MVN - Most Valuable Network

Debating Dalembert’s Drive

While most of the 76ers are having a quiet summer so far, center Sam Dalembert was playing with Team Canada and trying to help them qualify for the Olympics. However, after a bad loss to Slovenia where Dalembert played poorly, the team failed to qualify and Dalembert was kicked off the team. Dalembert only played in that opening round loss during the tournament.

It seems like both Dalembert and Canada’s coach Lou Rautins are upset over the situation. Dalembert’s commitment was called into question, while Sam’s beef is that he’s being singled out as the scapegoat. Neither side seems to be in agreement about what happened, so hopefully they can settle their differences moving forward. Dalembert became a Canadian citizen to help the team try and qualify for Beijing and everything leading up to this summer indicated that the Haitian sensation was serious and committed about making the Olympics.

This isn’t the first time however that a coach questioned Dalembert’s drive. Larry Brown was his first NBA coach and his first statements about Dalembert as a rookie were not flattering. Basically, he said that he wasn’t even close to being ready for the NBA. With all the athleticism Dalembert possessed, it was an implication of his work habits. Then there was Jim O’Brien, who bounced Dalembert in and out of his doghouse and expressed frustration with him for his constant excuses and failure to bounce back from injuries.

Under Maurice Cheeks, Dalembert seems to have turned a corner. He was a consistent double-double player for us last year and despite coming into training camp nursing a stress fracture, ended up playing all 82 games and staying healthy for once in his career. Dalembert was a big reason the Sixers surged in the second half of the year as he kept the opposing post players in check.

It was a great move by Mo to arrange for interviews with reporters about Dalembert’s status with the Sixers. This has the potential to carry over for us this season. With Speights playing well in the summer league and fans asking if the rookie should start over Dalembert, it’s important to get Sam back to a good state of mind and confirm his importance to the Sixers.

Now, let’s just lock up Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams before one of them bolts for Europe!

Previously on Passion and Pride: Sixers sign Royal Ivey

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 10:44 am and is filed under Haiti, Canada, Maurice Cheeks, Beijing, Europe, Mareesse Speights, Slovenia, Sixers, Lou Williams, Passion and Pride, Jim O'Brien, Larry Brown, Royal Ivey, Andre Iguodala, Olympics, Lou Rautins, Philadelphia 76ers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.