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Philadelphia 76ers Center Samuel Dalembert Finally Turning The Corner

Posted on Thu, Feb 15, 2007

PHILADELPHIA -- Samuel Dalembert has had his moments over the last few years with the 76ers, some lasting longer than others.

It was his play against Detroit in the 2005 playoffs, when he averaged 11.6 points and 12.8 rebounds a game, that earned him the kind of contract that other young centers in the league measured their own deals against.

But in his six years as a pro -- five if you exclude the entire campaign he missed after undergoing knee surgery -- Dalembert has never found the kind of consistency that would take him from a tease to a bona fide star.

Over the last month or so, however, the signs are there that Dalembert has finally found his stride.

?Sam Dalembert is very focused,? Kyle Korver said recently. ?He stays after practice and works on his game. He?s the last guy in the locker room because he?s working with Moses (Malone) out on the floor. (It?s) not that he didn?t focus before, but he?s just that much more determined to show what he can do. He?s had an opportunity to show it and he?s doing really well.?

Numbers can be deceiving, but Dalembert?s seem like the real deal. He is averaging 9.0 rebounds and 10.7 points this season and ranks 22nd in the league in boards.

That?s not bad, and both are career highs, but it gets better. In the last 10 games, the 7-footer has grabbed 11.9 rebounds a game. And in the last five contests, that?s jumped to 14.8.

?I think his confidence is at an all-time high,? Andre Iguodala said. ?He has a bunch of teammates who respect what he does, who are patient with him. I think we?re all hoping that Sam, come next year, starting in October, he comes in and has the same intensity he does at the end of the year. Because I think he plays well the last three months of every season that I?ve played with him.

?If we can get that out of him for a whole year, he?s an All-Star.?

Consistency has been Dalembert?s hobgoblin ever since he arrived in the NBA.

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Drafted in 2001 with the 26th pick overall, Dalembert was a project, a supremely gifted athlete with a fairly low basketball IQ. He took up the game in his mid-teens, played three years of high school ball, then opted into the NBA after just two years at Seton Hall.

From the beginning, there were problems. Dalembert played his first and second seasons under Larry Brown, a demanding taskmaster who had little patience with young players. The legendary coach?s approach was to work them hard in practice, then pretend they didn?t exist once the games began.

Dalembert saw little playing time his first year.

That dilemma was compounded by the player?s personality. A bright, easygoing guy raised by his grandmother in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Dalembert was stubborn and perhaps a bit sensitive. Former Brown assistant Randy Ayers once said that one of the biggest things Dalembert had to learn was how to avoid taking coaching and the criticism that comes with it personally.

Early in the preseason of Dalembert?s second year, he hurt his knee, and doctors who scoped it found damage dating back to his early teens when soccer was still his game of choice. The result was an entire season wasted.

In 2003-04, with Ayers replacing Brown as head coach, Dalembert seemed to have that eureka moment. Playing in all 82 games, he averaged 8.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots. Ayers didn?t make it through the season, having been replaced by assistant Chris Ford for its final third. But that didn?t throw Dalembert off his game. In fact, he often credited Ford and another assistant, Alex English, with the growth that saw him finish eighth in balloting for the NBA?s Most Improved Player award.

By his fourth year, Dalembert was on his fourth head coach. Ford was out, and English was gone as well, replaced by Jim O?Brien. From the start, Dalembert never seemed to grasp O?Brien?s defensive scheme, though his scoring was up slightly to 8.2 points a game and his rebounds dropped a bit to 7.5. But it was his specialty -- shot-blocking -- that suffered most, falling to 1.68 per outing.

Even so, Dalembert ended that season on a high note. In his first and only playoff appearance, he averaged 11.6 points and 12.8 rebounds against eventual finalist Detroit. That performance raised the bar -- one Dalembert couldn?t reach last season under yet another head coach, Maurice Cheeks.

Now in his second year with Cheeks and, perhaps more important, assistant Malone, Dalembert seems to be getting it. This season he is averaging 3.6 fouls and just over 30 minutes per game. But in the last 10 games he?s got that down to 2.6 fouls.

Dalembert will tell you that his numbers are better because he?s playing more, but that?s not necessarily the case.

?Certainly minutes can be attributed to that, but a lot of the things he?s doing -- rebounding the ball, blocking shots, just his overall involvement in the game -- is just due to him,? Cheeks said. ?I don?t know what?s turned it over, but he?s been working toward it for a long time. Certainly getting in foul trouble had a lot to do with it (early). His attention to detail has been so much better. Realizing his importance to the team -- his rebounding, his blocking shots, and even his scoring the ball as well -- we?ve been running some plays for him, and that has helped him as well. But a lot of his improvement is a lot of him just paying attention to the little detail things.?

Maybe having Malone around has helped. One of the best centers in NBA history, Malone has been as assistant coach with the team since late October, and he?s constantly preaching the value of rebounding to his charges -- namely Dalembert and Steven Hunter, the Sixers? other young 7-footer.

?Just keep your hands up,? Dalembert said of Malone?s advice. ?Even if you have a bad game, just go out there and rebound because rebounding?s like working. Some players understand who?s shooting the ball, where the ball?s going, which side the ball?s going and trying to get the position over there. Other times, there are games where other guys are doing a good job keeping you from getting offensive rebounds and then you have to be smarter. That?s the game you?re probably going to get more defensive rebounds than offensive. Usually that?s the case.

?With him, he?ll tell you, ?Hey, keep your head up. Try to stay out of foul trouble because once you?re in a rhythm now you might be able to put yourself in a better situation.? He?s really helped me mentally in focusing on the game.?

A few days after Dalembert said that, he had one of those games where nothing worked offensively. It was against the Charlotte Bobcats, and Dalembert managed to score just four points, but had 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Dalembert can do that now. In the past, it was sometimes difficult, and that might have contributed to his inconsistency. Dalembert?s not a tremendous offensive talent, but he can make a short jump shot and, like all players, wants to touch the ball occasionally -- and not merely when he pulls it off the offensive boards.

There were a number of times in the past, and even early this year, when he?d make a joke about not touching the ball. But the good humor masked a sore spot.

The arrival of point guard Andre Miller changed that. Miller believes in rewarding the big men for doing the heavy hauling on defense.

?You have to,? he said. ?When a guy?s working on his game and he?s a big part of the defense, you definitely want to give him a few touches -- not try to put him in an uncomfortable position, but get him a couple easy baskets for his good hustle play.?

The addition of another big man to the starting lineup hasn?t hurt, either. When Cheeks decided 14 games ago to play Dalembert and Hunter together, the Sixers? fortunes took a slight turn for the better. Suddenly, the opponents weren?t getting as many easy layups, their field-goal percentage was down, and both Hunter and Dalembert were thriving.

In the 14 games since the switch, Dalembert has had six double-doubles, including three in the last five games, one of which Hunter missed due to injury.

?I think we kind of feed off each other,? Hunter said. ?We?re both 7-footers and we?re both competitive. When I?m kind of down and I see him doing good, it makes me feel like, hey, I want to pick it up because I want to keep up with Sam. And when he sees myself doing well, he wants to keep up with me. It keeps a good level of competition between ourselves that makes our team better.?

For five seasons, coaches, teammates and fans have waited patiently for Dalembert to stage his breakthrough moment.

But that?s easier said than done.

?It?s just that as the level goes higher, and higher players are as fast as you, you have to adjust,? Dalembert said. ?The adjustment is on how quick you can learn. We want to get better so bad. In the NBA, guys are tall, big and they can rebound also, and now it becomes a real challenge.?