Diana Taurasi is the shooting guard from Chino who figures to be one of the leading figures for the U.S. women’s basketball team as it makes a run for another gold medal, here at Beijing.

The women’s team passed through the Main Press Center today, and Lisa Leslie — who hopes to win her fourth gold medal — got a lot of attention. As did newcomer Candace Parker, who plays for the L.A. Sparks (as does Leslie).

But we went over to chat with Taurasi, who generally says exactly what she feels. And also might be the best all-around basketball player in the world.

Her impressions of China?

“Everything is just big,” she said. “There’s large amounts of everything. So many big buildings, so many people, cars. The magnitude of the whole thing is amazing.”

This is Taurasi’s second Olympics. She was a backup in Athens, but the atmosphere just before Opening Ceremonies reminds her of 2005.

“The preparation a city goes through is the same,” she said. “Beijing is like Athens. You can tell something special is going on. You can feel that energy.”

Speaking of energy, Taurasi is among the elite group of female basketball players who compete in the WNBA in the spring and summer and then go to Europe (Russia, in her case) to play for big money in the winter. Who play, essentially, year round.

“A lot of people on the team have been playing a long time without a break,” she said. “But I always say a new setting, new teammates always gives you that energy that you need and I think everyone feels refreshed right now, mentally and physically.”

Bottom line? “Whenever the USA comes calling, you have to come with your best game,” Taurasi said.

Asked to rate an Olympic gold with a professional or college championship she said, “My four years in college (at Connecticut) I spent with my teammates is a long time. If anything, with USA Basketball we spend the least amount of time together but it probably means the most because you are representing your country and it’s the world stage. You’re playing against the whole world.”

She is looking forward to her second Opening Ceremonies.

“It’s an amazing spectacle,” she said. “The amount of people in the stadium, the amount of TV.

“The cool thing is all the other athletes. We were ready to come in here (for a press conference) and we had to wait because Roger Federer was coming out, and I said, ‘(Shoot), I’d like to meet that guy. That’s the cool part about the Olympics. You get to see all these great athletes yourself.”

Basketball competition begins Saturday.