Breaking: Valkyries Coach Faces Kate Martin Decision Following Latest Injury News
Kate Martin, a former Iowa Hawkeyes guard, was selected in the WNBA Expansion Draft by the Golden State Valkyries, giving her a fresh start in professional basketball. In her debut season with the Las Vegas Aces, Martin appeared in 34 games but averaged only 11.5 minutes per game. Martin has been given more opportunities this season, but his average minutes are decreasing. Martin has averaged just under 12 minutes per game across her previous four outings. This also excludes a healthy DNP against the Dallas Wings last week.
Martin played only six minutes against the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, despite making her only three-pointer. During a press conference following Martin’s DNP versus Dallas, Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase emphasized the importance of managing minutes due to Golden State’s short schedule. “We have six games in ten days.” “We had six games in 12 days before the break,” she explained (via ClutchPoints’ Kenzo Fukuda). “So I’m just kind of being mindful and so we’ll see moving forward because that is not a lot of downtime.”
The schedule and injury report may allow Martin to return to the starting lineup as the Valkyries get ready for the first half of a back-to-back on Thursday night against the Washington Mystics. Given Valkyries’ injuries, Natalie Nakase may turn to Kate Martin. The Valkyries also revealed that Monique Billings has been sidelined due to an ankle ailment, in addition to the anticipated absence of All-Star forward Kayla Thornton, who had season-ending knee surgery. Tuesday night’s hero, Cecilia Zandalasini, who made the game-winning shot against Atlanta but is questionable due to a left foot injury, joins those two on the injury report.
Now that Thornton and Billings, two important players, are out, along with possibly Zandalasini, Nakase must decide how to handle the rotation. Is Martin the solution? Martin had two starts this season in what are typically thought of as three-guard lines, despite not being a frontcourt plater like Thornton and Billings. She began with Veronica Burton and Tiffany Hayes against the Indiana Fever on July 9. On May 16, Nakase faced the Los Angeles Sparks with the same three-guard lineup.
Given Golden State’s injury issue, Martin appears to have a road to additional minutes even if he is not selected to start against Washington on Thursday. The second-year guard has averaged 6.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 23 games so far this season.
