Temple Coach Fran Dunphy

Q: What are you expecting from your Owls this season?

A: Hopefully we’ll be solid defensively. That’s my main goal for this team this year.

Q: Will Dionte Christmas have as good a season as last year when he finished the regular season averaging 20.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game?

A: It’s hard to be the three-time league leader in scoring, but I think he’ll be among the top players in the Atlantic 10 this year.

Q: How competitive will the A-10 be this season? It is traditionally a hard-scrabble basketball conference.

A: We had seven teams with 20 or more wins last season, so it’s gonna be very tough to compete. We have a lot of good teams with a lot of good coaches and basketball is the tradition here. The Atlantic 10 is a basketball conference so, all the teams compete hard.

Q: Who will be your toughest competition?

A: Xavier would have to be the team to beat. They are very strong all around. We can do well against them. I’m looking for a victory but we should be able to hold our own.

Q: Are they any players we should watch out for this year?

A: Hopefully Lavoy Allen will be as good a player as he can be. We need someone to take over scoring and rebounding as well as play good defense. I think he should be able to handle that for us.

Reporting by Chris Wilder