Shooting Guard

Derrick Thomas has orally committed to play basketball for Drexel next season, a source close to the player said. Scouting reports praise the 6-foot-4 shooting guard from St. John's College High School in Washington for his shot and his ability to drive to the basket. He averaged 15 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists this past season. Thomas joins Dartaye Ruffin, Darryl McCoy and Shannon Givens as new players for Drexel next season.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Ramone Moore finished third in the Atlantic Ten Conference in scoring this season. The Temple guard was an all-Big Five and all-conference selection, and the fifth-year senior was one rebound shy of a double-double in the recent Reese's college all-star game. But for all his college success, one big question about his future remains: Can he become an NBA-caliber point guard if called upon? That answer might go a long way in determining if he'll find his way onto an NBA roster.

Andre Iguodala spent the summer shooting jumpers, and it looks is if he will spend some of the winter playing shooting guard. Despite last season's failed experiment with Iguodala at the two-spot, 76ers new head coach Eddie Jordan has Iguodala, right now, starting in the backcourt with Lou Williams. Yesterday at St. Joseph's University, the Sixers finished their third day of training camp, holding both a morning and an evening session. Camp will end tomorrow. The Sixers will play their first preseason game Tuesday night in London, Ontario, against the Toronto Raptors.

The annual NBA draft lottery will be held in New York today, and the stakes are high. Just under 6 feet, 10 inches high. Danny Manning, who led the University of Kansas to the NCAA title this year, is considered by most experts to be the top prize available in the June 28 draft. The 76ers are among the six teams hoping to emerge from the lottery with the No. 1 choice. The Los Angeles Clippers, the Phoenix Suns, the New Jersey Nets, the Golden State Warriors and the Indiana Pacers are the other teams involved in the lottery.

Was Isaiah Rider in Philadelphia yesterday? Was he visiting the 76ers? A source said that Rider, the Minnesota Timberwolves' shooting guard, was in town to meet with coach John Lucas and owner Harold Katz. It is believed that Rider's visit was preliminary to a hoped-for official meeting, perhaps in the next several days. Lucas would not comment, but the logic seems basic: The Sixers would like to add a starting-quality shooting guard, a need that would become greater if Jeff Malone struggles to come back from the bruised right heel that allowed him to appear in just two games after Dec. 9 of this season.

Gina Torrente can play just about any position in basketball, Neshaminy coach Angie Scarengelli says, but it has become apparent in the last five games that the Redskins junior is definitely most comfortable at guard. Forced to play forward most of the season while senior Kate Farrell recovered from a severe ankle sprain, Torrente contributed for the Redskins but was hardly dominant. With Farrell back in the lineup the last two weeks, Torrente has blossomed at shooting guard. Torrente, who stands 5-foot-10, has scored 18 points in each of the last two games, a 59-55 loss Tuesday to Central Bucks East (13-3)

If you allow them to, the 76ers will depress you. The losses, the wins, the postgame comments, the on-court debacles, even the rare on-court execution - all of it. The losses are pathetic, the wins are worse, the bad play is unwatchable, and the good play is pointless. Welcome to your Sixers, version 2009-2010, a team whose slogan might as well have been: We lose even when we win. Eddie Jordan's days as Sixers coach are flipping off the calendar, each practice and game bringing Jordan that much closer to the end. Jordan's woes have been written, blogged, discussed, and tweeted.

Shooter? Check. Cross another item off Ed Stefanski's summer to-do list. Yesterday, Stefanski, the 76ers' general manager, officially announced the signing of shooting guard Kareem Rush. While the Sixers, per team policy, did not disclose terms of the agreement, a source familiar with the negotiations said Rush signed a minimum-level contract, which, for a player such as Rush, credited with six years of service in the NBA, would be $998,398. Rush made $770,610 last season with the Pacers.

Villanova put the finishing touches on arguably the nation's finest 2009 recruiting class yesterday when shooting guard Dominic Cheek of St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J., announced his intention to play for the Wildcats. The 6-foot-5, 170-pound Cheek, ranked third nationally at his position by ESPNU and sixth by Rivals.com, chose Villanova over Kansas. He also had considered Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Memphis before recently reducing his options to a final two. "Villanova has been with me since Day 1, and they have been there with me during this whole process," Cheek said, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

The loss of shooting guard Jason Richardson for maybe a year amplifies the problems the 76ers have had at this position for more than half a decade. Since dealing Allen Iverson to Denver in December 2006, the Sixers have used, among others, Kevin Ollie, Rodney Carney, Willie Green, and Jodie Meeks at shooting guard, sometimes farcically. They've tried Andre Iguodala - clearly out of position - for stretches. Undersize Lou Williams spent time there, and for the better part of the last two seasons fans cringed watching Meeks.

