Sunday, December 30, 2001 - Larry Brown, once the area's pro basketball guru when he coached the Denver Nuggets, has a formula on how Mike Evans can be a successful interim coach: win.

Easier said than done for Evans, who became the Nuggets' interim coach Wednesday when Dan Issel resigned. Evans faced Brown and his Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night at the Pepsi Center. Evans took Brown's advice a little quicker than he would have liked, beating Brown's 76ers, 93-90.

"Our franchise in Philadelphia was in trouble until we started winning some games," Brown said. "Once we started winning, people came to see us play. That's the way it is. When I was here and the team was winning, there was tremendous enthusiasm. It's even more important now to win because there's more competition. There are some pretty good sports franchises here."