Storm Fall to Valkyries 91-80 Part 2

Additional thoughts, discussion, and interviews from Seattle's loss to GSV.

The Seattle Storm (0-1) opened the 2026 season with a 91-80 loss to the Golden State Valkyries (1-0). Gabby Williams returned to the Pacific Northwest, but it was Veronica Burton and Janelle Salaün who made the biggest splash for the Valkyries. Dominique Malonga led the Storm with 21 points. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below.

In Part 2, I wrote about how Game 1 played out as I expected, I discussed the Storm’s missing pieces, and asked if the Golden State Valkyries are going to ruin the WNBA. I’ve also included the post-game press conference audio interviews. That includes quotes from Jade Melbourne, Dominique Malonga, and Coach Sonia Raman.

As Expected

We got our first look at the 2026 Seattle Storm and … yeah, this is about what I expected. My initial impressions coming out of this game are that it played out how I thought it would. Entering the season, I expected either Dominique Malonga or Ezi Magbegor to lead the team in scoring. With Magbegor out injured, the responsibility falls to Malonga. She didn’t disappoint. In fact, she looked much better after she seemed to struggle a bit as the team’s #1 option in the preseason. Dom nearly had a 20/10 double-double, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds. She was also efficient, connecting on 53% of her shots. Malonga got to the foul line for nine free throws, which was great to see. She just needs to get more consistent (5-9 FT) from the charity stripe.

Zia Cooke continued her hot start, finishing with a career-high 15 points off the bench. Cooke has arguably been the team’s most impressive player through three games (including two preseason). She’s shown a lot of confidence, and that’s reflected by her performances. Cooke made 2-3 FG from beyond the arc, had some strong drives to the rim, got fouled, and pulled down seven rebounds (second only to Malonga). I’m buying Zia Cooke stock right now, and she might earn herself a nice pay increase next season if she keeps this up.

Jade Melbourne also looked fantastic. She was very efficient, scoring 13 points on 4-5 FG. I was most impressed with her outside shooting, as she made 2-3 FG on her 3-PT attempts. If Melbourne can continue to develop a better outside shot, it raises her ceiling by a good amount. Jade definitely still has starter potential, and maybe even borderline All-Star if she continues to develop and improve. She’s still only 23 years old. She has an elite first step to the rim. If her outside shooting continues to improve, she could be the long-term answer at point guard for the Storm. I also want to point out that you should make sure to listen to Jade’s post-game comments with the audio linked further below. She came across as very mature and knowledgeable with her answers.

Rookie Flau’jae Johnson had a solid debut. She finished with 12 points, but did not shoot the ball well (3-12 FG). The Storm need her to be a scorer, and she’s going to be a scorer. I think she’ll improve her efficiency as she gets more comfortable with the league. Several months ago, I wrote that if the Storm drafted Flau’jae, she would be their Jewell Loyd replacement. Even as a rookie, she is probably the Storm’s best isolation player and the player who can create her own shot the most. Her strong three-point shooting has been a positive to see.

Speaking of rookies. Good for Grace VanSlooten. I didn’t expect her to get any minutes in this game, but she did. She played seven minutes and scored five points. After knocking down two free throws, she hit a three-pointer that I think even surprised her. VanSlooten will need to improve her rebounding (had zero) if she’s going to get more minutes. But for a third-round pick, to not only make the team out of camp, but also score five points off the bench in her first professional game is an accomplishment she should be proud of.

I thought veterans Stefanie Dolson and Natisha Hiedeman were both very solid, especially Dolson. Stef finished with six points, five rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots. Her blocks might have actually been what I was most impressed with. With Ezi out injured, the Storm are going to need another rim protector to help Dominique Malonga. Dolson stepped up a couple of times.

For Hiedeman, I think her stat line looks significantly better if just one of her four three-point attempts goes in. Similar to Dolson, she finished with six points, had five rebounds, and three assists. She went 0-4 FG from downtown, but she’s proven to be a good three-point shooter throughout her career. I’m sure they’ll drop eventually. Hopefully, as soon as Sunday, when she returns to Connecticut, where she’s played for most of her career.

There were a couple of other performances. One that I’m not worried about. And another that I wasn’t surprised by.

Missing Pieces

It was pretty apparent to me that the Storm are clearly missing some pieces. They obviously are missing Ezi Magbegor and Awa Fam. The team might look significantly different with just those two players added to the mix. They’re also missing another scorer, and that’s ideally something Katie Lou Samuelson can help provide.

Hopefully, those three players will join the rest of the squad sometime in June. Lou might be able to play before then. The team needs another shooter to space the floor. They need more posts to rebound and help defend the paint.

I can’t say the Storm would have won had those three players been available. But it certainly would have helped. There were at least a couple of plays where Malonga was out guarding the perimeter, and there was no help defense down low.

As this season plays out, we’ll learn a lot about what the Storm are missing and what they need. I think even when they get those three players back, they will still be missing pieces. 3/5th of the team’s starting lineup will need to combine for more than 12 points a night. We’ll see if Ezi, Dom, and Awa are enough for the Storm’s frontcourt, and they can continue focusing on the guards and wings in next year’s draft.

