COLLEGE BASKETBALL Temple coach Chaney isn't leaving game yet

He is nearing 700 wins and wants a Final Four appearance.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- As he nears 700 victories, John Chaney holds onto the same simple philosophy that got him this far: Work hard and have a good time.
Same goes for the young basketball players he's helped shape for 22 years at Temple.
"When you leave work every day, leave 'em laughing and puffing," the 71-year-old coach said, smiling in a gray Temple sweat shirt and baseball cap. "Leave them feeling good about themselves and puffing from exhaustion. When they stop laughing and they stop puffing, I'm getting out of here."
Chaney has no immediate plans to retire.
Not when a Final Four appearance remains absent in an otherwise distinguished Hall of Fame career.
Not when there are underprivileged kids who need an opportunity to earn a degree.
Six win shy of 700
Not when Chaney is six wins shy of 700 for his career.
Chaney, a two-time national coach of the year, often thinks about the lives he's touched and those that have made life fun for him.
"Simply put, it's about people," he said. "The youngsters that came here for the right reasons. The ones that wanted to be here. You've got to want to get up at 3:30, 4 o'clock."
Inside the gym for 6 a.m. practices, Chaney is tender and tempestuous -- quick with a sharp rebuke when an Owl turns the ball over, but there with a slap on the back for a job well done.
"He'd kill you at practice, then leave you feeling good," said former Temple forward Aaron McKie, now with the Philadelphia 76ers. "He has a way of bringing out the best of you as a player and a man."
Chaney always says Temple is not for everyone.
The ones who are willing to put up with the no-frills approach, a raspy trail of four-letter words and a lesson on the match-up zone have been rewarded. Chaney has led the Owls to 17 NCAA tournament appearances and 20 straight postseason appearances, including the NIT in 1989, 2002 and 2003.
Chaney, who led Cheyney State in suburban Philadelphia to the 1978 Division II national championship, still wants to get to a Final Four. The Owls have made five appearance in the regional finals (1988, 1991, 1993, 1999 and 2001). It remains the one void in his career.
"Getting to a Final Four is just about everything to me," he said. "Everybody wants to win it. Just getting there would be extraordinary."
Since 2001, however, the Owls have been just ordinary.
They started 3-11 last season and were 0-3 before beating Drexel 57-48 Saturday. Chaney is 694-272 in 32 seasons.