For Sixers, offense is behind defense by design

Sixers coach Eddie Jordan kept his team on the floor for a marathon, 3 1/2-hour practice yesterday in their second day of training camp at Saint Joseph's.

You could tell it ran longer than the coach anticipated. The media is usually allowed to watch the final 15 or 20 minutes of practice. But after reporters and cameras were let in, practice lasted another hour-and-a-quarter.

"I'm not a 3 1/2-hour practice coach, but we did it today," Jordan said. "I'd rather have quality than quantity. I thought the quality stayed up. And I told them after practice that we only have a small, a very small, part of the offense in, just the basic fundamental part of the offense. The defense is way ahead, which I really, really like. It's hard for the offense to execute and that's what I want. I want it to be hard so as we put more in, it becomes easier and easier to execute, and they understand that."

Some observations of the practice:

* The first team consisted of Lou Williams, Andre Iguodala, Sam Dalembert, Thaddeus Young and Elton Brand. No surprises there. The second team was Willie Green, Jason Smith, Marreese Speights, Rodney Carney and Jason Kapono. The third team was mostly made up of Sean Singletary, Dionte Christmas, Jrue Holiday, Primoz Brezec and Brandon Bowman.

* Dalembert was favoring his right shoulder, an injury he says "is a little tear" that he suffered last season. He said it will not keep him out of action, and that it was far worse last year than it is now.

* Brand is showing no signs that the injuries from the past two seasons (Achilles' and shoulder) are bothering him. He flew down the court one time and took a pass in for a dunk.

* Williams is really good at breaking down his man off the dribble, particularly when he has a full head of steam going to the rim.

* Kapono was called for traveling a few times by the two refs who were in to officiate the practice. When he wasn't traveling, he was showing off his shooting ability.

* Singletary is listed as 6-foot, 185 pounds, but he appears way, way smaller than that. Amazing that the former Virginia star was able to become the only player in ACC history to record 2,000 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals.

* The line of the day came from the rookie Holiday, when asked why he had huge bags of ice taped to each knee: "I'm getting old. I'm 19 now. I'm a grown man." He then assured the ice was just precautionary.

* Jordan chastised Christmas for shooting a quick jumper, then relented after he was told that Christmas had a big man covering him. "That's my fault," the coach told the former Temple star.

Six shots

 

 

The team signed free-agent forward Rashad Jones-Jennings, upping the training-camp roster to 18. Jones-Jennings was undrafted in 2007 after leading the nation in rebounding at Arkansas-Little Rock. Last season the 6-8, 230-pounder played in the German league . . . The team will have a free, open-to-the-public practice at the Wachovia Spectrum on Oct. 10 at 11 a.m. Doors will open at 10. Assistant coach Mike O'Koren will be miked up for the fans to hear during the practice. . . Practice visitors yesterday included Drexel coach Bruiser Flint, Philadelphia University coach Herb Magee and Rowan coach and former Saint Joseph's Hawk mascot Joe Cassidy.