This is more or less Year 1 of a rebuild. Throughout the year, we’ll see who steps up, makes the biggest impact, and where the team will need to get better in 2027.

Will the Valkyries Ruin the WNBA?

You’re going to have to bear with me for a bit. I know I’m getting older because this is about to be an old man yells at cloud type rant.

Analytics have massively changed the game of basketball as we know it. This isn’t specifically new, but it’s occurred primarily in the NBA. In the NBA, the league has all but given up on every aspect of the offensive game outside of three-point field goal attempts and layups/dunks. The midrange shot has disappeared. The low post game has disappeared.

It felt like the change occurred around the same time that Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the Splash Brothers, were dominating the league. The Golden State Warriors won four NBA Championships between 2015 and 2022, including three in four years. But looking back on it, they still weren’t taking that many three-point field goal attempts early on in those championship seasons.

In 2014-15, Curry’s first NBA Championship, the Golden State Warriors shot 27 3-PT FG attempts per game. The Houston Rockets led that year with 33 3PA/game. It wasn’t until around 2018-19 that things started to get out of hand. That year, the Houston Rockets led the NBA with 45 3PA/game. They were the only NBA team to average above 40 three-point attempts per game. However, 19 of the 30 teams averaged at least 30 3PA/game. Back in 2014-15, the Rockets were the only team (out of 30) to average more than 30 3PA/game. Fast forward to the present day. Six NBA teams shot more than 40 three-point field goal attempts per game. And all 30 NBA teams average more than 30 3PA/game.

In 2014-15, 29 out of the 30 NBA teams shot fewer than 30 three-point field goals per game. By 2023-2024, all 30 teams shot more than 30 attempts per game from beyond the arc. The complete transformation/bastardization away from the truest form of the sport of basketball.

No WNBA team has ever averaged more than 30 3PA/game in a season, but the Golden State Valkyries were very close a year ago. They led the WNBA with 29.9 three-point attempts per game last season. In Game 1 of the 2026 season, they took 37 shots from beyond the arc. They knocked down 41% of their attempts (15-37 FG). They made six more three-pointers than the Storm and five more than any other WNBA team that played on Friday (six teams total).

For those unfamiliar with why basketball analytics have changed the sport. The general premise is that it’s more beneficial to a team to shoot 40% from three than it is 50% from two. A team that shoots 40% from three on 30 attempts will make 12 three-pointers, 12 x 3 = 36 points. A team that shoots 50% from two on 30 attempts will make 15 two-point baskets, 15 x 2 = 30 points. Teams can shoot a fair amount worse from beyond the arc and still come out ahead. It’s also important to know that most teams won’t even be able to make 50% of their twos. Now, if a team is making only 45% from inside the arc, the team can shoot around 30% from beyond the arc to match that. Essentially, if a team just keeps chucking up three after three after three, they can shoot a low percentage and still end up better off than a team that focuses on scoring in the midrange or in the paint.

That’s what we saw on Friday night. The Storm outplayed the Valkyries for most of the first half, and that’s why they were able to go ahead by seven points early on. But Golden State’s threes kept them close. And they continued to shoot them over and over again. Eventually, Seattle wasn’t getting as many good looks. The Storm made 48% of their FG in the first half and 40% from beyond the arc, but in the second half, those numbers dropped to 34% FG overall and 27% from the three-point line. The Valkyries took 11 more three-point shot attempts than the Storm and made six more. They were +18 points in that category for the game. They won the game by 11 points.

Of course, the Valkyries aren’t the only team that’s headed in this direction. Karl Smesko (the Atlanta Dream’s coach) was well known for his heavy analytical approach when he coached at the college level at Florida Gulf Coast. He brought that same plan to the Dream last season, and we saw players like Naz Hillmon, Brittney Griner, and even Brionna Jones shooting threes when they normally wouldn’t. While Golden State led the WNBA last year at 29.9 3PA/game, the Dream were second at 28.4 3PA/game. Bri Jones went from shooting a career-high 14 three-point attempts in a season in 2024 to 46 attempts in 2025 under Smesko.

Analytics are going to become more and more ingrained in the WNBA’s style of play as we move forward. I just hope that the league doesn’t take it to the extreme that we see in the NBA. I want to see A’ja Wilson and Nneka Ogwumike dominate in the low post and the paint. I want to see Jewell Loyd or Arike Ogunbowale create separation with their dribbling and isolation skills. I want to see more than just three pointers.

Veronica Burton had some nice drives in the lane or to the rim. Kaitlyn Chen did too. But outside of that, I’m not sure the Valkyries made very many nice plays. It just felt like a ton of three-point shooting with the rare drive by Burton throughout the entire game. Congratulations to Golden State. They got an impressive road win to kick off their 2026 WNBA season. However, if the entire league turns into this over the next few years, this old man says, “Count me out!”

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Notes:
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Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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