By Melissa Woods
Australian basketball's next superstar Liz Cambage gained more than she expected from her WNBA experience in the United States.
Her Bulleen Boomers coach Tom Maher was dismayed when his best player arrived home overweight and out of shape ahead of the WNBL season tip-off on Friday.
Both say it will take about a month before she is back to her best.
Cambage said the weight gain came from a lack of court-time with Tulsa and the American lifestyle, but she said it wasn't as bad as had been made out.
"Some people, our Opals coach Carrie Graf, are saying I put on eight kilos and that's not it at all," an upbeat Cambage said.
"I'm a bit unfit, I've lost a bit of muscle but it will come back just like that.
"I was sitting on the bench in America, eating American food so there's going to be a little bit of weight gain and unfitness."
Cambage said the minutes she would have with Bulleen, who open their season on Saturday afternoon in a grand final replay against the Canberra Capitals, would soon see her back in shape.
The 20-year-old centre was named 2010/11 MVP of the Australian league, with her side breaking through after 27 years for their first ever title with an emphatic grand final win over Canberra.
Maher said Cambage, who stands 203cm, would still be a force.
"She says herself that she hasn't done enough work," Maher said.
"It's not like she can't play any more, she's still a dominant factor and she'll still be a huge weapon right away but I think it will be a month before she's in tip-top shape."
Apart from being named a reserve for the WNBA Western Conference All-Star side, the Tulsa experience had been disappointing but Cambage said she had learnt a lot about herself.
In her season in Oklahoma the Shock set a new record for the longest losing streak in the history of the WNBA, with 20 in succession, and finished with just three wins from 34 games.
"Being a Victorian basketballer as a junior we always won and being part of Bulleen with Tom (Maher) we always won so it was really hard but it was a great learning experience," she said.
"Being overseas that young by myself I matured so much and learnt so much being there and it's just made me hungrier to come home and play well and go back to back with Bulleen."
Apart from domestic success with the Boomers, Cambage is focused on Australia's Olympic campaign and won't consider returning to the WNBA until after the 2012 Games in London.
AAP