<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The numbers that Chris Webber compiled for the first week of the 76ers season were impressive: 23.3 points per game, 9.8 rebounds, 48 percent shooting from the field. But there was another number on Webber's stat line that drew attention, the fact that he averaged 41 minutes last week when the Sixers played four games in a five-day period. It's not a pace that would seem to be favorable over a long season for Webber, 32, who struggled at times last season with his surgically repaired left knee. The subject of the state of his body was broached often in the early part of his post-practice interview yesterday, and Webber calmly indicated that enough was enough. "I'd really rather not talk about my body because you're making an issue out of nothing right now," Webber told reporters. "I'll answer questions today but... I really try not to think about it. It's going to be what it is, whatever it is, if I have good days, if I have bad days. "So I don't want to plant those seeds in my mind. It is what it is from day to day, and I'm just going to play as hard as I can with what I have." Webber said he felt "pretty good" and conceded that the three days off between Saturday's 111-109 road victory over the Indiana Pacers and tonight's game at the Wachovia Center against the Dallas Mavericks were most welcome. He said he did not think he moved as well in the Pacers game as he did in the season opener, when Webber put up 32 points and 14 rebounds against the Milwaukee Bucks. But he firmly added that the minutes were not a problem. "I don't care about the minutes," he said. "Minutes mean nothing. I don't want to sit out. As many minutes as I play, that means nothing. As long as you get the day to recuperate and rest, so what?" Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said he is trying to find time when he can grant Webber a breather, whether it's in a game or during practice. Cheeks gave him off Monday and "tried to give him some breaks here and there" yesterday. "I just asked him to sit out because we were going long and hard and [with] more physical play than I had anticipated," Cheeks said. "So instead of leaving him in there the whole time, I'd rather sit him out and have him look fresher" for tonight's game. As for Webber's playing time, Cheeks said it depends on how his star forward feels. "I don't know if he can go the whole season playing 40-plus minutes, and I don't know if I'd like him to," Cheeks said. "I think he would like to play 40-plus minutes. But I think to keep his effective play, maybe [we'll] cut down his minutes a little bit so he can stay strong, stay fresh."</div> Source
Only times I expect Webber to see less than 34 minutes a game, before SD comes back, are during blow outs, or the first game of a back to back set. The only game where he has looked as though he was shot was the game in Detroit which was right after the overtime game with the Bucks the night prior. I may be an optimistic fan, but I feel Webber is back to all-star form. He has not shown any signs of slowing down so far this year, and has taken some hard fouls, and hits down low. Chris Webber like I said before will see less minutes when Dalembert returns the problem right now is outside of James Thomas the 76ers do not have anyone who could come off the bench, and match up well with power forwards. Nailon can do it for a short amount of time, but most nights he will be a defensive liability.
