MINNEAPOLIS -- Last season the Minnesota Lynx finished with a disappointing 14-20 record. The franchise was victorious in the WNBA draft lottery, however, and selected guard Seimone Augustus, touted by some as the top player ever to enter the league. This column will chronicle her WNBA baptism as Augustus begins what promises to be a standout professional career.

Seimone Augustus nears the midpoint of her first professional season with mixed results. On a personal level, she is excelling, scoring at a rookie record clip, but her prolific offensive output hasn't translated into a winning record for the Minnesota Lynx. We turned to head coach Suzie McConnell Serio for an evaluation -- a midterm exam, if you will -- of her prized pupil.

"People always say there are good players, there are great players and then there are special players," McConnell Serio explained. "Seimone is a special player. She has been outstanding, especially offensively, for us. She has the ability to create (her own shot) and has provided the bulk of our scoring. She comes to play every single day. She has raised the level at practice and raised the level of our team."

McConnell Serio, in her fourth season as head coach, admitted Augustus has exceeded her already high expectations. "I don't know that we anticipated that she would have this big of an impact," the Penn State alumnus said. "Averaging over 20 points a game has really been unheard of ... especially for a rookie and then to be able to impact the game as quickly and easily as she has (was surprising)."

The lone, true scorer on a young team searching for an identity, Augustus has, at times, found her teammates watching as she carries the scoring burden. As a result, when she doesn't put up big numbers, the team usually finds itself on the wrong end of a lopsided defeat, something McConnell Serio is committed to changing.

"We need multiple players in double figures and that's why I talked to her about making sure she is involving other people," the two-time Olympic medalist explained. "(Augustus) draws so much attention when she has the ball in her hands, (we need to) make sure that she has trust in her teammates so she can be a playmaker. We need a balance (of scoring) to be successful and I think she can be a big part of that."

While Augustus's offense garners most of the attention, McConnell Serio says she is also happy with the rookie's output on the defensive end. "She's held her own," the 2004 WNBA Coach of the Year commented. "I saw early on in training camp that she was very good, very good in exhibition games and then as the games have gone on, she has been solid. It's not as noticeable as it had been earlier, but I think she has been solid defensively for us."

Despite her advanced development and dazzling skills, McConnell Serio says Augustus still needs some tutoring, "(I) still have to coach her," she said. "Especially when teams are defending her a certain way and trying to take things away from her. It's just making her realize where her kick-outs are. It's always communications with players. She is definitely someone who has been coachable so far. She listens and does what I ask of her."