That the New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu is a sharp shooter is not a revelation.
A career 37 percent 3-point shooter, she having a career year from beyond the arc shooting 44 percent. She also won the 3-point contest at All-Star weekend with a record 37 points in the final round.
In August, Ionescu went above and beyond her generational 3-point shooting ability. She went 38-for-81 from 3 in the month, good for 46.9 percent. She also shot above 50 percent from deep in matchups against the Las Vegas Aces, Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky.
So what makes Ionescu such a threat from downtown? How can you slow her down and disrupt her effectiveness as a shooter? Let’s take a closer look.
How Ionescu attacks
When in rhythm, Ionescu is an unstoppable force of nature. She is unafraid to pull up from 35-plus feet and is more than capable of hitting that shot, uncontested or not. And if you allow her to take a corner 3 or an open jumper with her feet set? You might as well just set up your offense, because it’s going in.
Ionescu works best off the ball, running to her spots during a fastbreak, receiving a dribble hand-off and coming off screens. It’s her constant movement, her ability to reposition herself and her quick release that together make her difficult to…
