HOUSTON -- Sheryl Swoopes took the pass at the left of the key, faked one way and drove the other through the lane for a layup, just an ordinary-looking play during a dreary two-a-day preseason workout.

	In 2000, Sheryl Swoopes' season included the WNBA scoring title, MVP award and league championship.

Vanilla as it was, the move would not have happened until recently as the Houston Comets star grappled with the physical and mental aspects of recovering from major knee surgery.

"Two months ago, I was just running down and shooting it and that's not my game," Swoopes said. "I was hesitant to do anything going to my left or using my left leg. I didn't jump for rebounds or go in the paint. I refused to do it."

Swoopes, a driving force in three of the Comets' four straight WNBA championships, spent all of the 2001 season recovering from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee after she was sent sprawling in agony at an April practice session.

The injury robbed her of a chance to repeat her MVP performance as a pro in 2000, when she pushed the Comets to the WNBA title and led the league in scoring and steals.

The Comets tumbled in 2001 from the dominant team in the league to a third-place finish in the Western Conference, then were swept from the playoffs by the Los Angeles Sparks, who succeeded them as WNBA champs.

Still, Swoopes wasn't so certain she wanted to come back after the doctor cleared her to return.

"It's a lot of hard work," she said. "I still have days when I think, 'Can I do everything and is my knee going to give out on me?' That's going to take time to get over mentally."

Swoopes already has come a long way in the healing process.

"Probably the biggest thing she learned was that completely recovering from this kind of injury involves a complete change in lifestyle," Comets trainer Michelle Leget said. "From this point on she's always going to be post-ACL.

"She will always have to work harder now on certain exercises to keep her strength in that area."

	Two months ago, Sheryl Swoopes might have been too tentative to go up for a block like she did in July 2000.

Most days Swoopes is pleased with her progress.

"What's surprised me is the way I'm playing now," she said. "Going through rehab, I didn't know what to expect. To come out here now and do what I'm doing on offense and defense, I've been impressed.

"So I'm not doubting that I'll come back and be the same old Sheryl."

New teammate Rebecca Lobo, a former rival with the New York Liberty, marvels at Swoopes' recovery.

"She doesn't look like she's ever had an injury," says Lobo, who has had two ACL surgeries. "Especially with an ACL, players come back and they are a little more tentative.

"But there's no difference to her game before and now. If anything, her range is improved. ... She looks terrific to me."

Swoopes played only nine games her rookie season in 1997 following the birth of her son and then didn't miss a game the next three seasons.

She started 92 games in a row, culminating in 2000 when she was named the WNBA Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year.

Swoopes led the league with a 20.7 point-per-game scoring average and 2.81 average in steals.

With Swoopes, top draft pick Michelle Snow and Lobo, obtained for a draft pick, the Comets are angling to return to the playoffs.

Coach Van Chancellor said he's so dedicated to reclaiming a championship he's revamping the Comets' offense.

"I probably put more into basketball this off-season than I have in 25 years," Chancellor said. "I've been just kind of redoing."

How the Comets respond to their first non-championship season will depend on Swoopes' continued improvement.

"She's getting stronger and we can work in the weight room and do everything we do in the gym to get her ready, but playing in a basketball game is different and it's going to take her experience and the work she gets here in preseason" to return to top form, Leget said.

"So, is she there now? No. Will she be there? Yes."