If Kelsey Griffin averages 22 points and 11 rebounds when she's nervous, imagine what she'll be able do when she finally settles into her new Canberra home.
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The gun Canberra Capitals recruit continued the team's perfect start to the season when she was named the WNBL player of the week on Tuesday for her two starring performances against Melbourne and Adelaide.
But Griffin, a two-time grand final most valuable player, says the Capitals haven't hit their straps yet despite being unbeaten after three games and winning the two player of the week awards.
Griffin said she suffered from home game nerves in her Canberra debut last weekend and still managed a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds.
So if the Capitals' WNBL rivals thought they were dangerous already, just wait until Griffin gets rid of the jitters, Leilani Mitchell regains full fitness and Marianna Tolo and Kristy Wallace make their comebacks.
"Even though this is my eighth or ninth season professional, I still get nervous before games. That first game [last weekend] was no different for a homecoming and a bit of nerves and excitement about being at home," Griffin said.
"We've shown the potential of what we can do, but we still haven't put it together for 40 minutes. That's exciting.
"We can't get too far ahead of ourselves. We've got a lot of stuff that we can fix, and that's almost more exciting than the wins themselves.
"I love winning ... but knowing there's so much we can get better at is even more exciting because we haven't even come close to reaching our potential."
The Capitals will play the Melbourne Boomers at the AIS Arena on Friday night in a re-match of one of their games from last week.
The club has slashed ticket prices in a bid to lure more people to a bigger venue in one of only two games at their former AIS fortress.
Coach Paul Goriss is monitoring the workload of point guard Mitchell, who made her comeback from a foot injury last week and is expected to back up against the Boomers.
But Mitchell will be on minimal training duties throughout the early parts of the season to ensure the plantar faciitis problem doesn't impact her ability to play games.
"We'll minimise what she does during the week so that she can play in those games," Goriss said.
"She'll sort of be on rehab over the next couple of weeks, we'll manage minutes at practice so that she can increase her minutes during the game.
"At her age, with where she is in her career and with the injury, she'll probably do 45 minutes of practice each day and then building the minutes back up. The games are more important that practice right now for her."
The Capitals are one of only two unbeaten teams left this season, with Bendigo winning both of their games so far.
The Boomers have lost two of three, but launched a second-half comeback against the Capitals and almost snatched victory in the final minutes in Geelong on Friday night.
WNBL ROUND THREE
Friday: Canberra Capitals v Melbourne Boomers at AIS Arena, 7pm. Tickets available at the venue.
