ATLANTA — Satou Sabally heard a group of courtside fans chirping as they played Thursday night. They told him he needed to rest from his shooting.
He told them he would beat the other three before nightfall.
When Sabally drained a 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter, he turned to them and they all laughed.
Sabally checked out later, failing to make good on his promise to dismiss the other three.
But that meant nothing.
The important thing is that Sabally continues to look like himself with each passing day, his performance in Thursday’s 104-90 win over the Atlanta Dream being the latest example.
Sabally finished with a team-high 19 points, going 5-for-6 from downtown. He also grabbed three rebounds. He did so when he came off the bench for the fifth game in a row.
Sabally’s sacrifice did not. He deserves to be a starter, and is expected to be promoted to the starting five in time.
A star of his stature would have wanted the Liberty to give him the starting spot when he returned from illness two and a half weeks ago.
But Sabally didn’t. He was bought into the team’s mentality and the staff’s plans to strengthen him after missing most of the season with concussion symptoms and the start of this season with a tumor.
“We know what Satou can bring and that’s it,” Breanna Stewart said after Liberty’s sixth straight win. “He really keeps his priorities straight and goes in and does his job like he would anywhere else and I hope he’s happy while he’s doing it.
“I feel like he’s continuing to be comfortable and having a night like tonight, like, no one’s surprised that Satou had a night like tonight. We’re really happy for him and we want to keep going.”
Sally insists that the team’s greatest strength is its depth. He thought Liberty’s 22-8 run to close the third quarter — which included contributions from Sabally, Stewart, Leonie Fiebich, Jonquel Jones, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Rebekah Gardner, Raquel Carrera and Pauline Astier — was a good example.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” said Sabally. “I think we just ran where we stopped. … We had a lot of good things happen today, but that episode was also fun.”
Gardner is one of Liberty’s underemployed actors.
He provides a jolt to Liberty every time he steps on the court. He is a smart thief and a strong defender.
The Liberty outscored opponents by 27 points while Gardner was on the court – trailing only Laney-Hamilton for the best plus/minus among the team’s current reserves.
Was Gardner disrespected?
“Well, not me,” said Marine Johannès. “I don’t know. That’s a good question. I really respect him. He’s a great player.”
