NEW YORK’S Little Dream Team had just finished a spirited practice inside Draddy Gymnasium when star Luis Flores asked Ed Benjamin from News 12 in The Bronx, busy interviewing Jason Wingate, if he could borrow the microphone.

“What do you think our chances are in this game, 1 through 10?” Flores asked.

“I’d say, between a 6 and 7,” Wingate said.

A few chuckles later, Flores was asked the same question off-camera.

“I don’t want to give a definite number, but I think we have a pretty good chance if we do what we do,” he said.

They leave today for Raleigh, and, 72 hours from Billy Donovan and the fifth-seeded Florida Gators, how loose are the 12th-seeded Jaspers? Type-A personality coach Bobby Gonzalez was escorted to and from the set of ESPN2’s “Cold Pizza” yesterday morning with a Hooters’ girl on each arm.

“We’re starting an all-New York perimeter,” Gonzalez said. “Jason Wingate’s [from] Rice High School; Luis Flores [is from] Norman Thomas; Peter Mulligan [is from] St. Raymond’s; and I’m proud about that. We’re Manhattan, we’re a New York team, and our 1, 2 and 3 are from New York City.”

It means plenty.

“New York kids are fearless,” Gonzalez said. “They’re not afraid when they get on a big stage. Whether it’s AAU, or whether it’s in the summer playing against guys that come back from the NBA . . . New York kids have a sense that when they get . . . wherever . . . they bring that with them, whether the game is in Gainesville, whether the game is in Raleigh, they’re not gonna back down. And Billy [Donovan] knows that. See, Billy will warn his players that our kids are for real, because Billy knows that. Billy’s from Long Island and he will respect us.”

Flores, the senior shooting guard, grew up in Washington Heights.

“We start five city kids [three from NYC, one from New Haven, one from D.C.], which is something that many other teams don’t do,” Flores said. “We all come from areas where it’s tough just living out there. That kinda resembles our game. We tend to be tough and play hard.”

Wingate, the sophomore point guard, grew up on 140th and Lenox in Harlem.

“New Yorkers play on a lot of pride,” Wingate said. “It’s just a huge pride thing knowing that you have to go back to your block and if you play bad they’re gonna get on you. But if you play good, they’re gonna praise you. I don’t want to be stepped on when I get back home.”

Mulligan, the 6-5 junior swingman, was the state’s Mr. Basketball at St. Raymond’s in The Bronx.

Here’s why the Jaspers believe:

Flores: “We know how to play in big arenas, and we don’t fear anybody.”

Dave Holmes of D.C.: “Because we take pride in our defense, something that few teams in the country do. When it’s time to get a stop, we know how to get a stop.”

Jason Benton of New Haven: “Swagger. Just thinking we can play with anybody. Unbelievable toughness this team has. Never gives up.”

Gonzalez feigned worry when Flores made only 97 of his 100 post-practice free throws. The coach, who fancies himself a street-fighter, is certain his Tournament-hardened Jaspers will not be star-struck.

“We’ve been there before,” Flores said. “There’s no one dominant team in the country that cannot be beat. So with that in the back of our minds, we understand that we can go out there and do magical things.”