UNLESS YOU'RE bold enough to take a bite, you'll never know how sweet the apple that fell closest to the tree could have been.

Perhaps that's why Sixers assistant coaches Randy Ayers and Mike Woodson apparently have gone from dark horses to strong contenders to replace Larry Brown as head coach.

Team president Billy King has searched from Portland to Kentucky, but now he might be leaning toward staying closer to home. A source familiar with the search said the interviews King had with Ayers and Woodson last week went so well that King is "seriously" considering offering the job to one of them, or to New Jersey Nets assistant coach Eddie Jordan.

Those are the only candidates with whom King is known to have spoken in the last week.

Ayers, who has spent the past six seasons as an assistant on Brown's staff, was said to have left King "impressed" after his initial interview Thursday in Chicago. He is scheduled to speak with King again this week.