Samuel Dalembert

Samuel Dalembert undoubtedly was the tallest soccer player in his neighborhood in Haiti as a young teenager. Then he saw a film clip from an old NBA game that turned him on to basketball. "When I saw Dr. J dunk for the first time, I got excited," Dalembert said, referring to Julius Erving, the former 76ers great. "I started falling in love with basketball. That's when I started to try to play. But I wasn't good at it. The guys wouldn't pick me because I didn't know how to play.

The 76ers are catching something. No, it's not playoff fever. Not yet, anyway. They still have an uphill climb in the Eastern Conference if they want to reach the postseason, and the number of games is dwindling. But the Sixers seem to have figured out what it means to fight for their playoff lives, and that came through loud and clear last night after they fell behind by 12 points early in the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns. Getting a career game from Samuel Dalembert, terrific floor leadership from Eric Snow, and nerveless play from rookies Willie Green and Kyle Korver, the Sixers rallied with the help of a 19-4 run and defeated the Suns, 99-94, before an exhilarated crowd of 17,947 at the Wachovia Center.

Billy King hasn't wavered in his stance throughout the 76ers' negotiations with Samuel Dalembert, Kyle Korver and Willie Green. "These guys will be 76ers, whether it's at our price or another team's price," the Sixers president and general manager said yesterday. The Sixers have the right to match any offer for the three because they are restricted free agents. NBA rules allow free agents to sign contracts beginning on Friday, although they have been allowed to negotiate with teams since July 1. King said that the negotiations are continuing, and that even if the players aren't signed by Friday, it shouldn't be a cause for alarm.

By the time he finished his busy first week with the 76ers, Steven Hunter found himself to be more elated than exhausted. The 7-foot center contributed 13 points and five blocked shots to the Sixers' surprising victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, their first win of the season. But the key to his performance was that he played a career-high 41 minutes, staying on the floor for all but 20 seconds of the second half. That's not bad for a player who did not average more than 13.8 minutes in his first four years in the NBA and had started only 52 of his 221 career games.

Break out the chains. Larry Brown is going to need them. When the 76ers play their first exhibition game tomorrow against San Antonio, Brown swears he will play second-year center Samuel Dalembert, no matter how much angst the coach has about it. "I've got to tie myself down during exhibitions and let him go and not get too upset if he's not quite ready," Brown said. "When I see it, I'll believe it," Dalembert said. Dalembert has a basketball body that kills. He's long, all of 6-foot-11, meaning the 21-year-old from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has been blessed with great shot-blocking ability.

Proving the adage "The players that matter to each other, splatter each other," or something like that, the 76ers gathered their weapons and assembled for their second annual paintball outing on their day off. But it seemed to be a different atmosphere this time around. Unlike last year, when the players felt as if they needed something to ease an uptight mood around the team, Monday's excursion appeared more to be a bunch of close friends wishing to spend time together. That's how it goes when there are good vibes going around the locker room, and you've won four straight games, to boot.

Until the 76ers can figure out a way to keep the opposition from manhandling them on the boards, they are headed for one long, tough and unsuccessful season. The Sixers are 7-7 heading into another run of four games in five days - the third time this season they have endured a stretch like this - and they are going nowhere fast as long as they continue to get outrebounded badly. The New York Knicks used a dominating stretch on the boards to rally from a 16-point deficit and defeat the Sixers, 105-102, in overtime on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Even though the best-of-seven playoff series is tied at two games apiece, the perception is that the Detroit Pistons have regained their edge after Sunday's 93-84 win over the 76ers. Trailing by 10 points at halftime, Detroit showed the heart and fire that made the second-seeded Pistons such prohibitive favorites at the beginning of the series. Detroit has regained at least the psychological control as the teams gear up for tonight's 7 o'clock matchup at the Palace of Auburn Hills, but the Sixers have shown resilience this season and in this series.

The 76ers had hoped to carry the momentum from their victory against Sacramento over the state line to the Arizona desert, but it somehow got lost in a hail of missed shots and Phoenix three-point bombs. The much-anticipated matchup between the two highest-scoring teams in the NBA last night became a rather one-sided affair. The Phoenix Suns, coming off a five-game road trip capped by a wearying three-overtime game in New York, found some fresh legs and routed the Sixers, 105-85, at the America West Arena.

For the 76ers, it's two down and one to go in the restricted-free-agent field. The team last night reached oral agreements with swingman Kyle Korver and combination guard Willie Green, both of whom agreed to six-year deals. Green's pact is worth $20 million, according to his agent, Noah Groom. According to a source, Korver's deal is for at least $24 million. "I love my teammates, and this is where I want to be," Green said in a phone interview. Korver could not be reached for comment.

