Gabby Williams, Janelle Salaün and Cecilia Zandalasini weren’t at the Golden State Valkyries‘ practice on Thursday.
It appears unlikely that the three would play in Friday’s game against the Portland Fire, the first leg of Golden State‘s back-to-back as the WNBA season resumes following the FIBA World Cup.
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All three are recuperating from the tournament – Williams and Salaün played for France against the U.S. in the gold medal match while Zandalasini played for Italy – but head coach Natalie Nakase wouldn’t say for sure if the trio is set to rest for Friday’s game.
“I’ll check in with them, see how they feel and we go from there,” Nakase said. “Someone could show up and just not feel good.”
Nakase returned to practice on Wednesday having served as an assistant coach for the victorious Americans, as did Miela Sowah, who played for Australia.
For the Valkyries who didn’t play in the World Cup and had three weeks off between action – practicing with the rest of the coaching staff – Thursday’s practice was about “emptying the tank” to jump start for the final four games.
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That meant an intensive film session, scouting Portland and playing all four quarters in practice.
“They’re ready to go,” Nakase said. “So they’re emptying the tank. As much as that sounds so simple, it sometimes is challenging. So it’s about the last eight practices they had with my staff, that’s what they were working on and today in practice it really showed. And just staying aligned with the different coverages that we’re going to throw at teams.”
Playoff berth in hand, the Valkyries will be focused on fine-tuning their strategy, staying healthy and securing their seeding. They entered Thursday two games behind first-place Minnesota and two games ahead of Las Vegas, which remains in reach of the second spot. Golden State’s magic number is three to secure at least the No. 2 seed.
“It doesn’t matter. Every team that makes the playoffs is going to be a great team,” said center Kiah Stokes, a three-time WNBA champion with the Aces. “Any given night, they can win, they can lose. For us it’s just making sure we can control what we can control and making sure that we’re playing our best basketball.”
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The World Cup put quite a few more minutes on the legs of Williams (averaged 25.9 minutes over six games), Zandalasini (29.7 minutes, four games) and Salaün (21.7 minutes, six games). It’s a good thing, then, that the Valkyries are one of the league’s deepest teams.
“We want to stay healthy going into playoffs, but we have to use this time to fine tune,” Stokes said of the next four games. “So it’s a good mix of staying ready, staying sharp, going hard, but I think also trying to get rest when you can.”
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This article originally published at Valkyries frontcourt trio have yet to practice after World Cup. When will they return?.
