Archive: June, 2009
"We have a lot of great relationships in Washington," Charrisse said. "The way things ended [with the Wizards], there was no closure. It's a celebration of friendship."
A nice touch -- the invitations looks like Sixers game tickets. Among the guests was Ed Tapscott, the Wizards' coach after Jordan was fired, but no Wizards players.
The 76ers/New Jersey Nets entry in the Orlando Pro Summer League will include two fresh first-round draft choices, with the Nets sending Louisville's Terrence Williams to pair with the Sixers' Jrue Holiday.
The Nets are also sending second-year man Chris Douglas-Roberts, plus a handful of free agents, most prominently point guard A. J. Abrams of Texas and forward Jeff Adrien of Connecticut.
In four seasons, the 5-11 Abrams knocked down 389 three-pointers, a Texas and Big 12 Conference record. The 6-7 Adrien finished his career as the Huskies' No. 3 rebounder (1,126). With 1,603 points, he is the first in the school's history to compile at least 1,600 points and 1,100 rebounds.
North Carolina's Ty Lawson and Wake Forest's Jeff Teague were, according to 76ers' president/general manager Ed Stefanski, the runners-up at No. 17 in the NBA draft, where UCLA's Jrue Holiday ultimately became the choice.
Lawson went No. 18, taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves and immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets.
Here's Mike Bratz, the Nuggets' director of pro scouting in the Denver Post, on how they feel about that:
This is just me, but I like the idea of the 76ers taking some young players to the Orlando Pro Summer League rather than to Las Vegas. I've never quite grasped the value of playing summer games in the sprawling midst of all the casinos. Last time I checked, Jrue Holiday--the Sixers' first-round draft choice--just turned 19. I'm not suggesting the Magic Kingdom is necessarily the place to be, but I like the concept of playing the games in the Magic's RDV Complex in front of league personnel and reporters but not the public. It sounds like a far better teaching venue.
Both the Sixers and the Nets will have coaching personnel on the bench. I'm not certain the designated Sixers representative has been completely decided, but it's likely to be Aaron McKie, with head coach Eddie Jordan, lead assistant Mike O'Koren and president/general manager Ed Stefanski watching from a distance.
Second-year big man Marreese Speights is on the roster, along with Temple's Dionte Christmas, who was not selected in Thursday night's NBA draft. Stefanski delivered the invitation to Christmas at about 1 a.m. Friday morning.
Ed Stefanski, ever mindful of the value he places on his local ties, reached out late Thursday night to Temple's Dionte Christmas, inviting him to join the Orlando summer league team the 76ers will be sharing with the New Jersey Nets.
Christmas, who had been projected as a second-round selection during Thursday night's NBA draft, went unclaimed. He is likely to have multiple summer league and European offers. The Sixers leave July 2 for Orlando; Stefanski is awaiting a decision whether Christmas will join first-round draft choice Jrue Holiday and second-year big man Marreese Speights on the summer roster.
''He's a great kid, he's local,'' said Stefanski, the Sixers' president/general manager. ''Now, he has to prove it all over again.''
Not Ty Lawson.
Not Eric Maynor.
No, the 76ers' choice at No. 17 in the NBA draft is Jrue (pronounced Drew) Holiday of UCLA. He is the first Bruin ever drafted by them.
The Sixers selected UCLA's Jrue Holiday tonight with the 17th pick in the NBA draft.
Holiday is a 6-3, 180-pound freshman who played out of position at UCLA last season. Darren Collison was the Bruins' point guard and Holiday played shooting guard. His future is at the point. He was named to the All-Pac 10 freshman team. He averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.5 blocks in 27.1 minutes per game.
Hoilday was the 2008 Gatorade High School Player of the Year. He played high school ball at Campbell Hall High, in California. According to NBA.com, he collects shoes as a hobby.
Some dribbles, double dribbles and other stuff as we await the NBA draft tonight:
1. USA Basketball is telling us today what we already knew, that the 76ers' Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young have been invited to the National Team mini-camp July 22-25 in Las Vegas.
Twenty-five players have been invited, including former Sixer Kyle Korver, now with the Utah Jazz, and Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, destined to be taken No. 1 tonight by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Join the Daily News' Bob Cooney at 7 p.m. Thursday evening for a live blog during the NBA draft.
The Sixers have changed their logo for the first time since the 1997-98 season, announcing today that they are returning to the traditional “76ers basketball” logo and the red, white and blue color scheme. According to the team, the basketball logo was last used during the 1996-97 seasonand has a color scheme originally established in 1963 and used during the Sixers’ two championship seasons in 1966-67 and 1982-83.
"By bringing back the old Sixers logo, we are connecting the past with the future," Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider said in a statement. "This logo evokes memories of some of this franchise's proudest moments. We also made this change because we understood how much this logo means to our fans, this franchise and to our city. The fans had a big input on this decision. We're excited and we want the entire City of Philadelphia to be excited for Sixers basketball."
In 1997-98, the Sixers modernized the logo, adding in black, silver and gold to a "76ers" that featured a predominant red and silver star to the left and a gold ball with blue stripes below. From 1963 through 1997, the Sixers' identity revolved around a “76” in red and royal blue and a star configuration above the number seven, which was an identity that defined the team through two NBA championships. The 76 and stars were utilized within a bell symbol from 1963-77 and then the “ers” was added to the "76" and contained in a ball.
The only enhancement with the new logo will be a rectangular “court” shaped enclosure around the ball logo with the city name “PHILADELPHIA” grounded along the bottom and silver accent shaping the entire perimeter.
The Sixers will introduce a new secondary logo and wordmark at a later date. Additionally, the team will unveil a new court design and uniforms later this summer.
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
