Too bad no one has seen her unleash it in quite some time.

Stiles, the WNBA's 2001 Rookie of the Year, was beset with injuries last year that left her season in shambles. Those injuries limited her to 21 games and three measly starts as Stiles saw her scoring average drop from 14.9 points in her rookie season to 6.0 in her second.

"It was very frustrating – mentally and physically," Stiles said. "I never went through major injuries like that. I was just hit hard – I had a wrist injury and then the foot injury as well, but hopefully I learned something from the adversity.

"I can become stronger and better when I do get healthy. I did learn a lot and I’m going to change a lot so I can prolong my career in this league."

In order to get healthy and to lengthen that career, doctors poked and prodded Stiles like a game of "Operation."

"I had my wrist surgery in August and my foot surgery in September – I had to stagger them so I could be on crutches with the foot," Stiles said. "So I’ve been doing all sorts of strengthening and range of motion."

If anyone appreciates the game of basketball, it's Stiles, who honed her skills with legendary marathon sessions in Claflin, Kan. high school gym. When she broke her right arm in high school, she practiced shooting with her left hand.

"My whole life I’ve basically lived in a gym," Stiles said, "and I’ve found that I need to have more balance because my body can’t take the rigors of the workouts I used to put it through and the thousand shots is going to have to be cut down some so I’ve got some new things that I haven’t done before because before I felt guilty if I didn’t get my workouts in." But one of the things missing from Stiles' routine was fun. Admittedly a perfectionist, Stiles vows to enjoy the game a bit more.

"I just appreciate it so much every single day that I get to be out there playing because you never know, in an instant it could be taken away from you," Stiles said. "So I just really try to enjoy it more.

"I think I won’t put quite as much pressure on myself and just have fun and enjoy being able to be out there and doing what I love to do. I always used to get so nervous, I was superstitious, I used to think that if I had a finger nail too long, I thought that would throw my shooting off. Well, I’ve thrown all those out the window. I think I’ll just have more fun when I’m out there again."

Stiles feels certain that she will be back in prime form when it comes time to suit up for the 2003 season, but exactly which jersey she'll be putting on remains to be seen. The Portland Fire ceased operations after the 2002 season, and a dispersal draft involving Portland and Miami Sol players will take place prior to the 2003 season.

"I’ve been able to do cardio and weights, so I’ve been able to stay in half way decent shape," Stiles said. "I just can’t do impact stuff right now but this is the first time in my career that I’ve ever had a break in it – I went year-round since I started when I was like three. I didn’t want it like this, but hopefully I can come back fresh and just really appreciate it more."

Meanwhile, when she's not rehabbing, Stiles has taken up some new hobbies, such as shopping and going to the movies, lots of movies.

"I do a lot of shopping – which I don’t know if that’s good or not," Stiles said. "I’ve watched a ton of movies. I really enjoying going and watching movies and shopping and just seeing my brothers and sisters play in sporting events and spending some more time with family."