Eric Snow

DALLAS - Eric Snow spent 7 years with the 76ers as Allen Iverson's backcourt mate. He saw the many, many highs of Iverson's career, and the many lows, most of them off the court. When Iverson was dismissed by the Memphis Grizzlies after only three games this season, his future in the sport that had made him a global superstar seemed in peril. Then came Louis Williams' broken jaw. A few phone calls and a couple of meetings later, Iverson was again a Sixer. So popular is Iverson that he was voted a starter for the Eastern Conference in tomorrow's All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in suburban Arlington, Texas.

Randy Ayers may not have been the fans' choice to become the 76ers' new head coach, but he was a popular pick among team members. The introduction of Ayers as Larry Brown's successor drew praise from the many players who attended an introductory news conference yesterday at the First Union Center. Ayers has been with the organization for six years, serving as physical conditioning coach his first year and as an assistant coach the past five seasons. "That's what makes me feel good about this organization, they brought somebody in who is family," all-star guard Allen Iverson said.

The once again shorthanded 76ers are in a downward spiral in which they have lost to three of the NBA's worst teams over the last two weeks, and it's starting to get to them. The Sixers' defense had more holes than a block of Swiss cheese in the first half last night. They spotted the Cleveland Cavaliers a 20-point lead, rendering a valiant second-half comeback moot in a 95-87 loss, their sixth defeat in their last eight games. Over that stretch, the Sixers have fallen to Washington, Orlando and now, for the third time this season, Cleveland.

When you're barely a month into the season and a victory is labeled "big," that usually means there have been problems. Last night, the injury-plagued 76ers found a way to alleviate their problems. Sparked by a sensational fourth-quarter effort by point guard Eric Snow, along with another impressive showing by rookie center Todd MacCulloch, the Sixers went on a pivotal 7-0 run in the final quarter, then used their defense to pull out an 82-79 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in front of 15,216 at the Bradley Center.

For those who have wondered aloud why Eric Snow is the starting point guard for the 76ers - as well as the guy who finishes games - watch a tape of the last 3.4 seconds of last night's game with the Miami Heat. Further inquiry will not be necessary. Faced with the challenge of defending a warmed-up Tim Hardaway for the game-deciding play, Snow saved the day for the Sixers. He stripped Hardaway of the ball and raced upcourt as the clock expired, lifting the Sixers to a thrilling 84-82 win in front of 16,029 fans at American Airlines Arena.

Ask their teammates, the coaches - even the equipment managers - and they'll tell you the Sixers who are under appreciated. They're the ones who allow few points to be scored against them, score even fewer, and are usually so far removed from the spotlight that you wouldn't know that they're actually players unless you saw them in uniform. Note: Allen Iverson and Larry Hughes do have backcourt teammates. Their names are Eric Snow and Aaron McKie. Grunt work, not entertainment or gaudy statistics, epitomizes their job description.

Eric Snow knows Donald Baxter. The Houston orthopedic surgeon inserted a pin into Snow's fractured ankle in December 2000, then reexamined the 76ers point guard when he suffered another break in the same ankle during last season's playoffs. So, several weeks ago, Snow thought teammate Aaron McKie should visit Baxter. Yesterday, McKie did just that. Still struggling with what originally was diagnosed as a sprained left ankle and strained Achilles tendon, McKie went to Houston to see Baxter, then rejoined the Sixers in Miami, where they will play the Heat tonight at American Airlines Arena.

The 76ers were without Allen Iverson, Aaron McKie and Derrick Coleman yesterday when they clinched their fourth consecutive postseason berth, and that seemed appropriate for a team plagued by injuries all season. With their backcourt leading the way, the Sixers avenged three earlier losses this season to the Orlando Magic, defeating their Atlantic Division nemeses, 95-89, at the TD Waterhouse Centre. Point guard Eric Snow put up 22 points and nine assists in 42 minutes. Speedy Claxton, the starter at shooting guard in place of Iverson, was nothing short of sensational at times.

Home after five straight losses, four on the road, the 76ers are not panicking. They're just concerned. And after listening to coach Larry Brown yesterday, there are legitimate reasons for both calm and concern. Allen Iverson practiced yesterday, going hard for the first time in nearly two weeks. He was listed as questionable for tonight's game against the Milwaukee Bucks, but he said: "I am going to dress for the game. I'll be there. " That may be good news for the team, but Aaron McKie's chronic shoulder problems and Eric Snow's problems with his right ankle and with a lack of conditioning are not. In addition, his teammates' thoughts are with Matt Geiger.

Reggie Miller, the Indiana Pacers' superstar, was merely a major contributor in last night's game with the 76ers until a packed house at the First Union Center got him going with its mocking chants. But when there are questions about an outcome, there's an answer, as Allen Iverson reminded the fans once again. "The Franchise" poured in a game-high 37 points, including a three-point play with 1 minute, 4 seconds remaining, and backcourt mate Eric Snow scored on a running jumper in the lane with 26.3 seconds left as the Sixers posted an electrifying 103-97 victory in front of a frenzied sellout crowd of 20,623.

