Despite starting all 93 of her WNBA games, Seimone Augustus could be coming off the bench for the USA. Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty Images

Seimone Augustus has achieved a great deal on the basketball court. An All-American and National Player of the Year in her days at LSU, Augustus was selected by the Minnesota Lynx with the first overall pick in the 2006 draft. She went on to win Rookie of the Year honors and has already been named to two All-WNBA teams in her two seasons as a pro.

But the Olympics are a new stage for the Baton Rouge native. And despite her achievements in the WNBA, Augustus must prove herself again with the USA Basketball squad.

WNBA.com's Adam Hirshfield spoke with Augustus at Stanford last week about her role on the Olympic team and about her hopes for Beijing.

Q01: Congratulations on being named to your first Olympic team? What's going through your mind as you get set to wear the red, white and blue out onto the court in Beijing?

Augustus: "There are a lot of emotions I'm juggling right now. I'm excited, but I'm also nervous because of all of the history around this USA Basketball team. But it's obviously an incredible opportunity. I get to play with some of the best athletes in the world. And there's no other place that I'd want to be."

Q02: What's the point of the next few days? You clearly don't have time to go over a lot of new stuff, but what are you specifically trying to accomplish in terms of getting this team on the same page prior to the Olympic competition starting up?

Augustus: "A lot of it is about chemistry… just trying to re-learn the plays and movements and defenses. It's not easy to completely get the WNBA playbook out of our heads and tackle a different one in such a short time. We just all have to be solid and work together, because we know it's going to take everybody to win that gold medal."

Q03: Given that this is your first trip to the Olympics, what specifically are you trying to get out of this experience?

Augustus: "I just want to have fun and have a positive impact on this team. I'm going to come out here and work hard and do whatever I can to make the five starting players better. And when my number is called, I'm gonna be ready to go out there and do the right things."

Q04: Obviously you guys as a team are mostly focused on yourselves and on putting everything together on your end. But is there any sense of a rivalry with the other top medal contenders? Russia beat the USA at the worlds a few years ago… Australia won the gold at those world championships and will have Lauren, Penny and Tully…

Augustus: "--Yeah, you could list the entire roster there. Right now, we're focused on our team, but we understand this tournament is going to be very competitive, especially with the teams and players you just named. Everybody is a threat, and we won't be able to relax against any team. That's the mindset we have to come in with… that's our mentality… we need to come out and be the aggressors, put people away early on and not let them hang on."

Q05: What player on this team are you most looking forward to playing with?

Augustus: "Man, I can't really single out just one. I'm really excited to play with everybody. And especially since they're all so good and it's so tough to play against them, it's nice to be wearing the same uniforms this time around. And they're all so good. Diana is a scorer, Cappie is a scorer… and when we're all out on the court together? Wow, it's crazy. I'm excited to play with everybody."

Q06: What's it like being back out on the court with Big Syl after a couple of years together at LSU?

Augustus: "Man, it's great! I haven't had that wonderful experience in a while! It's so nice to just lob it up there into the post and know that she'll go up and get it. And it's good to see that she's healthy enough to be out here and to know that she'll contribute."

Q07: What do you see your role being on this team of superstars?

Augustus: "I'm a young gun. I'm just trying to learn. I think my role will be as an energy player coming off the bench… and trying to do something positive out there when I am on the court. We can't have any kind of lapse when the starting five leaves the court."

Q08: What do you see as the main obstacle to the USA bringing home gold? And in the same way, what one thing do you guys have to do to ensure that you're wearing gold at the end of the month?

Augustus: "We just can't be lackadaisical. We know we're the best players in the world, and with that comes the ability to get too relaxed sometimes. We have to get up and stay up for every game, every opponent, no matter who it is and no matter when it is. We have to go out and dominate every game."