Bill Treseler doesn't care much for excuses. The SF State men's basketball head coach doesn't care that the team has to start its season almost a month earlier than normal. He doesn't care that over half his roster will be made up of freshmen and junior college transfers. Treseler just cares about winning.

So far, Treseler's attempts to instill a winning tradition at SF State have proven largely successful. The Gators got off to their hottest start in school history last season, firing off seven consecutive wins.

Treseler has won 170 games in 11 seasons as a head collegiate coach, making stops at UC Santa Cruz and Dominican before coming to SF State in 2005. But with only a few returning upperclassmen, and new players to acclimate to his system, Treseler knows the road to victory won't be a walk in the park this season.

The Gators' head coach sat down with the [X]Press to talk about his recruiting methods, expectations for the upcoming season and which NBA coach he admires.

[X]Press: What are your honest expectations for your team this season, especially considering the many new additions to the team?
"I have high expectations. I don't look at this as a year where we have to step back. With the new players we brought in and the attitude we're seeing from them, this can be a very competitive team. It's going to be a huge challenge to get to the top of our league, but I certainly expect us to be competitive and be able to beat anybody."

[X]Press: What will the toughest challenge be for the Gators this season?
"Playing early is going to be tough, and not only playing early but playing outstanding competition right away. That's the challenge in front of us right now that we're very focused on."

[X]Press: Is there anything the new players on your team will have a hard time adjusting to?
"I think for guys that haven't played back to back nights at a high level of competition. The first time you go through this league and you have to play Friday night and then Saturday night and sometimes you have to get in a van and drive for six hours in between, that's a real challenge. It's a mental challenge and a physical challenge. That's something we'll have to work our way through."

[X]Press: Which player on your team is poised for a breakout year?
"I think Tim Pratt, from College of the Redwoods. He's a 6'5" forward, smart, good scorer, tough. I think he'll be a very good CCAA forward."

[X]Press: What do you think your team's strengths will be this season?
"Our unselfishness, our defense, our determination and our competitiveness."

[X]Press: With so many new additions, are you worried about the team's chemistry?
"When you're putting a new group of guys together, the team chemistry is going to be a continuous evolution. Last year at the beginning of the preseason, those guys had been playing together for so long that they were already a pretty tight team. We're not going to have that when we go down to Disneyland. I certainly expect by December or early January that we'll be a very tight, well-knit team."

[X]Press: Are you still busy during the off-season?
"Because we have so many new players this year, we're very intensive in making sure our players have the right classes and are feeling comfortable at SF State, more so than last year. We're making sure that these guys are squared away. "

[X]Press: When you're recruiting prospective athletes, what attributes do you look for in a player?
"We're looking for a player who's ready to make a commitment ... a person who plays unselfishly. You're willing to do the little things that need to get done for the team to win. In our league it's generally competitive and physical, so we're looking for players who have that kind of physical and mental toughness and thrive in that kind of environment."

[X]Press: What kind of offense is your coaching staff looking to run?
"We're not really allowed to watch these guys play right now, so some of these things we'll have to find out in practice. So, whether we go 50-50 inside out and perimeter game or whether it's 60-40 or 70-30, those are the gray areas we'll have to evaluate once we start practicing."

[X]Press: Which NBA coach do you admire?
"I admire the San Antonio Spurs coach, Greg Popovich. I admire his consistency and his emphasis on toughness. He seems to be very fair with his players and they're consistently good, year after year; they don't just fall off and drop in the tank. It just seems like there's a good vibe around that team."