Kara Lawson is playing on a new team but has taken on an old role. Dressed in red, white and blue, Lawson is participating in the Olympics for the first time in her career. Coming off the bench for the majority of her professional career, Lawson feels confident that she can make an impact as Sue Bird's backup at point guard. Prior to taking off to Beijing for the Olympic games, Lawson caught up with WNBA.com to discuss her role, her team and the competition.

Q01: WNBA.com: As a first-time Olympian, you are getting ready to take off tomorrow. What is the emotion like? What is going through your mind?

Kara Lawson: "Right now what is going through my mind is what am I going to pack for China. What am I going to take in the suitcase? My hotel room is a mess. You would think I have lived there for a month. My bags are all over. My clothes are all over. Being a first-time Olympian, you don’t know what to bring to the Olympics. They don’t give you a list. That is where my mind is right now. What do I pack up and bring to Beijing?"

Q02: WNBA.com: What are you going to do with the stuff you decide not to pack?

Kara Lawson: "They gave us a big box to ship home everything we don’t think that we need. The problem is I have more things that go in the box than can fit in the box, so I have to get a bigger box or something."

Q03: WNBA.com: Practices have been tough, what are you hoping to garner in your days here and your days in China before the games start?

Kara Lawson: "Well, I am just trying to get a feel for what the group's personality is once we're together. We haven’t really all been together. I am trying to grasp the system offensively as quickly as possible. I also want to get the players' strengths within the system and the different plays that are called. There are a lot of things mentally that go into how you might want to exploit Candace Parker's offensive skills or Tina Thompson's or Lisa Leslie's. For me it has been a whirlwind mentally just trying to grasp everything and trying to get it to a point where it is instinctive. That is the thing now, you can read it on a paper, you can walk through it, but playing point guard for Coach Donovan is a lot of mental preparation."

Q04: WNBA.com: You are such a mentally strong and smart player. Is that why you put a lot into understanding what you are supposed to do out on the court?

Kara Lawson: "That is definitely me, I take more of a strategic approach to the game. I also think I don't have as much experience with these players as some of the others do. Sue has played with Diana Taurasi for a long time, with Tina for a long time, so she has that experience, whereas I have to try and get it on the fly. Sue and I talk a lot about different plays we should run for the players, we go back and forth about that. I also have a lot of communication with Coach Donovan during practice. What to call here, what side you should go to on a certain play. Communication is healthy and that dialogue carries over. With Sue, when one of us is in, the other is out and can see things and give pointers."

Q05: WNBA.com: What do you see your role being on this team?

Kara Lawson: "I feel like my role is to be a backup guard. To come off the bench, play solid, try to play mistake free, get people in the right spots and be a communicator. On any given night that could be from the one position or that could be from the two position. This is the first year in my whole career I have ever started. So, if there is anybody that knows what it's like, with players of this caliber, to come off the bench, it's me. It is not a change for me. Sometimes it’s a change for a lot of players to come in and make an impact in just 10 minutes or 15 minutes. I feel like that experience of coming off the bench for five years of my career really gives me a head start in helping this team."

Q06: WNBA.com: Who among your teammates are you most excited to be playing with?

Kara Lawson: "I could almost name everybody, but let me just give you a few. One is Catch (Tamika Catchings). We played two years in college together and we haven’t played with each other since she graduated. She has been hurt for the last year of training, so this is really the first time we've played together in a long time. So that has been a lot of fun. I really enjoy playing with Katie Smith. I think she is the best all-around guard in the league. I think she really goes underrated but she does everything well. She talks to you. She is a great leader and I love playing with her. And then Lisa and Tina, those guys have a great knowledge of the game. The nuances of the game? Yeah, they have them all down. I would say those are the four, but I really enjoy playing with everybody."

Q07: WNBA.com: What about the younger players who, like you, are having their first Olympic experiences but who might not have the professional experience that you have?

Kara Lawson: "We usually split up the team six and six. Normally the starting five will go down and maybe the sixth person goes down with them and then I get the opportunity to lead as the point guard with the other team. I get a chance to play a lot with Sylvia Fowles, with Candace, with Seimone Augustus, and so for me that is great because we are all learning together. This is our first time. And we have an important role on this team as players off the bench. What is going to separate the USA from everyone else is our depth. So, to try and grow with these guys and be a second wave of players that can come in is great. I enjoy playing with them and we are moving along a little bit slower than the starters are, but it is our first time through and we are dedicated to making an impact."

Q08: WNBA.com: What do you feel you guys need to do as a unit to give your team the best chance of coming home with the gold?

Kara Lawson: "Defense. Look at our scorers. We are going to score 75 to 80 points a game with the scorers we have. The hardest thing with defense is getting our team defense tight. We have great defenders individually but if you don’t have your rotations down, if you don’t have a good feel for the system and you are not being instinctive on that end, it doesn’t matter how good you are one-on-one. That is our focus and we feel like we have some really good pieces. That is the chemistry we talk about, that we have to gel on the defensive end. If we can get it on the defensive end, we are confident we can win this tournament."