We are back from a well-deserved break on the Daily McPlay, as we posted content for 667 consecutive days. But that ended on July 29, 2025, when we just did not feel up to it. And then, we went on a vacation where we were mostly out of connectivity range and just decided to hang it up for awhile. Feels good, in truth, to take some time away, even from something you love, as the labor involved can take its negative toll. So …

Thanks for your patience and understanding, as we return with this Friday Funday entry on the Golden State Valkyries. We went to the team’s home game on Wednesday night against the Las Vegas Aces in San Francisco, getting a free Valkyries clear backpack (designed for a fifth-grade girl) in the process. Golden State lost the game, 78-72, when the team just couldn’t shoot straight yet again, and the challenge endures.

In this close loss—the Valkyries have lost nine times this year by single digits—the home team shot just 39.7 percent from the floor while foolishly taking 22 shots from three-point range … and hitting just four of them (18.2 percent). When you’re hitting over 50 percent from inside the arc (21-for-41), maybe that’s where your shot selection should be focused, you know? It’s mind boggling why Golden State chucks up so much.

The team leads the WNBA in three-point attempts (868) while placing 12th (out of 13 teams) in three-point percentage (31.1). Any kid with an ounce of math skills will tell you that’s a bad formula for making buckets. Yet even the team’s 47.2-percent rate from two-point range ranks just tenth in the league; the Valkyries need to take more two pointers, of course, but they also just need to shoot better overall. We knew this.

One of the more frustrating things we’ve noticed is the team’s inability to make most of their bunnies, i.e. those two- or three-foot shot attempts like layups and put-backs. It’s amazing how often they miss those shots, simply because the Valkyries’ players are not fully extending their arms before releasing the ball toward the basket, the glass, or the rim. It’s like they’re in such a hurry to shoot the ball, they just don’t aim.

We know that’s a simplification, but we did coach college women’s basketball once way back when, and every practice the team spent significant time shooting bunnies to get the muscle memory locked in on those high-percentage shots. But for the Golden State roster, the high-percentage part just is not coming through at all. We respect Head Coach Natalie Nakase more than we can say, but we’d offer that tip to her.

Yeah, everyone loves three pointers, thanks to Stephen Curry. But he is a rare breed. Those who try to emulate him will inevitably fail, and even if the fans clamor for threes, the smart play is taking the twos inside as much as possible. The Valkyries have a silly scoreboard graphic for when the team makes a three pointer: “What a Dagger!” Yet, every time they miss one of those shots, it’s really a self-inflicted wound.