The New York Knicks have experienced a minor resurgence since the 76ers handed them loss No. 5 in a six-game losing stretch on March 11. After the Sixers beat them by 12 at Madison Square Garden, Chicago beat them the next day and Mike D'Antoni, who couldn't coax the Knicks into playing any defense, resigned. D'Antoni was replaced in an interim role by assistant coach Mike Woodson, and he has led the Knicks to four consecutive wins. The Sixers host the Knicks on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Two years after Haiti was devastated by a powerful earthquake, Samuel Dalembert, the NBA's only Haitian-born player, prays for progress, while tempering his frustration that more hasn't been done to rebuild his crippled country. Recently signed by the Houston Rockets, the 6-foot-11 Dalembert is on a mission to help, donating about $650,000 and establishing a foundation for relief efforts and putting down $1 million out of his own pocket to break ground on a sports academy for Haitian children.

Former 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski keeps his eye on the 76ers from Toronto, where the Penn and Monsignor Bonner graduate is the executive vice president of basketball operations. Stefanski was in town Saturday with the Raptors, making his first appearance with his new team. He said he still keeps an eye on the Sixers and is proud of what he left behind. "Obviously, I'm a little prejudiced, but I think the 76ers are a really good team," Stefanski said before the game.

The 76ers have run out of preseason games, are running out of practices, and they still have some important questions that remain unanswered. Following an afternoon practice at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine on Wednesday, coach Doug Collins again contemplated his rotation. He feels pretty good about his starters and second-unit fixtures Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams, and Evan Turner. But after that it gets a little sketchy. He's got a group of guys - a mix of young and inexperienced guys and some seasoned veterans - that he's going to have to turn to who will need to be ready when he calls on them, no questions asked.

When Doug Collins tells people that the 76ers are a better team when Spencer Hawes is playing well, he's not making it up. Last season, his first with the Sixers and his fourth since the Sacramento Kings made the 7-foot-1, 245-pound center the 10th pick in the 2008 draft, Hawes started 81 games for the Sixers and averaged 7.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in slightly more than 21 minutes per game. However, when Hawes' contribution to the team's effort included him scoring in double figures, the Sixers, who finished last season 41-41, were 14-6.

It is nearly time for the NBA draft once again, and, yes, the 76ers still are looking for a big man. The real world of basketball - in which the goal is 10 feet from the floor and it is advisable to have tall, talented people near it - ceased to exist for the Sixers a quarter-century ago. In all the seasons since, they have operated in a parallel universe in which fans were asked to squint and pretend, among other things, that Charles Barkley was...

If these were the final days of another losing season for the 76ers, the return of center Samuel Dalembert would be the only exciting plotline. But since this season has plenty of narrative power remaining, including the push for a higher playoff seed, Sunday afternoon's game against Dalembert's new team, the Sacramento Kings, is enticing for more reasons than the homecoming of the exasperating big man who played his first seven NBA seasons with...

76ers Notes SACRAMENTO - For eight seasons, Samuel Dalembert tantalized and frustrated 76ers fans. As the team's starting center, Dalembert was a conundrum: displaying ridiculous talent, too much indifference, random exciting plays, and plenty of distraction. At various points during his final two seasons with the franchise, Dalembert publicly requested a trade. Last summer, the Sixers finally found a new home for Dalembert, trading him to the Sacramento Kings for center Spencer Hawes and forward Andres Nocioni.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - If this were a booing town, booing would have filled Power Balance Pavilion. The 76ers were so superior, both in focus and performance, to the hometown Sacramento Kings on Friday night that at no point during the second half did it seem even remotely possible that the Kings would win. The Sixers did, 102-80. At the third-quarter buzzer, there were a few faint boos, but they were quickly drowned out by excitement for the between-quarter entertainment, which was probably a welcome break from watching their Kings shoot 34.5 percent from the floor and turn the ball over 22 times.

There's no correct way to feel about the 76ers' tradeless trade deadline. If you're generally an impatient, the-grass-is-always-greener type, you're likely troubled that the Sixers did nothing to improve their situation before Thursday's NBA trading deadline. Chances are good you're also frustrated when the Eagles punt on fourth and 1 from midfield. If you're more a practical, patient, bird-in-the-hand type, then you're likely relieved the Sixers didn't jeopardize their situation by acquiring some new player and messing with the fragile chemistry coach Doug Collins has created.