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Anybody watching the Valkyries?

tuxumino

tuxumino

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I watched the semi finals against the Aces and now I'm watching the finals against the Dream. Seems like the women are playing pretty tough.
 
Been watching the Valkyries since the beginning. This postseason has been filled with some very exciting basketball! Not to mention it’s great to see Angel Reese shut down.
Go Valkyries!
 
Women's/girls' hoops is rough. A trio of reasons, in my opinion.

#1 When on the move, especially around the basket, women 'get thin' less well than their male counterparts. No, not their size, it's the speed or lack thereof. Guys can slide between defenders avoiding contact where the ladies don't have the leg strength to just bounce sideways. Simple physics. A guy has better hops and driving the lane, especially using a EuroStep is like the triple jump. Last time I looked, men's 3xleap was better than the women's. Are there exceptions? Of course, there are ladies that can slip between players like mercury.

#2 Officiating throughout the age groups of hoops played by females is noticeably more forgiving of contact. Basically, basketball refs allow the ladies to bang on each other. I speak from practical experience.

#3 Perception...watching females do the same pushing and shoving might be perceived as rougher by those not directly connected to the sport. Some of it is the same. Seeing a female exert that effort seems rougher to the more casual observer.

That's my view...YMMV.

And yes, I watched this last game which leaves the home club one victory away from a title. Go GSV!
 
The quality of play in this women’s national basketball league stands on its own merits. It doesn’t need to be compared to the men’s/boys game in order to be validated or made to be less than.
 
WC,

Validation of any professional league will be attendance and TV viewership. Or benevolent benefactors.

One of the sports I was involved, tennis, the dollar was achieved by the interest. Softball, not so much. In that sport, funding outside of income stream was/is a necessity. From what I am told, WNBA ledger sheet is the same.

In all three, the quality of play stands on its own, as you stated. My comments regarding the question of rough play are just my view of why some would think it so. I am commenting as a striped shirt (in hoops), father of a player (tennis, bb & sb) and coach of more.
 
I'm enjoying the WNBA more so than the NBA of late. I miss the incredible dunks, which you dont catch in the W, but the women can hoop. I find it more enjoyable. Love the Valkyries and believe they are going to be a dominant force in the WNBA for years. Top to bottom they are run the right way, and Nakase is the real deal coach. Destined for greatness. If only they could draft! I still dont know what the hell they were doing in the draft this year. I love how the Bay Area has shown up for this team. The envy of the league!
 
BB has never got me going.
I watched part of a game and just did not get into it. Same goes for the men’s game.

I did not play in high school except recreationally so that may be it. The sports I dig I played.
 
I've been meaning to try and catch a WNBA game.

Not much of a BB fan. Wife and I thought it would be neat to pop down and watch a Lakers game, but at $400 per lousy ticket, we said "Nah". But we did watch a Clipper game and it was OK.

But, later I watched I guess it was a compress WNBA game, because all it showed were the drives. There was very little standing around bouncing the ball, they were just running one end to the other. I don't know if that's a normal game or it was a compressed for a "cram the game into an hour" type of replay.

So, I've been meaning to try and see an actual game.

It was also curious how from what I did watch, all of the team jerseys had city names, not team names.
 
That sports equinox-term borrowed from KNBR broadcast-was an epic Monday night. Valkyries/WNBA has even more difficulty with viewership coming up. Sixth and what could be final game being held in Atlanta at...9:30 am tip-off this Thursday.

Yes, morning. Has to do with arena availability.
 
Agent Orange said:
They had to compete against the Warriors, MNF, and the WS last night. Ouch
Click to expand...
Normally the season would be over by now, ending right before the NBA season starts, but there was a break for the FIBA World Cup tournament, which happens every 4 years in non-Olympic years. It’s kind of been wreaking havoc with the Atlanta team and where they will play their games. They’ll be playing in the Hawks arena next year, but they currently play in a 3500 seat arena. Their games that have been played in the Hawks 17,500 seat arena have sold out in record time. As an aside, the Atlanta Hawks average a little over 16,000 fans per game. The Valkyries play at Chase with the capacity of 18,064, same as the Warriors, and have sold out every game in both of their seasons.

By the way, the US women have won that FIBA tournament 12 out of the 20 times it has been held, and have won the last 5 tournaments.
 
