Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, leading candidate to be WNBA Rookie of the Year, is keeping an Olympic diary for The Republic. She arrived in Athens with the U.S. women's basketball team to check into the Athletes Village on Wednesday.

Picture perfect: I wanted a picture of one person. The whole time I wanted one with (Argentinean basketball star) Manu Ginobili. Manu, that's all I wanted. So today we were walking to the bus and here comes Argentina coming out. Usually I'm not a picture person, I just like meeting a person because that's personal and that's good enough for me, but I wanted a picture with Ginobili and I got it. All I need is a gold medal and I'm happy. The Games are done for me.

Get hip: My hip feels fine. It's still sore but it's something you can't concentrate on. It's going to just take time for it to get better. It's gotten a lot better since it happened. I definitely feel a lot better.

For more Phoenix Suns coverage, check out www.azcentral.com, Arizona's homepage.

The rings: Growing up I used to love the Olympics, everything. Track and field, Michael Johnson and the gold shoes, the Dream Team, even Lisa (Leslie), Sheryl (Swoopes) and Dawn (Staley) as a little kid. Actually being at the Olympics now and playing with them, it is a dream come true.

Flag bearing: It was during practice and coach stopped it and announced that Dawn was carrying the flag (for the U.S. delegation in the Opening Ceremony). There is not a classier person to do it than Dawn. She's done so much for our Games. Just to be helping us young guys out, she's been great and she deserves everything she gets.

The OC: I will be there (today). The opening ceremony just gives you the feeling you really are an Olympian with all the people watching around the world. It'll be a definite exciting moment. The city really is beautiful. The people are nice and genuine.

COPYRIGHT 2004, AZCENTRAL.COM. Used with permission.