Game 20: Golden State Valkyries @ Las Vegas Aces, 1:00 PM PDT.
set your alarms for maybe MVP A'ja Wilson
Table of Contents
What to expect today
How to watch
Injury / absence report
How the Valkyries will play
Comparative team power rankings
The story so far
Kayla Thornton is a 2025 WNBA All-Star!
Killer road trip into the All-Star Break
Apricot’s game wrap-ups, a season overview
Apricot’s Valkyries & Basketball Basics videos
Oversimplified guide to the Valkyries roster
What to expect today
How to watch
Usually: KPIX+ (Bay Area), KMAX (Sacramento)
In the Bay Area, KPIX is channel 5, and KPIX+, the home of Valkyries basketball, is channel 44 (cable 12). In Sacramento, KMAX is channel 31, and KOVR is channel 13.
Friday games are streamed on ION, available on Fubo and YouTube TV and elsewhere. Be careful, last time ION mis-titled the games on their multiple channels, so try all of them to find the Valkyries.
WNBA League Pass if you are out of the blackout region. Even if blacked out, in theory the game is available right after the conclusion.
Injury / absence report
LVA superstar A’ja Wilson might or might not play.
How the Valkyries will play
High energy
Fast pace, fast breaks
Aggressive defense trying for on-ball steals and deflected passes
League-leading three-point shooting (in attempts, definitely not accuracy)
We Lose Money On Every Sale, But We Make It Up In Volume™
Five-out formations, pick and roll, and HORNS formations
Shifting defensive schemes, occasional 2-3 zone
Expect ferocious fight and heart against the odds, and if we ever get a Full Squad, then they should be able to beat all but the top WNBA teams.
A’ja Wilson was injured previous game, so there’s a chance she won’t play.
The Aces have to be one of the disappointments of the season. Since Becky Hammon took over as coach, LVA dominated the WNBA with back to back titles in 2022 and 2023 and lost in the semis in 2024.
This season, they have looked discombobulated and have lost in blowouts that never used to happen. Including, the last GSV-LVA game, which ended with Coach Hammon criticizing her team’s character. LVA was mystified by GSV’s quite basic pick and roll attack. It’s all mysterious for a team stacked with names like A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Jewell Loyd and now NaLyssa Smith. I don’t have inside knowledge, but I can’t help thinking about a folk theory that players tune out coaches after 3-5 years.
Comparative team power rankings
Power rankings are all made up, but they are useful to see the conventional wisdom about teams. Here’s one from Newsweek:
5. Golden State Valkyries (9-7)
Last Week: 5 | Upcoming: MIN (7/5), ATL (7/7), IND (7/9)
After a bit of a rocky start, the Valkyries have rounded into form as one of the league's top teams. Golden State has relentless rebounders and hard-nosed defenders at every position. With a smothering defense that turns teams over at a league-leading rate and one of the best fast-break teams, the Valkyries are one of the surprise teams of the season.
11. Las Vegas Aces (8-9)
Last Week: 8 | Upcoming: CON (7/6), NYL (7/8), WAS (7/10)
The Las Vegas Aces are still struggling on the offensive end. In their nearly 30-point loss to the Indiana Fever, only A'Ja Wilson and Jackie Young were able to hit more than one field goal attempt.
While the team's play may be inconsistent, Wilson continues to be otherworldly in her Herculean efforts; she's averaging nearly 25 points over the last 5 games
The story so far
Kayla Thornton is a 2025 WNBA All-Star!
The Valkyries announced:
OAKLAND, Calif. – Golden State Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton was named a 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star reserve, the league announced today. This is Thornton’s first career WNBA All-Star selection, as she becomes the first-ever player to represent Golden State during WNBA All-Star Weekend.
Thornton has started all 17 games for Golden State, leading the team in minutes (30.0), points (14.9), and rebounds (7.1) per game. The forward is 10th in the WNBA with 1.6 steals per game while also ranking 13th in rebounds, and 21st in points. Thornton has 15 double-digit scoring performances this season, including four 20+ scoring games, and five double-doubles this year, all of which are team highs.
On June 17, Thornton was named the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week (Week 4), after averaging 20.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist while shooting 43.8 percent (14-32) from the field, and recording two double-doubles for her first-ever WNBA Player of the Week award.
Thornton is among the 12 reserves who were selected by the league’s 13 head coaches, who voted for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference.
Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier, who were selected as captains for the game after receiving the most fan votes, will draft their respective rosters by selecting first from the remaining eight players in the pool of starters, and then from the pool of 12 reserves. ESPN will broadcast the results of the roster draft for the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game during WNBA Countdown on Tuesday, July 8 at 4 p.m. PT. The 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game will tip off on Saturday, July 19 at 5:30 p.m. PT in Indianapolis on ABC.