John Armato, 33, was the second fan in line when the doors opened to the Wells Fargo Center for the 76ers game Wednesday night against Denver. He's not one of those people, those crazies, with no life. He's got a wife, two daughters, a job, and his own business on the side. He was just so excited. He had not been back to a Sixers game in 11 years, not since they lost to the Lakers in the NBA championship in 2001, the pinnacle of the Allen Iverson era. Like many area fans, Armato had given up on pro basketball, so much so that his wife of four years didn't even know he had followed the Sixers until she looked through his closet and saw his Iverson, Eric Snow, and Aaron McKie jerseys.

THINK ABOUT THIS. People have seen Andre Iguodala walking down the streets of Philadelphia and altered whatever they were doing to come up to his face and curse at him. Think about that, really closely, because this isn't a boo during a Sixers game at the Wells Fargo Center. It isn't someone calling up talk radio to express discontent. These are people who have made a conscious decision to change a course of action and use some of their valuable time to insult Iguodala.

WASHINGTON - Though he was with his team all day yesterday preparing for last night's game against the Wizards at the Verizon Center, 76ers coach Doug Collins had a little piece of him back in South Philadelphia, where a ceremony preceded the beginning of demolition of the Spectrum. "My memories of the Spectrum," Collins reflected. "When I was a senior in high school, I visited Lehigh University and my cousin was married to Craig Anderson, who was a former major league pitcher.

76ers Notes SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The 76ers count on Lou Williams for scoring. His role is simple - putting points on the board - and he has been so effective that he's become a focal point of opposing teams' scouting reports. Entering Saturday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs, Williams was averaging 14.8 points in 23.2 minutes a game. Those numbers include his previous two games, in which he was hindered by a left-shoulder injury suffered in the second half of Wednesday night's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

For anyone clamoring for the 76ers to bolster their frontcourt so they can set better screens, coach Doug Collins has two words: John Stockton. Collins used the Utah Jazz's Hall-of-Fame guard as an example Monday, saying Stockton is "one of the best screeners in NBA history. "So, I don't think you have to be some big guy to set screens. I think you have to be willing to go down and put your body on somebody, and that's what we've been emphasizing. We have to help each other get open.

Former 76ers guard Eric Snow, who was the starting point guard for the 2001 team that advanced to the NBA Finals, has been named the color analyst alongside play-by-play man Marc Zumoff for all Sixer telecasts on Comcas SportsNet and The Comcast Network. Snow is Zumoff's fourth partner in 4 years, following Steve Mix, Bob Salmi and Ed Pinckney, who left during this offseason to take a job as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls. Snow will debut tonight when the Boston Celtics visit the Wells Fargo Center (7 o'clock)

DALLAS - Eric Snow spent 7 years with the 76ers as Allen Iverson's backcourt mate. He saw the many, many highs of Iverson's career, and the many lows, most of them off the court. When Iverson was dismissed by the Memphis Grizzlies after only three games this season, his future in the sport that had made him a global superstar seemed in peril. Then came Louis Williams' broken jaw. A few phone calls and a couple of meetings later, Iverson was again a Sixer. So popular is Iverson that he was voted a starter for the Eastern Conference in tomorrow's All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in suburban Arlington, Texas.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - There are times - admittedly, not as many as 76ers fans would like - when Lou Williams looks a little like Allen Iverson, and not just because, at 6-1 and 175 pounds, he has the same scrawny, bag-of-bones physique. There also are times when Williams, whom the Sixers drafted straight out of South Gwinnett (Ga.) High in 2005, can do a passable imitation of Andre Miller or at least Eric Snow. But, in his fourth NBA season, Williams is neither a 1 (point guard)

The 76ers greet the first season of the rest of their lives tonight in Toronto and management kindly requests that the team's progress not be judged solely on the pesky accounting of its won-lost record. In other words, uh-oh. "We're not going to promise anything to fans, but we're going to play hard and make them proud of how we play on the court," team president Billy King said. Those are noble aspirations and high ideals, but history suggests they don't often fill seats in the NBA - particularly not at 75 bucks a pop. The Sixers know this, but they haven't got much else to sell.

LeBron James receives virtually all of the attention in opposing arenas. But the second-year Cleveland Cavaliers superstar will have to share the spotlight tonight at the Wachovia Center. Former 76ers point guard Eric Snow will make his first appearance in Philadelphia since he was traded in the off-season for Kevin Ollie and since-departed Kedrick Brown. Snow, who played with the 76ers for 6 1/2 seasons, started all 82 games in each of his last two seasons with the team. "To me, it will be special to see the warmth of the fans who were great to me as long I was there," Snow said Sunday before the Cavs lost to the New Jersey Nets.