Natalie Nakase Makes Surprising Admission Following Golden State Valkyries’ First Loss

The Golden State Valkyries got off to a high-flying start with two wins in as many games. Coach Natalie Nakase used her rotations well, involving the whole team in the game and playing to their strength. But the recent loss against the Sky team was once again an eye-opener.

Forward Gabby Williams pointed out the offensive gaps in her game analysis during the post-game interview as the Sky side was able to hold off the offensively strong side below 65 points. Coach Natalie Nakase, though, had a completely different view about the loss and is looking to use her analysis to fine-tune the gameplay for the rest of the season.

Natalie Nakase Takes Blame For The Loss Against the Chicago Sky

The Chicago Sky team built one of the most balanced rosters in the league following the departure of Angel Reese. While the team played with passion and a point to prove, their performances on defense so far have impressed many.

In the game against the Valkyries, too, the side made the stops at clutch moments, disrupting the offense’s flow. Talking about it in the post-game interview, Nakase said, “I put this one on me. I gotta make sure that [the players] understand who we are; I gotta maintain and punch more into like our discipline, of the layers of our defense. That has to be there. We can’t just rely on getting Ballhalla all excited in terms of our shooting.”

Natalie Nakase took the blame for the loss. Liked the shot quality, said they got a lot of layup attempts but need to be better with physicality:

“I put this one on me. I gotta make sure that they understand who we are and I gotta maintain and punch more into like our discipline pic.twitter.com/9xmjjs3ncW

— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) May 14, 2026

Interestingly, the coach took responsibility for the loss late in the 2025 season, and the team improved drastically in the later games, finishing in the top eight in the standings.

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While the coach took the blame for the loss against the Sky team, she had a dilemma about changing the starting five for the game. The coach faced the same question after her team struggled with a slow start to the games.

Natalie Nakase Talks About Change In The Starting Lineup

The Golden State Valkyries were one of the ‘late bloomers’ in the 2025 season, where they had to compete with three teams for the playoff spot. Now that Natalie Nakase has already set a high target for the team, they can’t afford to play catch-up late in the season.

But the first two games show similar traits as the team started with 1-of-7 and 1-of-9 shooting until the coach made her first change with Salaün or Amihere. “Both of them can attack closeouts, and then they’re long, and they rebound,” Nakase said. “So extra possessions. When [Amihere] was getting in there, she was grabbing boards, putting it back up. I think she had an advantage versus her matchup. And so anytime where we could, change the matchups and attack certain matchups, that’s just the versatility that we have.”

NEW 📝📝📝:

Will Natalie Nakase shake up the starters after the emergences of Janelle Salaun and Laeticia Amihere?

The Valkyries coach said it’ll depend on the matchup.

“To me, starting doesn't matter. It's how you finish.”

More here:https://t.co/N7rbqmTKce

— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) May 11, 2026

So when the question came up about the possible change in the starting five, the coach once again pointed at the ‘situation’ and was ready for the change.