"Nothing was ever given to me, I was always the fifth option, the last man to get picked," Ivey said after the Sixers completed preparations for tonight's preseason opener against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass.

"I just had to work to get better, year to year, day to day, little by little. It's a work in progress, and I'm still working."

The Sixers like the 6-4 Ivey's ability to play both backcourt positions at both ends of the court, giving them some off-the-bench versatility they had been lacking.

"Other guys get a reputation because they're stars," said Keith Glass, Ivey's agent. "But I'd say if you canvassed guards around the league, he'd be at the top of a list of guys they don't want to guard them."

Coming into his fifth NBA season, Ivey holds a modest scoring average of four points. But the statistic that jumps off the page is a minuscule 187 turnovers in 3,762 minutes over 263 games; he committed only 23 turnovers in 73 games with the Hawks in 2005-06.

Ivey is a defense-oriented guard whose offensive ability began to emerge last season, when he drained 35 three-pointers after hitting 12 in his first three seasons. One of last season's triples was a game-decider with 6 seconds left in a victory over the Washington Wizards.

"Just a matter of confidence, working on my shot, getting stronger, staying in the gym, getting the opportunity to play some 2 [shooting guard], which gave me a chance to spot up," he said matter-of-factly.

He spent a prep school season at Blair Academy in New Jersey, but when a plan to attend Northwestern fell through, he landed at Texas.

He became a 4-year starter, set a school record for starts with 126, went to four NCAA Tournaments, making three appearances in the Sweet 16 and one visit to the Final Four. He was twice named to the Big 12 Conference all-defensive team.

"I was a real late recruit, sort of a fill-in," he said. "They didn't expect much, but I went out there with my competitive nature and tried to turn it around."

He offers some of the key elements president/general manager Ed Stefanski wanted to inject into the refurbished roster. In a game against the Houston Rockets last season, Ivey bounced from defending the 6-8 Tracy McGrady to defending 6-foot guard Aaron Brooks.

"I like Ivey, [because] he's an aggressive on-the-ball defender; he takes passing lanes away, which I like, and, of course, he can make a shot," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "I like kids who are attentive to the defensive end of the floor. That's his forté."

Six shots