2004 in Review: Trina Frierson

Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty FRIERSON'S STATISTICS 2004 PLAYOFFS 1.4 PPG - 1.0 RPG - 0.0 APG - 0.0 SPG - 0.0 BPG - 4.4 MPG - .222 FG% -

Storm Coach Anne Donovan on Trina Frierson:

"Trina had about as good a rookie year as we could have hoped for. She recovered from her knee injury, worked hard off the court - in the strength room and with her conditioning - to put herself in a position to go into the off-season now and get some experience. Another young player that's got to improve to stick in the league, and she knows that. She's undersized in the post, but she's got tremendous range and she's got a lot of desire, so I'm hopeful that she can gain some good off-season experience and come back and make our team."

2004 Season:
The Seattle Storm drafted Trina Frierson knowing that her contributions as a rookie would be limited. Of course, that's the case with any player drafted onto a championship contender in the middle of the second round - especially by a coach not known for throwing rookies into the fire - but it was particularly the case with Frierson because of a torn knee ligament that required surgery just days after Frierson signed with the Storm.

Frierson's rehabilitation cost her all of training camp and the early part of the season. She was way behind in the limited practices the Storm did have during the season because she was forced to make any number of adjustments: getting back in the flow of the game after sitting out; adjusting to the WNBA from college; adjusting to playing power forward against bigger defensive players and learning the Storm's playbook. Still, Frierson demonstrated the ability to capably play the high post during practice.

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Frierson's opportunity on the court came in late July, when center Janell Burse was placed on the injured list with bursitis. She remained on the roster until Lauren Jackson was activated from the injured list on Sep. 8, seeing action in five games and scoring seven points. She grabbed five rebounds. Frierson's best game came in an 82-81 loss at Los Angeles on Sep. 3, when she had three points and two rebounds in just four minutes of action.

Frierson finished the regular season on the injured list with chronic left knee effusion and was not active during the playoffs.

While Frierson's spot on the roster is not guaranteed, her rookie salary will give her a good shot at making the roster next season. She's gaining the experience Donovan felt she needed while playing for Real Canoe in Spain. Through four games, Frierson is averaging 8.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. In her debut, Frierson had 14 points and 14 rebounds in a 70-68 win over Acis-Sufi Leon.
- Kevin Pelton, storm.wnba.com

2004 Highlights:

Made her WNBA debut on July 27 at Houston

Scored her first WNBA points in an 87-55 win over Charlotte on Aug. 1

Recorded career highs of three points and two rebounds on Sep. 3 at Los Angeles.

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