THEY DON'T WANT NEXT: 76ERS PUT WNBA PLANS ON HOLD

          76ers President Pat Croce has withdrawn his application
     to place a WNBA franchise in Philadelphia, though there
     still "might be" one in the city's future, according to Phil
     Jasner of the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS.  Croce: "We had our
     staff work on it for more than a week, and the consensus was
     to wait.  We don't want to be in a position of cannibalizing
     our efforts with the Sixers."  The WNBA requires any city
     that wants a WNBA franchise to "guarantee" 5,500 season
     tickets.  Croce: "I want to do it, but I want to do it when
     I sense that the city is really ready for it.  At this
     point, I just couldn't be sure" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS,
     5/20). Croce: "My primary focus is to get our house in
     order.  It's not in order yet.  We have a small season-
     ticket base.  It's less than 5,000 right now, which is
     double what it used to be" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/20).