Golden State Valkyries · 13 notes
Gabby Williams' late limp in Game 1 didn't hold her back in Game 2, Natalie Nakase said after the Valkyries' loss to Atlanta: "Oh, no. She was aggressive. Yeah, she was fine." Nakase said Williams just missed: "I thought her looks were the same as usual."
Golden State's Natalie Nakase didn't commit on Tiffany Hayes after she went down hard late: "Tip's okay... I'll know when medical tells me." Nakase is adding film study "because I want to win this for Tip." Gabby Williams limped; Nakase gave no status: it's the player's call.
Gabby Williams, Veronica Burton and Tiffany Hayes are among those who close games for the Golden State Valkyries. Natalie Nakase said her staff builds late-game plays around "what they like at the end" so the closers "feel confident."
"Now this team pays me more, so I go here." Gabby Williams said at Golden State Valkyries media day on Oct. 16 that she was just being truthful. Her "bandwagoners" remark targeted the media, not fans: "If media's praising me now, I don't care."
Gabby Williams on what she told Natalie Nakase in free agency: "I played for a team with 4 All-Stars that... had a first-round exit the same the Valkyries did." The Golden State Valkyries forward said that showed her how far culture can take a team.
Golden State Valkyries' closers, per Natalie Nakase at practice: Gabby Williams, Veronica Burton and Tiffany Hayes. The staff is building late-game plays around what each likes, to "develop some situational things that they can close with and they feel confident."
"I feel much better... It's because... I'm able to sit." Gabby Williams, who played 28 minutes in Golden State's overtime clincher over Las Vegas, says depth has her fresher than late last season. Sitting much of the third quarter reset her: "just get off it for a minute."
"This is Tiffany Hayes coming off of the bench. Like, are you kidding me?" Gabby Williams calls it a huge edge; she and Hayes trade off carrying the scoring. Kiah Stokes says Golden State will keep leaning on its bench in the Finals, "especially when we play Atlanta."
"It is our superpower... More importantly, it's for people's health." Golden State's Natalie Nakase on depth, after Gabby Williams played only 28 minutes in the overtime win over the Aces. She tied last year's injuries to a 7- or 8-player rotation that wasn't sustainable.
Veronica Burton's three sparked Golden State's comeback from 16 down in the third quarter. "I think V hit a really big 3... After that, it was just about getting stops," Gabby Williams said postgame. The Valkyries held the opponent to 29 second-half points.
Gabby Williams said Golden State has given her the green light to shoot threes, something she had overseas but never in the WNBA. Why she came: "I just wanted someone to believe in me," which she said she never got from a WNBA staff or teammates.
Golden State's Gabby Williams on the Sept. 30 overtime game against Dallas: "I didn't recognize us. I don't think any of us did." She named the calls and Dallas's tough late shots as things out of the team's control, but said the result didn't come down to those.
Gabby Williams on Golden State's overtime game against Dallas: Arike Ogunbowale got 18 free throws, and the fix is "stay disciplined, stop reaching on her" and make her take contested shots. "We're not here to trade baskets with people. We're a defensive team."