<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The 76ers had plenty of reasons to feel disappointed yesterday as they left snow-starved central Florida to return home, having blown a six-point lead in the final two minutes to lose to an Orlando Magic team playing without injured all-star Grant Hill. But the Sixers took some consolation from Saturday night's performance by 6-foot-11 center Samuel Dalembert, who had his best game of the season in a 115-111 loss at the T.D. Waterhouse Centre that further tightened the standings in the mediocre Atlantic Division. Dalembert established season highs with 24 points and 16 rebounds to go with four blocked shots. He made 11 of his 13 field-goal attempts. He played 35 minutes, only the third time this season he has played that many. More important, Sixers coach Jim O'Brien left him on the court even though the third-year center had picked up his fifth personal foul with 7 minutes, 56 seconds remaining in the third quarter. In the final 19:56 of the game, Dalembert played all but 38 seconds, when O'Brien brought him to the bench for a breather. </div> Source
It's about time he's playing as that potential MIP that a lot of people projected him to be. Dalembert attributes are not very high, but his frame and length is what makes him so special. He's a diamond in the rug if you ask me?that said it's no surprise that King laid all those rumors to rest when saying that he wouldn?t trade Dalembert. Dalembert sudden emerge, is supposedly because of the comfort level according to Jim O?Brien. At first Dalembert didn't seem to fit very much into the system, both offensively and defensively. Other than his ability to run up and down the floor, he wasn't much of a factor till late last month and from point being. Now that's he knows his role, he's playing very, very solid. He had yet another brilliant game against the Wizards, but since the 76ers playmaker (Iverson) was missing in action, the offense was running as fluid as it usually does. Thus, he had a hard time converting on the offense end. But he did his part nonetheless and that?s all O?Brien asked for. And hopefully Dalembert can continue building off those solid games he had as of late. But with or without Iverson on the floor, Dalembert has emerged a player quite a lot compared to last season. He seems to have a better basketball IQ and he actually has a hidden 10ft jumper that nobody knows about it. While at times, he still makes Rookie like mistakes, overall he's a much better player, and if he can stay consistent at what he does he will be a key factor to this team success for this season and years to come.
