WNBA players using Unrivaled’s rapid pace to prepare for upcoming season

Satou Sabally was all over the court. The leading scorer for Unrivaled‘s Phantom BC drained a 3-pointer at the top of the key at Wayfair Arena in Miami, dove for a loose ball a couple possessions later, then took a few deep breaths as she made her way to the bench.

“I am tired,” Sabally said before she began a courtside interview on TNT.

That’s what players are getting used to with the intense and physical 3-on-3 play at Unrivaled, which is pushing a fast-paced, pickup-style game that moves at the speed of a track race.

Games are played on a condensed full court that’s 72-feet long and 49.2-feet wide — a WNBA court is 22 feet longer and less than a foot wider. The 18-second shot clock is shorter than the W’s 24-second shot clock and college basketball’s 30-second timer.

The result: Constantly running up and down the floor, passes zipped across the court with lightning speed and no plays off.

“I think people would think it’s not as physical or fast because it’s a shorter court,” said Kate Martin of the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries, playing for Unrivaled’s Laces BC, “but it makes it so much more physical and so much faster because you’re in every single action offensively and defensively. You can’t really hide out there and take a possession off.”

Half-court sets in a typical 5-on-5 game don’t always require every offensive player to be involved in the play. That’s not the case with Unrivaled. Because there’s only three players, someone has the ball, someone may be setting a screen, someone may be cutting to the basket, and so on.

“So somebody is getting hit with a screen, whether it’s off-ball or on-ball, or you’re just running around like crazy,” Martin said. “It just it makes it fun though, which, that’s what you want is the really physical and fast pace. It’s going to make us better.”

Martin pointed out the intensity after her Laces team got a physical win over the Vinyl squad last Friday.

“Unfortunately, sometimes plays will happen where I get popped in the mouth or hit on the screen,” Martin added, “kneed in the thigh, whatever. That’s just kind of the name of the game. And it happens.”

Fatigue appeared to set in for players as some games went on during the second week of competition.

Mist BC coach Phil Handy called a timeout late in the second quarter of his team’s matchup against Phantom after it appeared players were getting winded. Some players could be heard pointing out that their opponents looked tired.

“It’s a different type of toll on your body because you’re getting hit left and right all the time,” said Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray, playing for Rose BC. “There’s not really a time where you take a possession off because there’s only three players on the floor. … You’ve got to be in shape for sure to be able to play this game.”

The primary goal is player development — to have these 36 WNBA players improve their games against elite competition during this nine-week stretch of their offseason.

Some players are finding the balance of using the games for conditioning while not overextending themselves before the WNBA season, which begins about two months after Unrivaled wraps up with the championship on March 17.

“Obviously, this is the middle of our offseason,” said New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who plays for Phantom, “and I think there’s a fine line of understanding you’re here to get better and continue to work on your game. But also for me, I can’t be mentally locked in like I am in the W season here now, or I’d be burnt out by the time the W starts, because I am so competitive and take everything so seriously.”

Ionescu said she’s been working on her conditioning since about a week after the Liberty defeated Minnesota in the WNBA finals in October. She plans to continue that with Unrivaled so she can be “in the best shape of my life.”

“This time here you’re going to really be able to improve on that to be able to kind of take off into the W season in the best shape, and also refining your game as well,” Ionescu said. “You’re able to tell the people that put in a lot of work to get in shape because you’re just going, you’re running, you’re playing defense, then you’re sprinting down the floor (and) shooting.

“It’s really going to put it to the test, and hopefully just make us better individuals.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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