Killer road trip into the All-Star Break
GSV have a loooong road trip which includes a little stop home which is so short that in some ways it will feel like part of the road trip.
July 5 at #1 Minnesota (L, MIN is 11-0 at home)
July 7 at #4 Atlanta (L, close until the last 5 minutes)
July 9 at #7 Indiana (W, blowout)
July 12 at #8 Las Vegas ← YOU ARE HERE
July 14 #3 Phoenix
July 16 at #5 Seattle
Expect worse performance as teams play worse on a long road trip as they wear down from the intense schedule and suffer from a lack of time for practice and opponent-specific preparation.
It’s not just theoretical… WNBA road teams win about 42% of the time. That gives roughly an expected value of 2.4 wins.
Also throw in that they are playing 4 of the top 5 teams plus teams better than their record with IND missing time from Caitlyn Clark and LVA recently adding NaLyssa Smith, and this could be ugly.
Throw in on top of that the fact that they will be re-integrating the Eurobasketeers and possibly creating new lineup disruption with the addition of Iliana Rupert and it could get VERY ugly.
Given all this, I think a realistic stretch goal would be to split the road trip 3-3 with 2-4 and worse likely.
Apricot’s game wrap-ups, a season overview
(VV = Valkyrie Valor vote winner)
Game 19 wrap. Valkyries thump Fever, send campers home sad; Caitlin Clark outshot by Veronica Burton(!?) (VV: Veronica Burton)
Game 18 wrap. GSV can't overcome turnovers, ATL bigs warping defense; Gray closes out the game (VV: forgot to run poll, sorry)
Game 17 wrap: GSV leads in Q3, can't keep up with Lynx stars as MIN pulls away; Eurobasketeers have rusty return (VV: Tiffany Hayes)
Game 16 wrap. GSV blows out Seattle; close for a half and then vooooom; Thornton leaves with injury (VV: Tiffany Hayes)
Game 15 wrap: Valkyries pull away late to put away Chicago Sky; Thornton career-high 29; Chen and Martin in double digits and close game (VV: Kayle Thornton)
Game 12 wrap: Shorthanded Valkyries storm back from down 13 to beat Caitlin Clark's Fever going away
Game 10 wrap. Valks blowout Storm, then un-blowout Storm, still win. Always Close Enough To Hurt™
Game 8 wrap. Valkyries blow out #3 Aces and contain MVP A’ja Wilson
Game 7 wrap: Buddhism teaches us that suffering comes from attachment to material things
Game 5 wrap: So close to the upset of the year... Always Close Enough To Hurt™
Game 4 wrap: Liberty blast Valks early by 25; GSV storms back to within 11, but fade in the fourth
Game 1 wrap: GSV thrills and fights but can't overcome Plum's record-setting 37
Apricot’s Valkyries & Basketball Basics videos
These videos are meant to be friendly to beginners but have interesting observations for observers of all backgrounds. All the parts can be viewed independently, but the vocabulary does build up with each Part. The whole series can be found on YouTube here.
Part 4 terms defined include:
00:38 Switching defense
00:56 Mismatches
02:15 Bad switches
03:25 Show and recover defense (hedge and recover)
04:54 Drop defense
06:17 Valkyries 325 = Warriors 55
06:54 Blitz / Trap / Double team defense, surprise
07:41 Countering the blitz with isolation
08:45 Drop vs blitz defense
Part 3 terms defined include:
00:33 Go Over the screen, Go Under the screen, High side, Low side
02:19 HORNS formation
02:33 Dive or Roll
03:23 HORNS 5
04:14 Dribble handoff, DHO
05:07 Pindown screen, Down screen
05:15 Using the screen, Coming off the screen
06:37 Jamming the cut, Bumping the cut, Denying the cut
07:35 Slip a screen, Roll vs Pop
Part 2 terms defined include:
00:38 Recover
00:46 Bigs and Smalls
00:54 Mismatch
01:53 Rotating on defense
02:42 Slipping the screen, ghosting the screen
03:03 Double team, trap, blitz
04:02 Rejecting the screen
04:26 Helping at the nail
06:21 Slide cut, Passing angle
Part 1 terms include:
00:34 Dribbling and shooting, big vs small
02:00 Screens
02:10 Off ball
02:32 Cut, Flare Cut, Flare Screen
03:39 Ball Fake
03:53 Geography of the Court
03:57 Baseline, sideline, up, down, top
04:10 Corners, elbows, HORNS
05:29 Pick and roll, screen and roll
05:49 Dribble handoff
06:17 Rebounding, boxing out
06:18 Roll
07:18 Backdoor cut
07:46 ICE defense
07:51 take / accept / use the screen
Oversimplified guide to the Valkyries roster
The starting lineup will be shuffled with the return of the Eurobasketeers.
