That’s welcome news to one of her new teammates, Katie Feenstra . The former San Antonio Silver Star has been playing a lot of minutes this preseason that normally would have gone to Ford and starting center Kara Braxton, who won’t return stateside until later next week.

“I can’t wait for them to get back because it’s tiring,” Feenstra said with a chuckle before Thursday’s practice. “ But it’s a good thing I get to go out and I can mess up and still play and try to learn and get used to all the situations that a new team brings.”

Game action has helped Feenstra adapt to the Shock’s brand of basketball, but the 24-year-old’s comfort level extends beyond the playbook. At 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, Feenstra is working with one of the few coaching staffs in women's professional basketball that can appreciate her size and talents. There’s also another former Silver Star making the same transition right alongside her. To top it off, the Grand Rapids, Mich ., native gets to work closer to her family.

No wonder Feenstra is feeling right at home.

“I’m a big family person so being close to my family is cool. And, of course, playing for a championship club is awesome,” Feenstra said. “Growing up, this was the team I watched so being a part of the Shock is pretty cool.”

Spurred by salary cap arithmetic and a desire to get younger post players, Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer traded starting center Ruth Riley to San Antonio in February for Feenstra and the right to flip-flip 2008 first-round draft picks.

In her first two seasons, Feenstra averaged 8.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in just over 19 minutes per game, suggesting she has some legit double-double potential when given the opportunity. With Braxton and Ford unavailable for the Shock’s second preseason game, Feenstra had 22 points and 12 rebounds, both team highs, against the Washington Mystics . She will nonetheless begin the regular season as Braxton’s backup.

If anyone can maximize Feenstra’s unique gifts, it’s Laimbeer and assistant coach Rick Mahorn , who were listed at 6-foot-11, 255 pounds and 6-foot-10, 260 pounds, respectively, during their long and successful NBA careers. The two warriors of the paint accumulated a combined 23,519 points and 19,003 rebounds.

“She’s a low-post player and a lot of times she was in a place where they taught her a lot of things that weren’t conducive to big people,” Mahorn said. “I’m trying to teach her to be more fluid with her moves and also get a better positioning when she does get the ball in the box and always keep the ball above her head and not make herself small.”

The coaches have been eager to praise Feenstra’s attentiveness. “You tell her something once and she right away on the next play executes what you asked of her,” Laimbeer said. “She’s been a very good player for us in camp so far.”

“One of the best (listeners),” Mahorn added. “If she doesn’t get the play right or the drill right, she stops and she wants to learn. She wants to absorb it like a sponge and put it in her game.”

Feenstra is only too happy to oblige them. The former “Bad Boys” have become rare instructors for the 6-foot-8 Feenstra to look up to, literally and figuratively. “It’s amazing. It’s like this is what I’ve been missing out on all these years playing basketball,” Feenstra gushed. “Now I’m being coached by two of the best players. They obviously had to learn it from someone so they know how to teach me, and they’re very patient. They know exactly what to expect in the post so they help me know what’s going to be coming and ‘this is how to look for this.’ They teach me skills and also knowledge.”

When it comes to other aspects of being the new girl on the block, Feenstra can always turn to veteran guard Pee-Wee Johnson , who also made the San Antonio-to-Detroit journey this off-season via free agency. “We don’t want to think about San Antonio too much because this is our team now,” Feenstra said. “But we did say after one practice, ‘This is a whole lot different than San Antonio, isn’t it?’ We both agreed that this is a huge move for both of us and we were glad to be here.”

That is sure to stir a lot of emotions Sunday, when Feenstra will have her first chance to compete against her former Silver Stars teammates. “I’m excited to see them,” she said. “We were a really close team. The San Antonio girls are great, we all got along very well and I do miss them.

“It’s weird because I’m so happy to be here and be home and be a part of this team, but I still can’t wait to see them and catch up with them. But I’ll be happy to get on the plane and come back to Detroit.”