Phil Jasner | We know the feeling

TRY AND remember . . .

The 76ers on the front and/or back cover of the Daily News just about every day.

Sixers flags flying on virtually every moving vehicle.

Signs in storefront windows.

Banners hanging outside otherwise sedate private homes.

Allen Iverson lighting up a city the way even Peco never could.

Pat Croce climbing a bridge, climbing atop a water tower.

Larry Brown and his incredible ability to see things on the court that only he saw.

Raja Bell arriving out of nowhere. (OK, arriving out of Sioux Falls, S.D.)

Vince Carter's potentially series-winning shot for Toronto falling harmlessly off the rim.

Glenn Robinson missing a clutch baseline jumper for Milwaukee.

Eric Snow and Aaron McKie professionally and expertly handling the waves of reporters who either had completed their session with Iverson or hadn't been able to get close enough to offer a question.

Have I mentioned Pat Croce climbing a bridge?

I remember lightning in a bottle. I remember the Sixers igniting the city and the surrounding area, in the best possible sense of "igniting."

It all led to the Sixers' reaching the NBA Finals in 2000-01, the culmination of a hard, raucous, 5-year climb. They hadn't been to the championship series since 1982-83, which seemed pretty much like forever.

The '82-83 Sixers won it all. The '00-01 Sixers did not, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.

Despite that, every emotion that had built up over too many fruitless seasons cascaded out. Reasonable people celebrated the ride.

Try and remember . . .

I thought about all of this, and about what the city of Cleveland must be experiencing. I have read newspaper accounts of people on the streets there, some not even Cavaliers fans, some little more than casual supporters, and how they believe that Le-

Bron James will fulfill their fondest dream, how he will lift the team -and all of them - on his young shoulders and take them on the final leg of their magical mystery tour.

I asked Croce about all of this, and even across a telephone connection I could feel his emotions begin to bubble.

"We galvanized the city," said Croce, then the Sixers' charismatic president. "Half the city probably weren't even Sixers fans, but they got caught up in it. They got caught up in the Iverson Mania. And Dave Coskey was brilliant marketing it."

In retrospect, the Sixers had little realistic chance against Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, but you couldn't tell them - or anyone here - that. Just as you can't tell anyone in Cleveland that the Cavs and LeBron can't beat the resolute, steel-willed, far more experienced San Antonio Spurs.

"I don't think Cleveland, at the beginning, was considered a lock to be [in the Finals]," Coskey said. "I remember that we were shooting for it, but even with the euphoria we felt, down deep I think Philly fans had trouble comprehending that they had a shot. I'm very biased; I'm sure the Cleveland fans are having the experience of a lifetime, but I think Philly fans had a way of making it even more special."

Is anybody seriously picking the Cavs in the best-of-seven series that begins tonight in San Antonio?

Does anybody seriously believe LeBron and the Cavs can win four games against Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and the Spurs?

Try and remember . . .

The Sixers won Game 1 in LA in overtime and caught the basketball world's attention. They came agonizingly close to winning Game 2, and people were suddenly clinging even harder to a dream.

The dream died in three straight losses in the Wachovia Center, but when Game 5 ended and the players headed for their locker rooms, many of the fans stayed in their seats, chanting "Let's Go Sixers . . . "

As huge as Iverson was, all 6 feet and 160 pounds of him, against the massive O'Neal and the cold, calculating assassin-like approach of Bryant, LeBron will have to be as big against the Spurs. Or bigger.

"Allen was bigger than Shaq in that series," Croce said wistfully. "Not physically as big, but huge in our hearts. This was a 6-foot David and Philly against Goliath and Hollywood. Allen put a city on his shoulders."

Croce said he sees so much of that in LeBron.

"His performance in that two-overtime victory against Detroit, the poise he has, the way he handles his press conferences, he's an unbelievable asset for the league," Croce said. "Cleveland's not as big a city as Philly. He put them on the map."

Never mind, then, that the Cavs took both regular-season meetings with the Spurs. This is a maiden voyage. The Spurs are going for their third title in 5 years, their fourth in 9. Other than LeBron, the Spurs have an edge in every other category.

So I asked Croce, the ultimate optimist, whether he thought the Cavs could win.

"No," he said. "I hope they win a game."

I think the Cavs will win one, maybe two. I think the Cavs will believe that they will be back, that they will get another chance. I know that was what the '00-01 Sixers believed. They haven't been anywhere close ever since.

"Spurs in five," Coskey said.

And thanks for the memories. *

Send e-mail to jasnerp@phillynews.com.