Griffiths fits back into side
By STEPHEN HOWELL
Tuesday 5 September 2000

The return was not seamless, but Michelle Griffiths was happy with almost all aspects of becoming an Opal again. Almost.

The body suit was the thing that jarred. "Awful," she said of it yesterday. Not that she had trouble fitting in to it - teammates say she is in excellent shape - but she is not the lithe athlete suited to the one-piece uniform as talls Lauren Jackson and Trisha Fallon are.

"Getting back into green and gold was fantastic," said Griffiths, 27, "but the body suit, ugh."

The more important fit is back into the playing rotation after more than two years' absence - except for a week's camp in Melbourne in May - because of having a baby and playing overseas.

From Thursday until Saturday she joined the Opals for a camp in Sydney and a game against New Zealand, easily won 78-42.

Griffiths said teammates were "fine" with her decision to play with Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA rather than do the full lead-up with the Opals. "There were never any hassles."

Not quite true because strong teammate Carla Boyd went on record as saying that she and others were disappointed that all 12 had not committed all the way. Boyd added, however, that that was water under the bridge and the focus was now 100 per cent team.

Coach Tom Maher gave Griffiths 16minutes 10seconds on court in two bursts against New Zealand, and she scored eight points, had two rebounds and made three steals.

Maher said after the game that Griffiths was still learning the plays. She said it was a typical familiarisation run. "I known the stuff, but it's doing it on command, not with two seconds delay," she said.

That will come from this week's practices and games in Adelaide - against Poland tonight, France tomorrow and Slovakia on Thursday.

Michele Timms, who is racing time to get to the Olympic line after knee surgery, made it through the camp and is likely to get her first time back on court this week.

THE BOOMERS played Italy early today in their second game of the Hong Kong tournament, after defeating Angola 95-53 on Sunday.