (No tampering.)<\/p>\n
3. The Valkyries aren\u2019t the Warriors \u2014 and that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n
The easiest way to tell that someone doesn\u2019t know ball is they\u2019re comparing the NBA and the W. They\u2019re both basketball, and they\u2019re both the best players in the world. But other than that it\u2019s apples and oranges. Not better, not worse, just different. Different styles of play, different products. And I feel like the Valks understand that. The violet and black color scheme, it\u2019s so lit. Vi the Raven, our mascot, she\u2019s already a legend in the game. It\u2019s more families, since school is out. It\u2019s more young girl fans, which makes a lot of sense. And even just in the arena \u2014 it\u2019s this whole other vibe. Like: You\u2019re NOT at a Warriors game, you know what I mean?? You\u2019re at a Valkyries game. And you\u2019re not in the Chase Center. You\u2019re in BALLHALLA.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
4. This team represents \u2014\u00a0and it represents the Bay.<\/p>\n
The other thing about Ballhalla is, it\u2019s a party. Actually it\u2019s like the biggest, loudest house party ever, where you\u2019ve got 18,000 people going crazy, the music is hitting, everyone is looking great, and there\u2019s not even any neighbors saying keep it down because they\u2019re at the party too (with their kids lol). It\u2019s this mix of cultures, backgrounds, ages, religions, races, everything. I feel like people just kind of come to Ballhalla and be themselves, and that\u2019s that. Everyone is included. And that\u2019s a really good energy for a basketball game.<\/p>\n
5. Analysis.<\/p>\n
In Game 1, I thought we started strong out the gate. But then Minnesota found their transition game, and were able to capitalize on a few turnovers so things swung in their favor. I also think they did a really good job of taking our three-ball away. We\u2019re #1 in the league in points per game off of threes, so the way they forced us into twos was a problem. And then for Game 2, I just feel like it\u2019s got to be a momentum shift. Obviously we\u2019re gonna have the crowd to our advantage, and I also think we\u2019re gonna play a LOT faster than we did in Minnesota. If we do that, we dictate pace, we play our style, I think we win \u2014 and then suddenly all the pressure is on them as the 1-seed, and we can just go in swinging in Game 3 with nothing to lose. That type of situation \u2026 our group \u2026 man, I like our chances.<\/p>\n
6. OK and then last thing.<\/p>\n
I wanted to do this ahead of Game 2, just to get everyone hyped \u2026 but if you\u2019re a Valks fan you know the truth: We already won this season. I\u2019ve been in the Bay for a few years now, first at Santa Clara and now with the Warriors, and I\u2019ve been falling in love with the culture of the Bay ever since. But being a Valks fan this summer, I think it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve gotten to experience that culture at the start of something. Or maybe like, it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve gotten to feel that excitement of building something new, together, as a community. And I guess I just wanted to take a minute, before we go off on the Lynx tonight, and say how much I appreciate everyone, and how much I appreciate what y\u2019all have put into this Valks thing over these last few months. First, our players, for balling out every night and making their history this season. Second, our fans, for being the best in the world and creating this atmosphere for women\u2019s basketball. And last, just the Bay as an entire place, for taking me in like y\u2019all have. I feel lucky to be here \u2014 and lucky to be a part of this.<\/p>\n
Alright, that\u2019s it from me.<\/p>\n
First home playoff game\u2026…. first of MANY.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s throw them V\u2019s up one time.<\/p>\n
\u2014BP2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VALKS FAM\u2014 Tonight is Game 2, but it\u2019s also a lot more than that \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s the first home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-165010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}