VILLANOVA'S BASKETBALL program has received its second oral commitment for the recruiting class of 2013, and once again, it's a player from the nation's capital. Josh Hart, a 6-5 senior shooting guard from Sidwell Friends, announced Tuesday afternoon that he will be a Wildcat. The other finalists were Rutgers and Penn State. Two months ago, Jay Wright had landed Kris Jenkins, a 6-6 power forward from Gonzaga High. Both have been rated between the high 80s to low 60s among the top 100 prospects.

ORLANDO - Doug Collins knows that the 76ers haven't had the flashiest offseason. The coach is OK with that, because he believes the moves the Sixers have made will give the team more versatility on the court this coming season. And, more important, it will give Philadelphia financial flexibility for next offseason. "You might look at us and say, 'They didn't hit any home runs,' " Collins told reporters here Friday morning. "Well, 'Have they addressed some of the needs?' " Collins believes so. He added: "We knew that if we came back with the same team, we didn't think we'd be as good.

Because they haven't made a blockbuster move in free agency (something that puts them comfortably in the majority), the 76ers have come under interesting scrutiny. They didn't fork over a truckload of money to European power forward Ersan Ilyasova because they believe that on some nights he plays like a force but on others he looks as if he has mentally checked out by halftime. They quickly turned their gaze away from power forward Kris Humphries, one of the better rebounders in the NBA, because some in the league question the type of teammate he is, having played for four teams in eight seasons.

The Orlando Magic are making some progress on solidifying their roster for next season, agreeing in principle to a new deal with Jameer Nelson. The 30-year-old point guard announced the news on his Twitter account Thursday. The deal comes just a week after the St. Joseph's and Chester High product opted out of the final season and nearly $8 million of his contract with Orlando to test free agency. "Glad to say I've reached an agreement with the Magic. . . I'm blessed to have the best fans and a great organization supporting me!"

NEW YORK - Dion Waiters heads into Thursday night's NBA draft with plenty of confidence, so much so that he said Wednesday he did not have a predraft workout with a single team. Timidity isn't part of Waiters' makeup, and as the 6-foot-4, 215-pound shooting guard from Syracuse reportedly climbs the draft charts, his confidence is soaring even higher. The South Philadelphia resident, who spent his final two high school seasons at Life Center in Burlington, N.J., is projected to be a lottery pick when the draft takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. As a number of projected first-round picks gave interviews Wednesday at the Westin Hotel, Waiters, a reserve during his two college seasons, had to keep telling reporters that he didn't work out for any NBA teams.

The Sixers will continue predraft workouts Thursday, bringing in three players - Baylor's Quincy Miller, Washington's Terrence Ross and Virginia's Mike Scott. Miller, 6-foot-9, 210 pounds, is leaving Baylor after one season. He initially said he was going to remain with the Bears but then changed his mind and entered the draft. He averaged 10.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 24 minutes per game. According to reports, he struggled as a defender and with his jump shot as a freshman.

CHICAGO — There will be some divided family loyalties if several pre-NBA draft scenarios play out and the 76ers grab Duke guard Austin Rivers. Some mock drafts have the Sixers taking the 6-4 shooting guard with their No. 15 selection in the June 28 draft. That would set up several intriguing in-season Atlantic Division clashes with Rivers' father, Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. Father-son dynamics remain positive and Austin Rivers says his dad is a big backer. Still, the younger Rivers also has a well-honed competitive streak and can't wait to play and beat Doc Rivers no matter where he lands.

BOSTON - So, after 69 hours of rest, the Celtics yawned, stretched, applied a coating of liniment, or pixie dust, or whatever it is they use, and put a beating on the overmatched Sixers. This is what happens when time off trumps Father Time. A 101-85 win. A 3-2 series advantage. Even without a shooting guard - starter Avery Bradley missed with sore shoulders, and gimpy Ray Allen barely filled out his jersey - the Celtics romped. As they should have.

DANNY GRANGER scored 25 points to help the Indiana Pacers defeat the visiting Orlando Magic, 105-87, on Tuesday night and clinch their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series 4-1. It was Indiana's first series win since 2005 and its first clincher on its home court since the first round of the 2000 playoffs. The Pacers will play Miami or New York in the second round. Miami leads that series 3-1, and as the final minutes ticked away, fans began chanting, "Beat the Heat.