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.

[Related: Unrivaled schedule, rosters, players, everything you need to know ] 

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