I just think that non-conference schedules can be so different that I'm not sure you get a good read on a team until league play starts. (Being at home all the time) doesn't give you a true picture of how you're going to do, especially with new guys. New guys will perform better at home because of the security from the support of the crowd.

I'm not sure you're going to see many front-line guys with that many steals.

I think we are capable of defending that championship, but there are some very good teams to beat to do that. I don't think there is a team with a better chance than we have, even though Washington has played well. One of the biggest surprises is USC has really stepped up. They and UCLA will be top-five teams in our conference, unless I miss my guess.

I'm not approaching my team any different from all along. We just need to get better. We need to have a better showing in the five of seven home games left. We definitely have to protect the home court. And we have an added incentive in these two games, in that we lost both of them on the road up there.

They're not that quick as much as they are physical. That took Staf out of his game.

They are not like they were under Dick, but they are still a half-court-oriented team. They're not a team that goes up and down a lot, but there aren't a lot of teams in the Big Ten that do that.