if this really were a Sweet 16 game, who would have the advantage then?

* Coaches:

Larry Brown vs. Boston's Jim O'Brien.

Two of Brown's numerous pit stops in his 30-year coaching
odyssey landed him at a pair of the most historically prominent programs in college basketball. In two seasons at UCLA (1979-80 and '80-81), Brown posted a 42-17 record. In his first season, he took the Bruins to the NCAA championship game, losing to Louisville.

In five seasons at Kansas (1983-88), Brown went 135-47 and led the Jayhawks to the 1988 national championship. As a player, his Tar Heels never reached the NCAA tourney.

O'Brien, from Roman Catholic High, was a three-year starter at St. Joe's. He led the Hawks to the 1972 National Invitational Tournament and '73 and '74 NCAA tourneys.

He was the head coach at the University of Dayton from 1989 to '94 and led the Flyers to the 1990 NCAA Tournament, where they beat Illinois in the first round. As an associate head coach to Rick Pitino at Kentucky from 1994 to '97, O'Brien was a member of a staff that won the 1996 NCAA title and lost the 1997 championship game.

Earlier, he was the head coach at Wheeling Jesuit College (1982 to '87).

Advantage: Sixers

* Go-To Guys:

Sixers' Allen Iverson and Derrick Coleman vs. Boston's Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce.

In two seasons at Georgetown, Iverson played in two NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 1995 and Elite Eight in '96.

As a freshman at Syracuse, Coleman helped the Orangemen to the 1987 NCAA championship game. He played in three other NCAA Tournaments but never got past the Elite Eight again.

Walker played just two seasons at Kentucky, but made the NCAA Tournament both times and the led the Wildcats to the 1996 NCAA title. He had 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the Wildcats' victory over Syracuse. As a freshman, he played in the Elite Eight.

Pierce played in the NCAA Tournament in all three of his seasons at Kansas. Applying the law of diminishing returns, he advanced to the Elite Eight as a freshman, the Sweet 16 as a sophomore and the second round as a junior.

Advantage: Celtics

* Other players:

For the Sixers, Eric Snow played in three NCAAs in four years at Michigan State. Dikembe Mutombo went in all three of his years at Georgetown. Matt Harpring played in one NCAA Tournament in four years at Georgia Tech. Aaron McKie played in the NCAA tourney all three years at Temple, going to the Elite Eight in 1993. Corie Blount played in the 1992 Final Four and 1993 Elite Eight in his two years at Cincinnati.

Among the Celtics, Kenny Anderson played just two seasons at Georgia Tech but went to the 1990 Final Four. Tony Battie played in one NCAA Tournament in three seasons at Texas Tech (and was eliminated by Iverson's Georgetown team in the Sweet 16). Eric Williams went to one NCAA in two years at Providence. Walter McCarty and Tony Delk both joined Walker on Kentucky's 1996 title team.

Advantage: Celtics

"I look at [tonight's] game as if it's a Sweet 16 game with a chance to get to the final eight because that's all that's going to be left," Brown said before leaving for Boston yesterday. "The rest will have gone home. I don't want to make plans on that happening."

Since this an NBA game and not a NCAA one, Brown likely won't have to.