After the canals of Venice and the Colosseum in Rome, it's the twin spires of the Cologne Cathedral for the Phoenix Suns.

The Philadelphia 76ers are here, too, after the Gaudi Park and Ramblas of Barcelona.

The two NBA teams are in Germany as part of their pre-season tour of Europe and will play each other Tuesday in the Cologne Arena, across the Rhine River from the famous cathedral.

Despite the hassle of travel, both teams see the merits of the trip _ not to mention the food.

``We would do it every year if we could,'' Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said Monday after practice. ``I've watched my players smile and laugh the entire week in Italy and I'm sure they'll do it Germany, too.

``I don't see any negatives. I don't see any downsides. You can really do your work wherever. Only if people start doing too much off the court can it be used as an excuse,'' D'Antoni added.

D'Antoni said Europe was better at building teams _ witness the losses of the U.S. national teams in recent major tournaments.

``I think that's one of the things that Europe does better,'' D'Antoni said. ``They eat together. They travel together. They really like each other. I'm lucky to have players that do that as well.''

Victoria's Steve Nash, a two-time MVP, said the trip was ``really great, great for our unity.''

Maurice Cheeks, the 76ers coach, believes the trip is helping his team find its chemistry, too.

``Coming over here to Europe has been great for us to bond, to get our team chemistry together,'' Cheeks said. ``When you come to a different country, guys have to rely on each other. It has allowed us to unite, to get to know things about each other we wouldn't otherwise.''

Cheeks believes the 104-99 loss to FC Barcelona last week would also help the 76ers down the road, by adopting something out the Spanish team's playbook.

``A lot of things they did was very useful, and we'll get to look at the tape and break down some of the things they did,'' Cheeks said. ``We took away one option and they had another ... Barcelona had two or three options and this is something we talked about after the game, adding more options to our offence and adding more options on the defensive end, too.''

Allen Iverson said the trip was something he would remember.

``We haven't been together for long and it's going to help us get together faster,'' Iverson said.

NBA teams have just started their training camps, while most Europeans teams already have several weeks of play behind them. That shouldn't be an excuse for NBA teams, though, Iverson said.

``There is no reason for anybody to play harder than us,'' Iverson said. ``But these guys have a lot of pride and when they come out against an NBA team they want to show they can play. The international game is getting so much better.''

The 76ers were not the only NBA team to lose in Europe this pre-season: CSKA Moscow defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 94-75. The Suns beat Virtus Lottomatica Roma 100-93, and the San Antonio Spurs won a pair of games in France.

D'Antoni, who played and coached in Italy for years, thinks it would be different if the NBA teams came to Europe later in the season.

``The NBA is still the best league. Come back here in December ... But that's not taking anything away from basketball here,'' he said. ``European basketball is really good. But there's a big difference in the calls. You can kill people in Europe. You cannot touch people in America.''

CSKA Moscow, the reigning Euroleague champion, is also in Cologne and will play Maccabi Tel Aviv in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader.

The winners and the losers play each other in another doubleheader Wednesday, guaranteeing two more European-NBA showdowns.

Maccabi has been responsible for four of the seven games NBA teams have lost in international exhibitions since 1978.

The Spurs beat Maccabi 97-84 Sunday in Paris, however.