Oct. 10, 2000

Teams approach to Justin Allen

'We try to foster a family atmosphere here. We are their family away fromhome. It's our job to raise these guys. We spend a lot of time together. Weare very close and I think that will help Justin with his treatment.'

Expectations for the season

'I always have high expectations. I want to win every game. I think wehave quite a bit of talent even though we are relatively young. Our youngguys got good experience last year, they played in pressure situations. I amlooking forward to this year and how much we can improve from now untilMarch.'

'I think we have a chance to be a good defensive team. I think we playhard and we are very tough mentally. We have a chance to do thingsdefensively this year that haven't been done in a while.'

On senior point guard Alton Mason

'I expect my point guard to lead regardless of whether he is a freshman,sophomore, junior, or senior. I think Alton (Mason) is up to the challenge,he has worked hard to get ready for his senior season.'

On being picked to finish 8th in the Pac-10

'I don't worry about that. I have never been picked to win, even atMississippi. They picked us to finish 3rd and we finished 1st. As long as myteam doesn't worry about it, I'm not worried about it. I worry about wherewe finish.'