Larry Brown, comfortable as an old shoe in Philadelphia, unbeaten, untied and virtually unscored upon. Can you believe it?

	Iverson's scoring is down, but his assists and attitude are way up.

Allen Iverson, working out as a team captain, harnessing his offensive game and his emotion, listening to his coach. Can you believe it?

In a league where salary cap rules and desperation have conspired to make change utterly fashionable, the the City of Brotherly Love's odd couple is flourishing.

Who'd a thunk it?

It has long been held in this corner that Brown is the best teaching coach in the business, but Brown unquestionably is restless when his players go their own way, when his bosses battle him over personnel.

When Brown feels his players no longer listen, he leaves. It happened at Indiana, his longest pro stint to date, four full seasons. But so long as Brown was with the Pacers he maintained a close relationship with club president and pal Donnie Walsh, who had the talent to listen, but not react.

It's much the same situation in Philly where team president Pat Croce has learned to extract the best from his coach and discard the rest. It is Croce who has put Iverson in his place, who has allowed Brown to remain the supreme commander while Iverson remains one of the troops, albeit a sergeant major. With all the rumor and innuendo circulating around their relationship, Brown and Iverson are making it. The coach is boss and the mercurial Georgetown guard is his pupil. The Sixers are tuned in.

At least until they take the court against Cleveland Wednesday night, the Sixers remain the only undefeated team in the NBA, owners of the best start by any Philadelphia team since 1979. They are within one victory of the best start of any NBA team Brown has coached in a career spanning 968 ABA and NBA victories.

They've won big this month and they've won in overtime. They've won with Iverson coming to practice early, not merely on time, and communicating with his teammates as he has never done in four previous seasons as the most controversial athlete in Philadelphia since Charles Barkley.

In Iverson's case, less is more.

His scoring average is down from 28.4 to 23.4. His shots per game are down from 24.8 to 20.6, even though his minutes have increased by one a game to 41.9. His free throws per game are up fractionally. His shooting percentage is off, but then when did Allen Iverson ever shoot a high percentage?

The point is that Iverson is playing within the concept of the team and the Sixers are winning. The Sixers are the only important team in the East that went through the offseason without a single major change -- and they are running the table.

	Ratliff

	Hill

	Snow

Iverson, Eric Snow, Tyrone Hill, George Lynch and Theo Ratliff form the most successful starting five in the league. Toni Kukoc, with a fresh contract in his pocket, is happily coming off the bench. Aaron McKie is sticking the jumper as the first guard off the bench.

The Sixers' only legitimate center, Matt Geiger, remains on the injured list with knee surgery and so far it hasn't cost the team a nickel's worth of progress. In seven games, Philly opponents haven't made it to 100 points.

Who to credit? In Hill's estimation it's Iverson. "I think the most important thing is that Allen has changed in a lot of ways. He's more vocal, not just in practice, but in games. He's telling big guys to get in the post: 'I'm going to get you the ball.' Two years ago, Allen probably not would have done that because he wanted to take it all upon his shoulders. In New York last week, when Theo was rolling, Allen told us, 'Keep running the play for Theo.' That's a real good feeling when you see your all-star player telling the whole team to ignore him and get the ball to the big guy."

In a victory over Orlando that set a tone opening week, it was Snow who took flamboyant young Tracy McGrady out of his game, pushing him into an ejection when the two teams were nose and nose midway through the fourth quarter.

Saturday, in a comeback victory over Boston, it was the quiet Sixer, Snow, who drilled the Celtics for 25 points when Iverson could not get shots to go.

Forget the offense, Snow says. "Defense, effort, fight, those intangibles right there" are the keys to Philadelphia's success. "They make up for not shooting well, for the turnovers. If we're not giving that extra effort, we don't have a shot."

The marquee of a good team is finding ways to win. Against Minnesota they were held to a season-low 30 in the first half. They committed 21 turnovers. Iverson had to go the final 5:24 with five personal fouls, Hill the last 4:49. They won by crushing the Wolves on the boards 56-35.

Minnesota's Chauncey Billups said, "They may be the best offensive- and defensive-rebounding team in the league." After that tight victory in Orlando, Hill noted, "A year ago, we might have lost this game. We might have lost our heads, lost our cool. But [the Magic] threw everything at us and we didn't give up. We overcame adversity, which is a true test for us.

"It's a long season and we're going to see more situations like this, so it was important to keep our composure, to see that even with everything going against you, you can still win."

Brown indicates that he knows who to pick on, who will respond. Iverson took the shots last season and still comes in for scrutiny. But it's Snow who gets as much special attention.

After the Sixers beat Minnesota, Brown noted that "Eric took a lot of heat from me, because he's got to be the coach on the floor. Tonight, he got us into our stuff, got it to the right people, made some big plays, made some big free throws. He's been marvelous. He's just learning about himself more and more."

Snow says he can deal with the needling that Brown reserves for special players. "That stuff doesn't bother me.. Each time out, I try to do what the coach wants me to do. That's what I've always been about. If I don't do it, he'll let me know. I don't have a problem with that."

Sixers 7-0? Hey, there are 75 games to play. So what?

"It means a lot," Iverson says. "It's good for us, it's good for the city. A big part of it is, the fans get to enjoy it. Now they have a chance to get excited even more."

Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.