Everyone will agree that the Golden State Valkyries did not shoot well enough in their Game 2 loss to the Atlanta Dream. But then again, neither did the Dream. And so, for WNBA analyst Rachel DeMita, the shooting alone does not tell the full story of what went wrong for Golden State; there were several other areas where the Valkyries simply did not execute, and those failures ultimately decided the game.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Reacting to the game on Tuesday’s episode of her Courtside Club podcast, DeMita described the Valkyries as a team that looked entirely out of sync, faulting their rotation choices, their decision to try to match the Dream’s style rather than impose their own, and a startling absence of transition offense.
“The rotations for the Golden State Valkyries were kind of weird for me,” DeMita said. “We’re still not seeing Janelle Salaün on the floor. She only put up two shots last night. But I think that if Janelle Salaün was in the mix a little bit more, she could have possibly been in rhythm. And they need Janelle Salaün to be in rhythm, to be in that mix.”
“What I also saw from the Golden State Valkyries is it felt like they were trying to match up evenly with the Atlanta Dream. They were running a really small guard lineup, and they were trying to beat the Atlanta Dream by playing Atlanta Dream basketball better than the Atlanta Dream plays Atlanta Dream basketball — instead of by playing the Valkyries’ style of basketball.”
“And it just felt like in this Game 2, the entire Valkyries system was out of sync. They were also slowing the pace. They had zero points in transition, which is very unlike them. And then the Atlanta Dream, on the flip side, had nearly 30 points in transition,” she added.
In a continuation of their abysmal offensive struggles from Game 1, the Valkyries did shoot a dismal 34.4 percent from the field in Game 2, converting only 29.2 percent of their three-point attempts. And as DeMita pointed out, they also finished the game with zero transition points. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Dream generated 19 fast-break points off the back of 19 Valkyries turnovers.
Atlanta’s defense, anchored by Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese, effectively clogged Golden State’s driving lanes and prevented them from running in any meaningful way throughout the game.
Also, by leaning so heavily on small guards to drive and kick, Golden State allowed the Dream to pack the paint and dictate the terms of engagement. Rather than imposing their own pace and interior system, the Valkyries were dragged into a sluggish, half-court physical battle, exactly the brand of basketball that allowed Angel Reese to dominate the game with a historic 30 points and 16 rebounds.
Whatever defensive adjustments the Valkyries made in Game 1 did hold Reese to 14 points, but it was clearly not enough to suppress her hunger heading into Game 2.
“I Let My Team Down Last Game”: Angel Reese Reveals Emotional Motivation Behind Bounce-Back Performance
If the Atlanta Dream end up winning this WNBA Finals series, a significant part of the credit will undoubtedly go to Angel Reese’s performance. Her presence has dominated much of the pre-Finals discourse, and the expectation heading in was that she would be the defining force on the floor from the opening tip.
That dominance was not quite there in Game 1. She finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, decent numbers by most standards, but not the unstoppable force Atlanta needs her to be in a Finals setting. And coming into Game 2, it was clear she knew it.
Her response was historic. A 30-point, 16-rebound performance that announced exactly what the Dream need from their franchise player, and exactly what it looks like when Reese plays with a point to prove.
“I let my team down last game,” Reese said after the victory. “So I was hungry. I think we let one slip away, and you can’t do that, especially on the road, where this is a good environment and a good team. We were pissed. We felt embarrassed, and we didn’t want to let another one slip. I bring a lot of energy in the locker room, if it’s just a joke, or talking s***. Whatever the team needed tonight, I was willing to do.”
She will be hoping to carry that same fire and intensity into Game 3 at State Farm Arena. If what she produced in Game 2 is any indication of what a motivated Reese looks like in this series, the Valkyries might have very few answers for her, and the Atlanta Dream may have a very real chance of taking a lead.