As each 76er finished stretching, Marreese Speights collected his green stretching band and placed it in a pile on the hardwood.

It was a simple task, a request from the Sixers' trainer.

"It's a rookie thing," said Speights, smiling as if he knows this will be a season filled with "rookie things."

Yesterday, the Sixers practiced at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the team's first local workout of the season. They will open preseason action tomorrow at 7 p.m. against the Boston Celtics at the University of Massachusetts' Mullins Center.

Speights, the Sixers' first-round pick (16th overall) in the NBA draft, is the team's only rookie. In the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Speights averaged 18.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.20 blocks a game.

But Speights is learning that that Summer League - filled mostly with rookies and second-year players - is not comparable to the speed, size and strength of the regular-season NBA.

"In Vegas, Marreese had to learn how to play hard," said Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks. "He thought he was running hard, but you get here, and you have to do things a little harder."

Cheeks said Speights has NBA-level skills, but the pace of the game right now is beyond him.

"Not knowing where to be, or what's going on in each play, has taken away the impact of his skills," Cheeks said.

Speights said he knows he has "a long way to go."

"Yeah, the guys are the same size," Speights said. "But they're stronger and faster than me, so there are a lot of adjustments I have to make."

Cheeks called this progression a "learning curve," one every rookie must face: Last season, Thaddeus Young's minutes progressed from minimal to, come playoff time, substantial.

"He is not intimated very easily," said veteran center Theo Ratliff, who has been mentoring Speights. "He says things back to guys, so he is definitely enjoying his time being in the league. Sometimes it can be a little much. But that's life as a rookie."

Notes. The Sixers waived three players: former Strawberry Mansion star Maureece Rice, Andre Emmett, and Cory Underwood. Of the five free agents the Sixers brought to camp as tryouts, two remain: Jared Reiner and former Temple star Antywane Robinson. . . . Willie Green played with the Black Team - the first team - during yesterday's practice. Afterward, Cheeks said he is "just trying guys in different spots."

Ratliff said he believes center Samuel Dalembert should be an all-star this season, and has told Dalembert as much. "It's the little things he has to learn and be able to do on the floor to be recognized in that manner," said Ratliff, who was voted to the 2001 All-Star Game.

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