Larry Brown apparently isn't sure.

In an interview yesterday afternoon on New York all-sports talk station WFAN-660 AM, Brown mentioned that Iverson's goal is to repeat as the NBA's top scorer.

Asked by WFAN's Chris "Mad Dog'' Russo which Iverson wants more, Brown said, "I don't know. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.''

Brown expanded on his remarks prior to last night's home game against the Knicks.

"I still want him to grow up and understand about winning,'' Brown said. "He'll figure it out. He's a lot further along than he was last year, and he was further along last year than he was the year before.

"My job is to get him to understand what a good shot is. He's still young. Seeing how we're playing now may take some pressure off him.''

Iverson was leading the NBA in scoring with a 30.8-point average and also taking a league-high 25.9 shots a game prior to fracturing his right thumb in a fall during a Nov. 22 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He was the NBA's top scorer a year ago at 26.8 points, helping the Sixers to their first playoff appearance in eight years and a first-round win over the Magic.

With Iverson out at least two weeks, the Sixers are forced to move the ball to get better shots. Six players reached double figures in the loss to Washington last Wednesday and four each had 10 or more in weekend wins over the Cavaliers and Bucks.

"I watched Allen play at Georgetown,'' Brown said. "Othella Harrington averaged 20 points a game. When Allen got there, he averaged 10. John (Thompson) thought that was the way for them to win.

"Here, it was the same thing. I allowed him to do this. It's been out of necessity. It doesn't change overnight.

"He gets an opportunity to take a lot of shots here. He can go out every night and get 25 good shots a night. If he does that, he'll have a great chance to win the scoring title and we'll have a chance to win.

"If he takes 30-35 shots, they're not always good shots. I think he thinks he can make every shot."