Home BASKETBALL WNBA Defense Wins Championships: How the Valkyries Built an Identity and Won It All in Game 7

Defense Wins Championships: How the Valkyries Built an Identity and Won It All in Game 7

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Defense Wins Championships: How the Valkyries Built an Identity and Won It All in Game 7
The switch that won it all

The Hillmon Cross-Match: The one defensive tweak that unlocked Veronica Williams and decided the WNBA finals. 


Most valuable player on the planet” — williams' 28-point second half clinches title for Valkyries...


Fifty-eight seconds. That's all it took.


Angel Reese catches it on the left wing. It's only her 31st half-court touch of the night a series low with elite defender Kiah Stokes in front of her.


Reese is hunting a Game 6 repeat. Stokes knows it. Unlike Thursday, she's not giving up her top foot. She sits in a flatter stance, peeking left, waiting.


As Stokes locks back in, Reese attacks left.


Pound. Pound. Gather. Bump.


It looks as though Reese has created enough inside position to get a shot off over Stokes, but not enough time to beat the help defense of a rotating Gabby Williams.


Slide. Slide. Leap. Swat.


It was a statement play. One that foreshadowed more than five scoreless minutes for the Dream to open Game 7 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday. It was the first of four blocks and six stocks in total for Williams in the Valkyries' 68-63 win, and ultimately a sign that she would do whatever it took to secure victory.


She did win.


They did win.


It is only fitting that the Valkyries won the championship behind their defense. And it is fitting that Williams, who would go on to tie a WNBA Finals record with 30 points in a winner-take-all Game 7, first made her impact on the defensive end.


That Williams was even in position to deliver that block came down to a subtle tweak from head coach Natalie Nakase, another example of her willingness to shuffle the lineup to give her team the best chance to win. In this instance, it was Nakase's call to have Williams match up with forward Naz Hillmon rather than fellow star wing Rhyne Howard.


The move seemed designed to unleash Williams' elite off-ball instincts without risking breakdowns behind the play. While Hillmon can hit shots, she doesn't shoot or score at a volume that demands constant attention.


In fact, several teams most notably the Indiana Fever and New York Liberty during their second-round series were comfortable putting guards on Hillmon to create cross-matches elsewhere. That's what prompted me to ask both head coach Karl Smesko and Hillmon about handling that strategy before the Finals started.


Smesko described it as a smart adjustment afterward, explaining how that cross-match helped the Valkyries shut down some of the off-ball actions the Dream were trying to run.


Nakase said it was nothing more than a change of pace.


Whatever the actual motive and Nakase was likely being a bit coy the move paid off. Per Second Spectrum, Williams had only guarded Hillmon 17 times in the half-court through the first six games. She did it 33 times in Game 7 alone, holding Atlanta to just 21 points on those possessions.


And if we're talking about flipping a switch, Williams' scoring tells the story: 2 points in the first half, 28 in the second.


It started the way it usually does for Williams with a drive. She showed right, went behind her back to her left, and dragged Jordin Canada to the rim for a slick left-handed finish.


Then came the rough patch.


Her next three attempts didn't fall: a contested end-of-clock three that Canada might have tipped, a left-handed finish over Howard and Hillmon that rimmed out, and a stampede cut to a layup that Reese blocked before Kiah Stokes cleaned it up for a putback.


But that didn't stop Williams from staying aggressive. After missing a turnaround jumper against Allisha Gray, she made her next one count  a lefty drive past Hillmon.


Then the onslaught truly started.


A step-back three over DeWanna Bonner after a switch. A triple over Reese's outstretched arm from the right wing. A wide-open left-corner three after Canada hit the floor and Reese was late to close out. Moments later, a dribble-in post-up that turned into a fading jumper over Canada.


The Dream led 35-28 after Williams missed that turnaround over Gray. By the end of the third quarter, the Valkyries were ahead 45-44. A 17-9 swing in that span, with Williams accounting for 13 of those points.


It was time for Williams to slam the door in the fourth. A Chris Paul special a pull-up middy from around the right elbow over Reese after a late switch. Later, a drive and finish over Reese following a breakdown against a Tiffany Hayes ghost screen. And finally, a 28-footer to put the Valkyries up 60-57 with 2:18 remaining.




The Valkyries never gave that lead back.


It was a remarkable performance from a remarkable player, one that earned her Finals MVP honors and led Nakase to call her the “most valuable player on the planet.”






From the opening defensive rotation that set the tone to the 28-point second half that decided it, Williams embodied what the Valkyries have been all season. They won not because they had the most talent on paper, but because they had a player willing to do everything guard the star, guard the role player, block the shot, hit the shot and a coach willing to put her in position to do it. On a night when the Dream went cold, Golden State stayed relentless, and it ended with a trophy.


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