Case File No. 29: Satou Sabally

 

Satou Sabally. Photo Credit: Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images.

For my first WNBA scouting report, I dig into the file of Dallas Wings forward, Satou Sabally. Before I continue, learn the keys of head coaching from Lin Dunn, a former head coach and currently GM of the Indiana Fever, where she won a championship in 2012. You will learn the five keys to being a successful head coach and the four priorities to keeping a program intact and much more. You can purchase this course here.

Team: Dallas Wings

Position: Forward 

HT: 6-4

Credentials:

2x WNBA All-Star

All-WNBA First-Team (2023)

WNBA Most Improved Player (2023)

WNBA All-Rookie Team (2020)

Strengths:

-Well-rounded player

-Versatile scorer

-Good use of ball fakes to drive to the basket or to clear space for a jump shot

-At her best when spotting up as a shooter

-Very good ball handler

-Good passer and court vision

-Disruptive with active hands defensively

Weaknesses:

-Her shooting seems to be mainly spotting up, it doesn't look like she offers much as a shooter outside of that.

-Finds herself in the middle of altercations at times 

Final Analysis:

Overall, Satou is a well-rounded player who plays on both ends. I think she’s the dangerously basic type: not the most flashy, but is fundamentally sound.

She’s a versatile scorer, who can do it facing up, attacking the basket--which she seems to favor--shooting, and in the low post. The face-up jumper is another of her go-to moves.

Uses ball fakes to get to the basket or to clear space for a jump shot. She has good range on her shot, and is lethal when spotting up. A good ball handler and passer, she’s able to keep her dribble in traffic and find open players.

Does a good job staying in front of the player and has active hands whether it’s making a timely reach for a steal or playing the passing lanes.

I hope that she’s smarter with her response in certain situations moving forward. I know things can happen in the spur of the moment, but I saw too many clips with her in altercations.

Some might view this as her being gritty, and I understand in some situations, some actions might be justified (at the end of the day, we're human) but too much of that can be viewed as a character issue.

To see her bounce back and have the season she had (All-WNBA First-Team, WNBA Most Improved Player) speaks volumes to what she’s capable of.