Starters in the pre-Eurobasketeers-return era, slightly scoring challenged but feisty defenders
#22 Veronica Burton. Solid point guard, organizes and calls all the plays; outstanding defender and ball-stealer; decent at running pick-and-roll, not a great scorer, but can muscle in layups and running hooks and hit some 3s.
#5 Kayla Thornton. Vet all-around forward. Likes to spot up for corner 3s and get dirty fighting for rebounds everywhere. With Burton is a team leader and organizer. Was WNBA Player of the Week! Was key bench player for the champion Liberty.
#15 Tiffany Hayes.
Lightning bug driver, unstoppable in the open court. But this team leader (she spoke at opening day) had a bad nose RE-INJURY and is still wearing a big mask.
IND was the first game where she looked comfortable (all year!) and could display both her speedy footwork guarding Caitlin Clark 1-on-1 and also running effective pick and rolls emphasizing her speeding to the rim for layups.
#25 Monique Billings. Sturdy scorer and rebounding vet, starting to really hit her stride as the screener in pick and roll. Can pop out for 3 or finish through contact.
Entertaining Bench, slightly chaotic
#14 Temi Fágbénlé.
Decent scoring, all-around, solid vet center. Can run pick and roll and punish mismatches by posting up.
#20 Kate Martin. The most popular player, Iowa teammate of Caitlin Clark.
Has hit a couple of threes but her finishing at the rim has been difficult
Starting to settle in a bit as a shooter and even as a screener for pick-and-pop. Her four 3s put GSV in position for an upset over NYL.
Chaotic on defense: some very heads-up rotations, some bad switches.
#3 Laeticia Amihere.
Indirectly won this spot over Linskens since GSV is going further into smallball, 5-out, run-and-gun style, which needs a more dynamic athlete to run the court. It didn’t hurt that Amihere hit a couple of threes in preseason.
She got some minutes vs SEA and GSV featured her in several keeper-actions where she fakes a dribble handoff to a guard and drives. They were a mixed bag of baskets and offensive fouls.
In the DAL and IND games, she has been a bright spot, pouring in points and being very assertive on offense. Amihere adds a different dimension to the team, i.e. get me the ball in the paint or downhill on fake handoff and no one can stop me 1-on-1.
On defense, she’s finding her place with some highlight blocks and steals. She’s been getting into the flow of rotating as weak side help from the elbow to cover when there is a small defender stuck in the low weak side.
On the other hand, in the NYL game she had a couple of very glaring mistakes: going under on a Marine Johannes screen (which led to an open 3 and then microwave hot Marine making two more 3s in a minute) and misplaying Stewart on an end of quarter drive.
#2 Kaitlyn Chen. A decent, smart point guard. Chen was, by applause, *the* most popular player in the preseason games, even surpassing Kate Martin.
Chen played real minutes vs NYL. She fought on defense and didn’t turn the ball over on offense. She then not only played real minutes vs CHI, but also closed a tight game!
She still on the bubble to be cut for Iliana Rupert, but she’s played her way into a lineup controversy.
#7 Stephanie Talbot.
Vet wing who can shoot the 3 (in theory; 15.4% 3P in reality so far).
Had been penciled in as starter in preseason, but injuries delayed her debut until Game 3 and she has looked rusty ever since.
Had been a Did Not Play - Coach Decision until Eurobasket.
Starting since the Eurobasket exodus but finally DNPed.
As a starter, has not been scoring, but did make some sweet passes, spirited steals, and awful turnovers. Had something of a breakout game vs NYL.
#24 Cecilia Zandalasini. Another vet wing who can shoot the 3. Has been out all training camp with right foot issue but came into the Liberty game and hit big shots. She was given the last shot to tie the Liberty game, so Nakase believes in her. Went to Eurobasket and led Italy to an upset run to 3rd place, leading the team in scoring and efficiency.
#13 Janelle Salaün, Fresh off an Italian League Finals MVP, she joined GSV in Game 2 and hasn’t stopped shooting since. She went to Eurobasket and led the powerhouse France team in scoring and efficiency.
#0 Carla Leite
Youngest at 21 y.o., was 2024-25 EuroCup Finals MVP.
Excellent bounce back games after being in Coach Nakase’s doghouse, barely playing in a 4 game stretch before Eurobasket.
Some dazzling speed on drives and horrible turnovers. Rookie life.
Promised NOT to leave for Eurobasket, a commitment that has won my heart.
Out for a back injury since 6-19 vs IND.
Game wrap up. Last one out of this thread, please turn out the lights
Hard fought and slightly random ending but when one side can go to a Jackie Young - A'ja Wilson PNR and the other side has to set three screens for Zandalasini... here's where the all-star deficit hurts.