Hope everyone is settling down from the high (and terror maybe?) of the last game.

I’m back again with post-mortem to evaluate Game 5 and discuss hope/concerns/thoughts for Game 6.

We’ll kick off revisiting some thoughts I shared on the Game 4 post mortem:

Matching Kiah’s minutes to Angel was also an extremely good change. Kiah (and everyone) needs to continue forcing Angel to her weak side. I doubt she continues to have as poor of a game, but I think shutting her down puts a clamp on ATL’s energy as a whole.

WE DID IT, JOE!!! Shout out Kiah for having a SICKO game with 3/4 three points made. True demon mode. Holding Angel to 1 point less than last game is crazy work.

Some other thoughts:

- Whelp, I’m now concerned the whistle will be in ATL’s favor with how Karl and Angel complained about officiating in the post game presser.

I know our girls are resilient and still won Game 4 despite the FT differential, but I can’t help but be nervous.

- We have to keep Angel in jail and make sure she can’t score. Rhyne’s getting on heater, which worries me, but ATL has been playing heavy minutes throughout the series so far.

- Ceci looks so good coming off the bench. I’m desperately wishing for us to have a good scoring night. Gabby’s shots look off but she’s so good on defense that she still contributes. I just really, really, really am hoping she can find her shot

My sister is currently a season ticket holder for the Valkyries, two seats in section 215. When we go to the games, I usually buy a single ticket and sit lower level preferably in 112 - 119, closest to West side main entrance.

Since I went to many games this season (myself and with friends), I told her that I would just split the cost for two seats but in lower level. She told me that she would keep me posted when it’s time to upgrade. She also mentioned you don’t get to pick and your rep is the one to tell you what is available.

How does this upgrade typically work? And what is ball park pricing for lower level seats? And what are the chances to get two seats in a good section in lower level? Preferably row 10 to 20. Doesn’t have to be club, but corners (112 or 119) would be nice….

so let’s wrap up this “KiAh dIdN’T dO ThIS wItH tHe  AcES” nonsense. https://www.threads.com/share/QeeLdHE8z/

So lets say hollywood makes a movie about the Valkyries, using anyone in history, what does your cast look like, ideally? I'm thinking of the following.

Maya Rudolf as Kiah Stokes

Barack Obama's Daughter, Malia Obama as Tiffany Hayes

Guess starring - A young jodie foster as Marine Johannes, Gabby Williams Girlfriend

The smile!!!!
Fastest driver in Zootopia!!! Flash Mode Activated !!!

Via gamebound on Threads

Hard to carve a symmetrical logo onto a pumpkin freehand but let's go boohalla

Hi Valks fans! I have gotten so much out of being a Valks fan these two seasons and wanted to give something back. I have printed out a bunch of these postcards that I designed (without AI), and will be sending out free postcards to the first 100 or so folks who request one.

Here's the link to request a postcard

No money required at all, but I am also including a link to donate to Trans Lifeline as well. Totally optional! Go Valks!!

So last week I went to game 2. I showed up at 3:30PM when the gates opened and the line was short and quick to get in. I watched game 5 yesterday at Thrive City. I arrived right before tipoff and the line was ridiculously long. Some people didn't get in till the end of the 1st quarter and were watching most of it on the big screen outside. In my head I was thinking damn these people paid all that money, are missing the game, and wouldn't have had to deal with the line if they showed up an hour earlier. It's just an observation I noticed.

I’ve made repeated threats in this subreddit (and r/WNBA) to hold everyone accountable and it’s time for everyone to get in line and submit their apology forms here 👇👇👇👇👇

I will not stand for the offseason panic erasure

(guys btw this is a joke)
(ok maybe I am a little serious)

not hard to appear unwell after losing my voice at ballhalla last night! go valks!!!!

if they can pull it off Thursday when would the parade be?

If it is Halloween?

Are they still going to do a parade if they don't?

Hi! Does anyone have an extra game 5 shirt they are wanting/willing to part with? I will pay shipping costs!

This finals series brought us pain, suffering and loss. But it's also brought us together--as family, friends, fans, and teammates. This bond that ties us together is something the Atlanta Dream will never understand. It's more powerful than any superstar, stronger than any shot. It can't be taken or destroyed.

The next few days will decide the fate of Golden State Valkyries. Every mother/father, every son/daughter, and every fan. They're trusting you, depending on you to win them their future—a future as WNBA Champions.

But take heart. Look around you. You're not in this fight alone against the Atlanta Dream. We face our enemy together, and together, we will defeat them."

In every WNBA thread you'll see a dream fan post the screenshot of VB on Gray's face, and Angel getting chicken winged by gabby. Both missed calls. You'll also see Valks' fans point to the free throw discrepancy.

I saw a dream thread pointing out the difference of style will create a difference of free throw discrepancy, makes sense! a team that is reliant on the 3 ball is going to get less calls. So I did a quick dive in the numbers.

I'm not a data analyst, so I won't go into these numbers for you, but in my opinion both things are true. Golden state is getting away with calls, but ATL is also getting a more favorable whistle in the finals, compared to their regular season matchups.

I don't think officiating is why they're down this series, and while I agree that dangerous missed calls should have been called or looked at, I don't think it's a valid criticism for their fans to have of why they're losing.

Loving the depth we are playing with and not just from a lineup POV (as we've really dialed into a 7-player rotation that's been working on both ends) but also from the fact that across our big 3 this series of Gabby, VB, and Kiah we are seeing their impact and willpower of how much they want this.

Gabby through the first few games had to carry the load offensively while still being elite on defense (2.6 SPG) and having to switch effectively 1 through 5. Idc about shooting splits and efficiency this series because this series is a defensive mud fight and absolutely no one will have good splits when this thing is over, and it's really about who can get it done.

Kiah has been a rock for us all playoffs with her ability to anchor our backline and just have her presence felt at all times on the defensive end regardless of who she matches up with. My favorite aspect about her 3's last night is that they were found within the flow of the offense that we wanted rather then being forced into a Kiah 3 because every other action got shut down. Just a winner through and through.

VB has been playing ELITE defense on ATL's perimeter players and has been an absolute dog all series. Her shift in games 4 and 5 of attacking her matchup and taking more shots really changed the series imo and helped free up and organize our offense enough while still being lockdown on the other end. Some of my favorite things to rewatch has just been VB defensive posessions as her ability to keep up with any switches, screens, tagging to help down, recovering, etc. is a marvel and I would encourage everyone to do the same. Similar to my sentiment around Gabby this is not a series where anyone will shoot well on both teams so to accept that, put your head down, and go to work and change the outlook for your team shows how much of a big time player and winner VB has been. This is not a pretty series and you just need to go and get it and to me she's changed the trajectory for us.

Job's not done and we still need one more so i'll avoid any pre-emptive finals MVP bad juju talk, but wanted to shoutout the depth we've had not only across the team but at the top for us.