New and Improved? Hernando Grad Ready To Get Back Into Game

Bernice Mosby spoke with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning - and the subject was practice.

But for the Hernando High grad and current Washington Mystic forward, this meant far more than the average practice.

On Monday, Mosby practiced with her Mystic teammates for the first time this season, which began on Saturday. She missed all of the preseason recovering from offseason microfracture surgery on her knee.

However, doctors cleared her to play this week and she must now go through enough practice to where the team deems her ready for game action.

"My knee is doing great right now," Mosby said. "I'm not having any problems. The only thing I'm working on is getting my explosiveness back and getting into the game flow. I haven't been in condition in five months. It's about getting my confidence back. Once I get my confidence I'll be fine."

Long Road Back

The Mystics began their season minus Mosby on Saturday, losing 64-53 at Indiana. Last season, her rookie campaign, the 6-foot-1 Mosby averaged 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

She initially tore her meniscus during the WNBA season, but was assured she could still go overseas to play in Greece during the offseason.

After five games with Panionios, the injury worsened to the point of requiring surgery, the first time in her life she would go under the knife. The procedure took place in Washington around Thanksgiving.

Though she laughed about it after the fact, Mosby admittedly freaked out prior to the surgery when the man prepping her reminded her of Hannibal Lecter - Anthony Hopkins' legendary character from "Silence of the Lambs" and its subsequent sequels.

"I was scared for the fact I never had it before," Mosby said. "I was thinking I'm going to die in my surgery ... but God was by me and it turned out to be a great surgery.

"My knee feels better than it did before surgery and better than it did when I was younger. It's like I have a new knee, which is a blessing to have."

'It's Hard'

Mosby's work in training camp consisted mostly of non-contact shooting drills. While the rest of the Mystics practiced, she would watch and learn.

While regaining strength in the knee required an arduous physical regimen, the mental aspects of her rehab seemed to take the greatest toll.

She said it's hard knowing the high expectations she has for this season, which she hopes to still achieve. She wants to average at least 10 points and 10 rebounds per game.

At Hernando she became the county's all-time leading scorer, taking the Leopards to the state semifinals. She led two Division I college programs, the University of Florida and Baylor University, in scoring and rebounding. Then the Mystics took her with the sixth pick of the 2007 draft.

Through all that, basketball has become a huge part of Mosby's identity, and being away from the game didn't sit well.

"It was very difficult," Mosby said. "Basketball is something I love doing and when you love doing something and you're not doing it anymore, it's hard.

"But I'm doing my rehab, doing everything right with my knee. All I can do is worry about the positive things. Hopefully when I get on the court I'll be the new improved B-Mo instead of the old B-Mo."

BY THE NUMBERS: BERNICE MOSBY

Year        GP           FG           3PT         FTA        FTM       FT%       TP           AVG       REB        RPG
2007        28            30            00            28            23            82%        83            2.96         78            2.79