I've been watching the Valks on and off throughout the season. I've slowly gotten more interested in them as I get to know the team better. I really hope they win it all. I feel like this will sound like piling on, but I don't care much for Angel Reese' antics during the game. It's just over the top for me. Like Luca in the NBA, no thanks.

Agent Orange said:
They had to compete against the Warriors, MNF, and the WS last night. Ouch
Click to expand...

I was mostly watching the Valks/Dream but I always switch around to other games during the commercials. Once the WS game got out of hand I bailed. I couldn't find the Dubs game or I may have watched that a bit more, especially since I hear about the game that Yaxel had.

Go Valkyries!!
 
Warriors were streaming on Peacock. I, too, kept an eye on the WS, and forgot the Dubs were on til after the Valkyries post-game show.

Angel Reese is a phenomenal player. I've always known it, but her extreme jealousy of Caitlyn Clark and her off-court antics made me not like her. Like, it wasn't enough to be great at what she does, she had to do all this other crap to get noticed. She reminds me of Dennis Rodman. Pretty immature. I was actually bummed when Atlanta won and knew we'd have to watch her game after game. I didn't want her there. The Valks coach, Natalie Nakase (very interesting basketball trajectory, starting as a 5'2" CA state champ in high school, walk-on starter at UCLA, men's coach in Japan, to assistant coach with the Clippers, with lots of interesting stuff in between) found a way to neutralize her, and she is very much frustrated at being shut down, thus the on-court antics. Unlike the Valkyries with lots of different moving parts and a crazy good bench, Atlanta will find it hard to win with Reese being throttled. I'm not commenting as a referee, father, or coach, just a basketball fan who has been watching women's basketball for a long time.

EDIT: Reese has worked on her shooting, and it has improved somewhat. She is a rebounder, and gets lots of offensive rebounds, quite a few of which are her own misses, hence the term "mebounds." :laughing
 
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Nakase has such a badass story. I heard/read that she had a spot on a different college team but wanted to go out for the UCLA team and made it (AND became a starter). Very cool. They mentioned last night that while she was with the Clippers, she was picking Chris Paul's brain a lot. It was nice to see him at the game last night supporting (Even though he's one of my least favorite NBA players, hahaha).
 
Bubba_s said:
Nakase has such a badass story. I heard/read that she had a spot on a different college team but wanted to go out for the UCLA team and made it (AND became a starter). Very cool. They mentioned last night that while she was with the Clippers, she was picking Chris Paul's brain a lot. It was nice to see him at the game last night supporting (Even though he's one of my least favorite NBA players, hahaha).
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SAME! :laughing There are lots of Warriors, and NBA players in general, supporting the Valkyries and other WNBA teams. It was good to see CP there.

Nakase had a free ride at UC Irvine but wanted to play for UCLA so she went there instead.
 
I generally don't follow any of the sportsballs.

I was out and about last weekend (Saturday the 17th) looking to satiate my Brisket Lust that had gone unrequited for months. This despite being served several servings of brisket from various establishments, alas...all were sub par.

Anyway I ended up at Heads and Tails in Berkeley. The place was mobbed and everyone was wearing Valkyries Gear. I guess that spot is all about the Warriors and Valkyries. The vibe in the room was pretty infectious. I had a good time despite not really understanding the game.
 
budman said:
BB has never got me going.
I watched part of a game and just did not get into it. Same goes for the men’s game.

I did not play in high school except recreationally so that may be it. The sports I dig I played.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure most fans are like that. They watch what they played, and they played what they loved. Me? I cannot walk and dribble a basketball at the same time, so basketball was never my sport. I was a very good gymnast, ice skater, and a pretty good softball player, but basketball was never in the cards for me. My cousin lived with us in 1975, and he was a big Warriors fan. I watched and listened to a lot of basketball with him, and of course the Warriors were actually good that year. That cousin also took me to my first Major League Baseball game...Candlestick in 1975. I grew up going to San Jose Bees games and loved the game, and was already playing PAL softball by then.
 
My only question is with the name.
The Valkyries?? Sounds like a portly, clunky cruiser.
They should have a name that reflects their speed and nimble agility.....
Clearly, they should be called The GSXR's. :shame
 
Yes I am watching the Valk's a bit. I watched the Iggles lose to Dallas and then the Men-dubs beat Denver so I missed last nights game. I think the bay area is lucky to have two pretty good basketball teams to call their own.
 
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