In the hallways beneath the First Union Center late Friday night, Pat Croce bumped into a Larry O'Brien Trophy-wielding Rick Fox. The Sixers president hugged and congratulated the champagne-drenched forward and asked if he could see basketball's ultimate prize. When Fox extended it toward him, Croce recoiled.

"I'll look at it, but I don't want to touch it yet," said Croce.

Aaron McKie: "If we put in the effort next year that we did this year, we'll get another shot at it." Robert Mora/NBAE Photos

Implying that at some point soon he planned on hoisting the hardware on behalf of the 76ers franchise.

Like their spirited front-office leader, the Sixers have high hopes for what this year's Finals appearance represents. In fact, it's fair to say that the mood in the Philadelphia locker room following Friday's 108-96 loss to the Lakers was just as optimistic as it was somber. Much of the talk among the players and the coaches was of the great things that were yet to come.

"It's disappointing right now, but we definitely swallowed a lot of experience throughout this run," said Matt Geiger. "I think we're definitely going to use that for next year."

"With the group of guys that we have, we've gotten better every year," said Aaron McKie. "With that pattern, things can only go up. If we put in the effort next year that we did this year, we'll get another shot at it (the championship)."

Many of the players feel that that shot will come next year. Center Todd MacCulloch already has his team's course precisely charted for the 2001-02 season.

"This team has gotten better every year since Allen (Iverson) has been here," said MacCulloch. "I would expect next year to be no different. We'll try to get some more regular-season wins, then try to win not just the East, but have the best record overall so we can have home court (advantage) in the Finals."

Two issues Philadelphia now has to face in its quest for a return trip to the Finals are the future of coach Larry Brown, who has been rumored to be considering taking next year off, and the future of free-agent-to-be Dikembe Mutombo. The Sixers held their annual end-of-season meeting Saturday, and the team likely had both topics on its collective mind. As expected, the ranks all want both of them back.

"I think he (coach Brown) knows that we want him to come back," said Eric Snow. "But that's too selfish of us to try to force him into a decision that he's basically earned to be able to make by himself or within his family."

When asked what he would tell Brown if in an office alone with him, McKie's response was clear and concise.

"That he'd be letting us down if he didn't come back," said McKie. "But I don't even think about that. That's just rumors that are out there. He's meant the world to this team."

While Brown's decision is more his own, Mutombo will make financial considerations and would only be wise to see what the market held for him. But if the 7-2 center has his way, he'll return to the Sixers.

"I would love really to come back and play with these guys, this really great group of guys," said Mutombo. "They believe in winning. They know what it takes to go up there and play 48 minutes night after night and win the ballgame."