<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">He's trying to get back in the game, to get back to the level that earned him a contract worth more than $60 million. He's been trying since March 1 in Houston. But Samuel Dalembert is finding out how hard it can be to reclaim a starting position with the 76ers in short bursts. He knows he needs time on the court to re-establish his rhythm, to rebuild his confidence, to reacquaint himself with the various schemes and strategies at both ends of the court. In five games since returning from a sprained left ankle, he has managed modest totals of 21 points and 17 rebounds. To this point, Steven Hunter remains the starting center; he had eight points and six rebounds in Thursday night's loss to Denver and seven points, nine rebounds and four blocks in Wednesday night's loss in Boston. As the Sixers look ahead to tomorrow's game in Memphis, Dalembert wants his spot back as much as ever. But that apparently will take more work. "It's a readjustment," Dalembert said the other day. "You're going to have to be more aggressive when you come in [off the bench]. You get to watch [the pace], but when you're out there, it's at a different level. You have to adjust fast, because you don't know the next time you're going to get a chance." Against the Rockets, he managed seven points, two rebounds and three fouls in 20 minutes; two nights later, he was scoreless in 4 minutes at home against Washington, all in the first half. He had six points and three rebounds in 14 minutes against the Nuggets. "To me, the first game was tough, [but] the second game was even tougher, because of the frustration from the first game," he said. "You have to make something happen quick, so the confidence of the coach can still be there. "When you start, you know you're going to be there, your fouls situation is different. Early in the season, I had trouble with fouls, then I adjusted. Now, I have to adjust faster. At this point, there's no time to waste. "I'm not going to lie, there's a pride to it; there's a challenge deep inside your heart that says, 'How come this has been taken away from me?' It bothers you, but what can you do? If it's for the best, if it works, that's my pleasure; we all want to win. I'm just going to do my thing and try and get it back."</div> http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/ba...ll/14073615.htm I am absolutely shocked. I thought Dalembert's minutes were depleted because he was still nursing his ankle injury. Turns out Cheeks is choosing to keep him on the bench longer than usual. I don't know if this is good for the team. Steven Hunter has been playing tremendous recently without a doubt. However, we need Dalembert in the game. I don't care if you run Hunter and Dalembert together when Webber needs a rest, but Dalembert is the leagues leading shot blocker and is a quick option for Iverson to dish to under the net. Cheeks has got me scratching my head again.
Why in the hell should he be given more minutes? When he has been on the court since returning from his injury, he has been absolutely horrendous, and he's lucky he's even getting those minutes! If he was decent, then I'd be a little worried as to why he hasn't been getting playing time, but he has been horrible. He's a quick option for AI under the net? Yeah... if he can catch the ball. About 70% of the time AI or somebody else sets Dalembert up, he turns it over either by not catching it, traveling, getting it blocked, or just plain out missing because of his limited abilities. Hunter deserves the starting spot and the most minutes until Dalembert can show he is a better option than Hunter. Great move by Cheeks.
BigMo, What does Hunter do so much better than Dalembert? He doesnt have an offensive game either, they get their points on putbacks. However, Dalembert is a better rebounder and defender. I dont know why AI tries fancy passes to Dalembert, he knows he isnt going to catch them. He makes 60 million, put him in there, he can get 10,10, and 4 a game. He isnt horrible, not worthy of that kind of contract, but again, thats BK's fault. Both Hunter and Sammy need minutes and confidence to play well, so it was stupid signing Hunter.
I never said Hunter was a better player than Dalembert, because frankly speaking, he is not. All I said was that Hunter has been playing better than Dalembert has since Sam returned from his injury, and therefore it isn't very surprising that Hunter has been getting more and more of Dalembert's minutes. Hunter's rebounding has improved ever since he was "traded" to NO/OKC. He has become much more aggressive on the boards, and his rebounding has been a product both of his athleticism and of boxing out, although he can still work on it. Although Sam gets a lot of rebounds, how many stupid fouls does he commit by going over the back repeatedly, either costing us the ball or giving the opposing team free throws? Dalembert may be one of the top shot blockers in the league, but how many balls does he goaltend in order to get those blocks? I guarantee you he is the leader in the league of goaltends... by far! Again, free points. He also does a poor job recognizing when he can block a shot and when he can't, and thus commits stupid goaltends and fouls. Now, Hunter may not be a better shot blocker, but the fact of the matter is that he is doing as good a job as Dalembert is, and he doesn't give the other team the free points and possessions that Dalembert does. Wait, so now it's AI's fault that Dalembert can't catch the ball? If you're making $60 million, you have to be able to catch a simple pass under the basket on AI's penetration. Sam has some of the worst hands I have ever seen! It wasn't stupid signing Hunter. He has improved ever since he was "traded." You have to keep in mind that both Hunter and Dalembert were signed and re-signed, respectively, based on their potential, and both guys are far from reaching that potential. They have a lot of work to do. Until Sam improves, I don't feel sorry for him losing his minutes, nor do I feel mad at Cheeks for giving Hunter more playing time.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">since returning from his injury</div> Umm. Yeah? I think Cheeks should have been continuing giving him his regular minutes until he gets his form again and if he doesn't produce sit his ass down. At the end of the day I don't care what anybody says, Dalembert will have to be a factor for us in order to win games in the long run. He is our "MVP" in terms of importance because one of our major weakness is rebounding and him being our best guy on the boards and then not being able to do what he do will only hurt us. Notice when Carmelo and Jackson got those easy laysup in those games we gave up notice how there was NOBODY guarding the paint. Maybe if Sam D was there we would have won those games. Anyways, I'll see what Cheeks is doing but all I'm saying Dally better be playing late in the season in preperation for the Playoffs because he had an amazing run in his first Playoff action, so the confidence is there.
I agree. He needs to be given minutes to get back into form, but obviously if he's struggling out there I'd much rather have Hunter in than Sam.
