SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Natalie Nakase throws her arms up to guard Gabby Williams one moment, then moves to defend Veronica Burton the next as Golden State’s high-octane coach gets into it to help the Valkyries gear up for the WNBA Finals.
asserted
Valkyries → throw → Finals
She briefly steps out of the action to observe before jumping right back in to take a turn against Tiffany Hayes.
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She → step → Hayes
And you bet Nakase can trash talk with the best of them.
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Nakase → bet → them
“Oh, yeah, I say, ‘Yeahhh!’
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I → say → ?
I say, ‘Not here!
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I → say → ?
Not this time!,” she shared Wednesday.
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she → share → ?
“I let them know.
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them → let → ?
Because that’s effort.
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that → ’ → ?
Again, it goes back to you can control that.
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you → go → that
I’m 46 years old, why am I getting that (stop)?”
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I → ’m → stop
Nakase never stops moving, and it’s why everyone around her is offering regular reminders that she needs to eat for energy and rest just the way she stresses those things to her players.
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she → stop → players
The coach collapsed on the court late in the deciding game of the first round with Dallas and later called it “a wakeup call” to prioritize her well being.
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coach → collapse → being
Her players love and appreciate how hands-on she is with practices and game planning.
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she → love → practices
“It probably brings back some memories of her being in uniform when she used to play,” Hayes said.
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Hayes → bring → uniform
“It’s definitely fun, but it’s more fun when we actually get the bucket on it ‘cause if she gets the stop we won’t hear the end of it.”
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we → ’ → it
That intensity and drive is something Hayes has seen for years, dating to their days when Nakase was an assistant with the Las Vegas Aces coaching Hayes and the guards.
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Nakase → see → Hayes
And it played a key role in Hayes following her to the Bay Area.
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Hayes → play → Area
Nakase had just been hired for her first head coaching job when she asked Hayes to take a chance on a brand new team and join her in San Francisco and start something special with the expansion Valkyries.
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she → hire → Valkyries
Hayes had absolutely no reservations and the answer was a resounding yes.
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answer → have → reservations
Her unfamiliarity with the Bay Area hardly mattered, because she had Nakase –- and that’s a sentiment many of Golden State’s players feel given how much she has invested in each one of them.
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she → matter → them
Nakase has built a culture with the Valkyries in such a short time largely by finding a way to know each woman on a deeper level, far beyond just basketball.
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Nakase → build → basketball
She is breaking barriers
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She → break → barriers
With the Valkyries and their famous, violet-colored “Ballhalla” fan base on the big postseason stage, everybody is getting a glimpse of what Nakase vowed to do from Day 1: put Golden State on the map for women’s basketball after all those special NBA championship runs by Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr and the Warriors.
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Nakase → get → Curry
And, no, she’s not surprised by the playoff success so soon — she thought the Valkyries should have made a run last year, when they lost in the first round to Minnesota after becoming the first expansion franchise to reach the postseason in its inaugural year.
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they → ’ → year
Nakase was groomed by some greats: Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, former Los Angeles assistant Armond Hill, who has been attending practice in Oakland this week, and Aces coach Becky Hammon.
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who → groom → Oakland
“You just celebrate people that are blowing away ceilings for women in sports, specifically women’s basketball, and obviously we’re a little biased toward Natalie,” UCLA coach Cori Close said of Nakase, the former Bruins guard.
“I just think about what she’s done.
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she → celebrate → what
She came to UCLA as a walk-on, then earned a scholarship, then became a captain, then was one of the first women hired on an NBA team and 10 years with the Clippers and really doing a great job with Becky Hammon and winning championships there.
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She → come → championships
And now coming here and they say, ‘We want to win it in the first five years,’ and she’s like, ‘Bring it on, that’s exactly the kind of organization I want to be a part of,’ and then go back it up and then sell out every game.
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I → come → game
The list just goes on and on.
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list → go → ?
Nakase has found a way to relate to all of her players, and she works at it.
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she → find → it
Whether it’s learning about their culture or language, favorite music or dance move, she makes an effort to know everyone on her team far beyond just basketball.
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she → learn → basketball
“I think my identity changes from year to year because I’m a constant learner,” she said.
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she → think → year
Uplifting the group does wonders
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Uplifting → uplift → wonders
Celebrating in the locker room after winning on Las Vegas’ home floor last Friday, Nakase praised her team for its fight in overtime to eliminate the defending champion Aces.
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Nakase → celebrate → Aces
She pointed to Kiah Stokes for making a key block, and teammates broke into chants of “Ki-ah! Ki-ah!”
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teammates → point → Ki
Then it was Kayla Thornton’s turn to be shouted out, for her rebounding.
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it → shout → rebounding
The coach finished by acknowledging her two clutch finishers in crunch time, “the closers, you two,” and pointed at Hayes and Williams.
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coach → finish → Hayes
Players started hollering “Tip! Tip! Tip!” and “Gab-by! Gab-by!
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Players → holler → Tip
The Valkyries rallied from an 11-point deficit to pull off an 87-77 overtime victory in Las Vegas for an improbable sweep in the best-of-five WNBA semifinals.
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Valkyries → rally → semifinals
“Down 11 meant nothing, right?
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Down → mean → nothing
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
