Pac-10 Hoops Media Day Extras: Part 1

I was able to steal some time with various players and coaches at Pac-10 media day. They were all very forthcoming...

Head coach Ken Bone, Washington State:
On UCLA reloading:
"Ben Howland is a great coach and he also has a lot of good players. Because so many great players have left the UCLA Bruins the last couple years, a lot of people think they're just not that strong. But when you've been this business a few years, you see teams reload. UCLA is good and Ben Howland is good, and they'll continue to be strong."

Head coach Ken Bone, Washington State:
On the Howland system:
"It's a good system, and it's been successful. People up in the Northwest talked about the Bennett system and how slow it was, but it was what, two years ago when they were ranked fourth in the country? Ben's system is not extremely fast, it's defense-oriented, but it's extremely successful, and it will continue to be that way."

Point guard Jerome Randle, Cal
On the expectations of being the preseason No. 1:
"I know it's gonna be tough, man. Teams that start off on top, they have to stay on top. You have to play hard every night. There are people out there out to get you. It's really up to you and what you do with it. The expectations should raise our play every night."

On UCLA and Arizona being down in the rankings this year:
"I'm really not throwing any of those teams under bus. The Pac-10 is tough every year. Even if you don't have those projected top-10 lottery picks, you still have good players in this league. I don't take anyone for granted."