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Dalembert key to Sixers' success

ARPON BASU

Freelance

Saturday, December 27, 2003

Samuel Dalembert knows his role "is to defend and play hard."

CREDIT: AARON HARRIS, CP

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Seven short years ago, a lanky 14-year-old kid fresh from Haiti showed up on a basketball court at Lucien Pagé High School in the north end on Montreal.

He had seen a few clips of Julius Erving on television as a boy in Port-au-Prince, but otherwise had little or no knowledge of the game despite his long 6-foot-8 frame, preferring soccer at that point in his life.

Regardless, after spending 14 years in a city plagued by military and political upheavals and constant unrest, Samuel Dalembert had arrived.

There was a scrimmage at Lucien Pagé that day involving Lunzaya Nlundu, who went on to become a star at Vanier College and is now a junior at Western Carolina University.

"Lunzaya was the same age as Sam, but he was just a 6-foot-6 monster, dunking on people and everything," recalled Pascal Jobin, an assistant coach at Collége Montmorency who was coaching at Lucien Pagé at the time. "So Sam's coming in with jean shorts on and no tank top, all you see are bones. He goes on the court, his team is on defence and Lunzaya's coming down the floor. He goes up to dunk it and Sam blocked the shot, and that was the first time. Everyone was like: 'Nobody has ever blocked Lunz.' You could see it right there."

On Dec. 4, Dalembert was on a basketball court of an entirely different nature at the Wachovia Centre in Philadelphia, playing alongside the most prolific scorer in the game today, Allen Iverson, in front of a national TV audience with the Philadelphia 76ers, the same team he saw on television as a youngster in Haiti.

Dalembert showed in that 83-82 win over the Chicago Bulls that, though his skills have improved dramatically, his impact on a basketball court remains essentially the same as it was when he showed up at Lucien Pagé seven years ago.

With Chicago up 82-79 and about 90 seconds to play, Iverson ran into a Bulls pick, leaving Jamal Crawford open for a long three-point try. Dalembert, whose man picked off Iverson, lunged at Crawford to force him into launching an airball.

Then, after a Sixers bucket made it 82-81, Dalembert came out of nowhere to make his fourth block of the game on what looked to be an easy layup by Bulls rookie Kirk Heinrich. Iverson scored on the next possession and the Sixers won 83-82.

Though Dalembert scored 13 points in that game, one short of his career high, he knows the reason why he's playing in the NBA today.

"My role on the floor, as everybody knows, is to defend, play hard and bring energy to the team," he said during a recent interview in Toronto. "You're not going to look at me as an offensive threat, but I'll just be the guy who goes out there and gets the alley-oop or the ball around the basket. They don't need me to really score on this team, because we can find somebody to score. So I'm doing other things."

The fact he is even on an NBA court in the final minutes of a tight game so soon after learning the game is astonishing enough, but it shouldn't come as a surprise when you consider the path he took to get there.

After two years under Jobin at Lucien Pagé, Dalembert went to St Patrick's High School in New Jersey without knowing a word of English. He set the school's career record for blocks in only 11/2 seasons.

From there, Dalembert headed to Seton Hall University on a full scholarship, and after a mere two seasons, he had that school's career record for blocks, as well.

Though many experts considered him too raw for the pro ranks, Dalembert decided to declare for the 2001 NBA draft after his sophomore year when tragedy struck in Haiti.

Dalembert attended the funeral of his paternal grandmother that year, and his maternal grandmother - who raised him after Dalembert's mother left Haiti for Montreal shortly after his birth - was still recovering from a stroke and was in need of medication he couldn't afford. Pro basketball looked to be the only solution.

By signing with an agent, New York-based Mark Cornstein, Dalembert eliminated all possibility of going back to school. It was a big risk, just as it was to leave Montreal for New Jersey four years earlier, and it paid off.

He was drafted 26th overall by Philadelphia in the 2001 draft, giving him a guaranteed three-year, multi-million dollar contract with a team option for a fourth year, which the 76ers picked up in October.

"I know a lot of people didn't believe in me when I made my decision to move (to New Jersey), they didn't believe I was going to make it, so it kind of motivated me to go out there and step it up and do what I'm supposed to do," Dalembert said. "I don't blame them as much, because I didn't speak any English and I was coming to a new country that I'm not used to and my family wasn't around, so it was kind of hard. But I managed to go through with it. I couldn't look back, I wanted to step forward, and that's what I did. Look at me now."

Dalembert's grandmother is doing better today, thanks in large part to the steady supply of medical attention provided by her grandson. Though Dalembert wanted to bring her to Philadelphia to be with him, there are some things money can't buy.

"She came last year, but she didn't like the cold, so she had to go back," he said with a smile.

Dalembert's talents at age 21 appear to be ideally suited for Philadelphia's roster. Though at 6-foot-11, 250 pounds he is hardly the most imposing centre in the league, his 7-foot-7 wingspan makes him a daunting obstacle around the basket, as evidenced by his top-five league ranking in blocks per 48 minutes.

"The Sixers love him because if he has three blocks in the game, he probably affected 10 shots," said Jobin, who now works for Cornstein's agency and has become Dalembert's manager.

For a big man, Dalembert is also extremely athletic, getting off the floor as quickly as he can run it, making him an ideal alley-oop target for someone who attracts a crowd in the lane - like Iverson.

"Everybody's excited for him because he's getting a chance to play, he's getting a chance to prove that he can be a valuable piece of this team whenever he gets a chance to play," Sixers point-guard Eric Snow said. "I think a lot of people have room to learn. He has more to learn because he hasn't really played a lot of basketball, especially at this level. So the sky's the limit as far as his improvement. If he continues to put in the work, he'll get a lot better."

Considering the work he's already put in since his days in jean shorts only seven years ago, that improvement appears to be a lock.

Profile of Samuel Dalembert.