WNBA players using the rapid pace of Unrivaled games to prepare for upcoming season

MEDLEY, Fla. (AP) — 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 with 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.”

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Vinyl's Dearica Hamby, right, fouls Rose's Chelsea Gray, left, during an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Phantom center Brittney Griner (42) defends against Mist forward Breanna Stewart (30) during the first half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Vinyl forward Dearica Hamby (5) goes to the basket as Laces guard Tiffany Hayes, right, defends during the second half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Laces guard Kate Martin (20) defends as Vinyl guard Jordin Canada (3) shoots during the first half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Phantom forward Satou Sabally (0) talks with an official during the first half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game against Mist, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Laces guard Kate Martin dribbles during the first half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game against Vinyl, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Phantom forward Satou Sabally (0) drives to the basket as Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards (3) defends during the second half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.

Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44 yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a little further right still.

By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.

“I'm definitely stunned, man,” Jackson said. “I thought we had it in the bag. ... I don't know what else we can do.”

Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.

It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped, symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its form.

Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.

Instead, the rookie said he “mishit” it. Whatever it was, it never threatened to sneak between the goalposts.

“It’s disappointing,” Loop said.

Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his team's season.

The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to Pittsburgh.

Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.

When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the second half.

Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.

“We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said. “But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that sometimes.”

Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.

“It comes down to situations like this,” Jackson said. “Two-point conversion one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way to get that win here.”

And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.

Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29 this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.

Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in the franchise's way — Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them — would be gone.

While the Ravens did get their way in a sense — the Chiefs will watch the playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of their own — it never all came together.

Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise going forward.

Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.

“I love these guys,” he said afterward. “I love these guys.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, hands the ball off to running back Derrick Henry (22) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, left, greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers (40) reacts after Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) missed a field goal attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)