Headed into the season, Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally expressed a sense of composure, a confidence built through a determined off-season. She took time to rest for the first time in a long time, getting her body right after numerous nagging injuries. 

Prior to a partial overseas season with Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce, Sabally took an extended stay in Dallas during the late fall and winter focused on skill development with Wings’ player development coach, Zak Buncik.

“Consistency is going to be my thing throughout this year. I can’t let one bad game affect my whole trajectory of the week, month, season… not letting myself get into the state of ever not believing in myself,” is what Sabally told me on Media Day when asked what she most wanted to see from herself in growth this season.

Through the first few weeks of the season, Sabally has undoubtedly made her mark, thundering onto the scene with a 25-point outburst against Atlanta; she’s averaging 22.3 points, 9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. She’s top ten in the league in scoring and rebounding and one of only three frontcourt players to average more than 3 assists per game (Alyssa Thomas and Jessica Shepard).

Already an All-Star once in 2021, it’s easy to forget the 2020 second-overall pick just turned 25 in April. It takes time in the league to assert yourself at the highest level, something echoed by a former MVP, and we’ve seen that play out directly through Sabally in May.

The raw numbers speak directly, but the context surrounding the box score amplifies it by multiple degrees. 

Numerous people inside and around the Wings noted early in training camp that Sabally was stronger, and that’s played out on the court. She’s always had the coordination, handle, and touch that caused analysts to dub her a “Unicorn,” and that added strength has been substantial in unlocking her potential. 

Drives to the rim that could have resulted in difficult angled shots, fall-aways, or turnovers last season have been parlayed into bruising finishes through contact. Her handle is a little tighter, her balance more in control, and all of the cogs of her skill set are in sync.

Sabally is shooting 78.6% from 0-3 feet per basketball reference, easily the highest efficiency of her career. While that is a small sample size, to be certain, and expected to drop a tad, the process has been noteworthy.

Her footwork has been pivotal alongside her strength. If you want to get somewhere, you need the ball skills and the muscle memory in your body to dissect defenders and attack the lane.

There have always been the long loping drives that dazzle and flash through on tape, but with her refinement, they pop routinely. 

Change of pace glides, bursty slashes out of the slot, and quick but subtle post-ups shine through.

Few defenders in the league have the combination of foot speed, aptitude, length, and size to handle Sabally’s decisiveness. The Wings and Head Coach Latricia Trammell have used that to their advantage as Dallas currently sits with the second most efficient offense in the league, only trailing Las Vegas.

Empowering Sabally as a ball-handler and decision-maker, particularly in early offense, has paid dividends.

According to Synergy Sports, she’s run as many pick-and-roll actions as a ball-handler this season as she did all of last year… through 4 games!

At 6’4, Sabally can:

• reject a ball screen and attack the open paint (clip 1)
• run a double drags set and escape dribble to hit the rolling big when the defense hedges (clip 2)
• run a four/five ball screen with Natasha Howard popping to create one of the hardest actions to guard in the W (clip 3)
• push the break with rim runs off a high screen in transition before using her vision to hit bigs in the dunker spot for easy dump-offs (clip 4).

The better question to ask might be, “What can’t she do?”

As Dallas has worked in a read-and-react (fewer sets, more actions) offense built around trust, flow, and making good decisions, Sabally has embodied those traits while blossoming into her potential.

WNBA reporter Mark Schindler writes a column on WNBA.com throughout the season and can be reached on Twitter at @MG_Schindler. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the WNBA or its clubs.