After a brutal first game against the New York Liberty, the Golden State Valkyries looked much improved in the second meeting between the two teams. Instead of losing by almost 30 points, the Valkyries kept the game close and lost by only five. The Valkyries were obviously ready to prove that they could do much better than they did in the first game, but that wasn’t the only reason the game went so much better.
The Liberty were without Jonquel Jones. With Jones out, Kennedy Burke got the start, and Breanna Stewart moved to the center position. That eliminated one of the Liberty’s major advantages: size. Without Jones and with Stewart manning the center position, the Liberty were much smaller than usual. Especially Janelle Salaün benefited from the switch. She struggled immensely when Stewart guarded her in the first matchup and finished the rematch with a double-double.
The Liberty didn’t only hand the Valkyries two losses. They also exposed one of the team’s biggest weaknesses: The Valkyries struggle to compete against size in the paint and defenses anchored by tall centers, like Jones.
The Valkyries are undersized
The Valkyries did a lot of good things this offseason and signed plenty of talented players. What they didn’t get was a lot of size. Monique Billings, Temi Fagbenle, and Kyara Linskens are the tallest players on the roster at 6’4”. The Valkyries are giving up a lot of size at the center position against players like Kalani Brown, Kamilla Cardoso, Brittney Griner, Jonquel Jones, Dominique Malonga, Teaira McCowan, Azurà Stevens, and Cameron Brink. All of these players are 6’6” or taller.
That is not something the Valkyries can address right now unless they feel compelled to make a rare in-season deal before the trade deadline. But there are things the Valkyries can do to make up for the lack of size on the roster.
Strong perimeter play can help make up for size issues
One thing the Valkyries are already doing to make up for the lack of size is being physical and relentless on defense. Offensively, there are a few options for the Valkyries to deal with tall centers. One is to push the pace and beat opposing teams down the floor before they have a chance to set up the defense.
Another option is for the Valkyries to improve their perimeter play. Hitting a lot of threes and forcing defenses to move out to the 3-point line will open up the floor and make the size difference less noticeable. The Valkyries have the personnel to be a good 3-point shooting team, but it hasn’t quite translated to the court yet.
Golden State is currently the worst 3-point shooting team in the league, converting only 27.7 percent of their 33.2 attempts per game. If the Valkyries can improve that and force defenses to spread out, the team’s size disadvantage will be much easier to bear. It would also allow the Valkyries to keep up with high-scoring offenses.
Improving the team’s 3-point shooting is not only the most obvious way to make up for the Valkyries’ size disadvantage. It would make them a better overall team.