Ray Allen is 23 years old, has a winning smile and a great talent to play a game he loves. He's a folk hero in his home state of South Carolina, an icon in his collegiate lair of Connecticut, and his new coach starts off an interview by praising his "great attitude and marvelous personality."

He's also starred in a major motion picture, and directs his own non-profit foundation that organizes youth programs and stages events that bring communities together.

In the game of life, well, He Got Game.

Now, imagine how much more fun he'll have when he helps establish the Milwaukee Bucks as one of the NBA's perennial playoff teams.

"I don't think there's any question he's one of the league's young talents," said George Karl, who is taking over the Bucks after six-and-a-half years of tremendous success in Seattle. "I think he, along with Glenn Robinson and Terrell Brandon, I think their big gig in Milwaukee is to learn how to win basketball games. I think we're all impressed with what they can do scoring, I think we're all impressed with their physical skills.

"But the thing in this game is you win your stripes by winning basketball games," Karl continued. "And they have not done that in Milwaukee, and I think that's my responsibility, but it's also got to be the responsibility of our star players, which I think Ray is one."

Although injuries to Brandon and Robinson struck a catastrophic blow to the Bucks' fortunes last year and resulted in Milwaukee missing the playoffs for the seventh straight year, Allen's improvement in his second professional season was dramatic. Playing in all 82 games for the second straight season, Allen increased his scoring average from 13.4 to 19.5 ppg, and he totaled 146 more assists, 79 more rebounds and 36 more steals. He was the NBA's third-best free-throw shooter (.875), trailing only Chris Mullin and Jeff Hornacek, two of the best free-throw shooters in NBA history. When Robinson went down for the season with 24 games remaining, Allen assumed the scoring leadership of the team. But wins, not points, are what drive Allen.

"It's all about chemistry, and that's what we're trying to build here," said Allen. And despite the legitimate possibility of a movie career after positive reviews from his acting debut, he dreams more about winning an NBA championship than an Oscar.

"I dream about winning a championship, where everybody is hooting and hollering for you," Allen beamed. "The whole world is drawn to the NBA Finals."

In order for Allen to achieve that dream, Karl said, he and his teammates are going to have to take a more aggressive approach on the defensive end of the floor.

"The one thing I desire is an aggressive nature," said Karl. "I want my team to be aggressive-minded, and at both ends of the court play the game with maybe a little more intensity and anger than maybe the finesse and softness they played with last year."

Since taking the Bucks job, Karl has likened the team to his early SuperSonics teams, which featured young, talented players who hadn't yet won. When he looks at Allen and Robinson, he is reminded of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, whom he helped mold into NBA All-Stars.

Enthusiastic by nature, Karl said, "I have a tremendous excitement to be a part of what he [Allen] could become. Watching him on film [during the lockout], he reminds me a little bit of Shawn Kemp. When I first saw Shawn Kemp when I went out to Seattle, I said, 'I've never coached a guy with this much talent.' And I think both Ray and Glenn Robinson are two players who have maybe as much offensive talent as I've ever coached. They have so many offensive skills: one-on-one skills, jumping skills, shooting skills. Both of them are marvelous."

About Allen in particular, Karl said he possesses "the passion to be one of the best players in the game."