Five games into Year 2, the Golden State Valkyries know exactly who they want to be.

Continuity was the theme of a long offseason, and now, they already look more certain of themselves. But not finished. Nor polished. 

The Valkyries have the same mission as Natalie Nakase undertook last year: pressure the ball, launch 3s at a high volume, and force chaos in transition. In a 3-2 start, the outline of what Nakase wants her team to be is plenty visible, possession by possession. 

The clearest version of who the Valkyries want to be showed up in their 17-point, statement road win over the New York Liberty, an early-season title contender that got even deeper in the offseason by adding Pauline Astier and Satou Sabally. Fresh off eight days of rest, that game looked like Nakase’s system working exactly as designed. Five players scored in double figures and Golden State’s defense hounded Liberty ballhandlers to the tune of 15 turnovers. The Valkyries got out in transition and splashed 13 3s with a balanced five-out offense. They shared the rock, avoiding ball-stopping possessions. 

The Valkyries also executed one prong of their game plan: contain Marine Johannes. She was red-hot entering the matchup, but Golden State held her scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting. 

It was a kind of proof-of-concept showing, much like their earlier 95-79 win over Phoenix, with a version of the Valkyries that looked coherent, connected [Nakase’s favorite word], and difficult to solve when their pressure rattles early and their shooting follows.  

If New York was the blueprint working, Indiana less than 24 hours later was a reminder of what happens when it doesn’t. 

It was a lot of little things. The Valkyries just simply missed clean, easy looks down the stretch. They coughed the ball up 14 times despite entering the night as the league’s most careful team when it comes to maintaining possession. And they got dragged into a version of their offense that looked unfamiliar. In trying to navigate Indiana’s pace while never fully establishing their own, Golden State went for a lot of guard-isolation play and not their signature collective shot creation offense. 

They couldn’t contain the Fever’s starpower. Caitlin Clark’s flurry of daggers from the logo fed the crowd and wound up Indiana’s momentum; she finished with 22 points and nine assists. Aliyah Boston was a force, playing the pick-and-roll with Clark, posting up Kiah Stokes, and nailing her midrange jumper. She was largely a non-factor when the Valkyries and Fever met twice last year, but this time around, Golden State’s frontcourt couldn’t effectively mute her.

“Defense is our bread and butter, and 90 points is just too much for any team to score on us,” Tiffany Hayes [team-high 19 points] said postgame. 

The Valkyries went 7-for-22 from behind deep, showing heavy legs on the short turnaround as Indiana pushed the pace. 

Five games in, there appears to still be some trial-and-error with rotations. For a deep team, that’s probably by design. In the second half against Indiana, Nakase used Janelle Salaün as the five in a second-half adjustment, and also only played Laeticia Amihere 11 minutes in such a physically demanding game that seemed suited to her defensive versatility. Both looks are intriguing. Williams [six points in 22 minutes] didn’t close the game. Clearly, there’s still a bit of curiosity when it comes to unlocking lineup flexibility. 

Kaila Charles has held onto the starting role since Hayes went down with a pinky injury in the opening quarter against Seattle. But, Hayes’ return in the back-to-back changed the tone of the offense significantly with downhill speed and transition pressure. Alongside Kaitlyn Chen, who had her career-high against Indiana, Hayes drove much of the creation, consistently attacking Indiana’s guards in isolation and turning those advantages into finishes at the rim — a different look from a Valkyries offense that loves to move the ball around the perimeter.

Salaün was on a heater through the Valkyries’ first two games, averaging 20.5 points, leading the team in scoring on both nights. She’s since been quiet. Nakase will look to find the best group to unlock a new-level of Salaün and how or if it can be sustained. 

Add in the pending integration of additional pieces — Cecilia Zandalasini off a concussion suffered against the Storm and presumably a huge offensive upgrade in Justė Jocytė — the Valkyries could be trending toward a true 10-11 player rotation. It doesn’t look like Chen’s minutes should dwindle the way she’s been producing, but the minutes will have to come from somewhere. 

The upside of it all is depth, though this team hasn’t proven it can stay healthy top-down through a 44-game season. The challenge is consistency and in finding late-game closing combinations.  

The next three-game home stretch can clarify what the fluctuation between these early games signal. 

If she’s reconditioned and has put in her time in the film room, there’d be no better time to try out Jocytė, who joined the team back from Europe for the road trip but did not suit up, in Monday’s matchup against a disjointed Connecticut Sun team. 

The Indiana rematch arrives quickly, and we’ll see if adjustments — and maybe a home court advantage — can meaningfully shift the result. But the real benchmark, for all those labeling the Valkyries a dark horse in contention for a deep playoff run, will be Sunday hosting the Las Vegas Aces. Can Golden State’s identity hold up against the league’s frontrunner? How will they contain weapons at every point in the halfcourt? 

Five games in, no sweeping conclusions are necessary. The identity is clear and it’s the same year over year. It’s a matter of smoothing out the edges and creating when the three-ball isn’t falling. When the pressure, pace, and perimeter shooting align, it’s a look that could take the Valkyries to a few wins they wouldn’t otherwise get. The question will be how often it can survive star power or an off shooting night.