I guess Samuel Dalembert's sprained left ankle in the second period of the 76ers' victory over the washington Wizards last night wasn't nearly as severe as it looked.

I say ''I guess'' because we won't really know until Dalembert steps on the court tonight against the New Jersey Nets. But the idea that Dal;embert is playing comes as something of a surprise, because when he went down with 1:54 remaining in the first half last night, he was unable to get up or walk to the locker-room without assistance.

He said he stepped on the foot of Wizards rookie big man JaVale McGee and felt the ankle twist.

"I thought it was a fracture,'' he said. "As soon as I tried to walk on it, my foot started shaking.''

Even worse, because he went down in the paint, he ended up being called for a three-second violation.

"I went down, I screamed,'' Dalembert said. ''He (the referee) saw me holding my leg and he still made the call. I must be the only one in history to get a three-second call getting hurt in the middle of the paint.''

X-rays last night were negative, and there was no request for a magnetic resonance imaging scan. Dalembert took treatment all day, including time in the hyperbaric chyamber he has had installed in his house. At 6 p.m., when the Sixers were required to announce a lineup and an active roster, Dalembert was pencilled in as the starting center.

\This is his 236th consecutive appearance, including having appeared in all 82 regular-season gameas the previous two seasons.

"i'm going to be honest,'' he said. ''I'm going to go out and give 100 percent, but I'll be honest with the coach.''

Sixers coach Tony DiLeo said ''I am surprised, yes, (that Dalembert is playing), because last night when he went down it looked pretty bad. K.J. (athletic trainer Kevin Johnson) said treatment was OK today, but it was bad. It's not so much swollen, but I guess (the problem is) tenderness in the ankle.''

After last night's game, DiLeo said he would use Elton Brand as the startring center tonight if Dalembert were unavailable. But before last night's game, DiLeo would only say ''We have alternative plans.''

HOUSTON--The response by ESPN.com's Chad Ford to a chat session question all but jumped off the Internet. Elton Brand, the player the 76ers signed for five years and $79.8 million, was available on the trade market? Already?

Ford: "From what my sources around the league are saying, Brand is available. The question is, given how poorly he's played this year and his huge contract, does anybody want him?''

My comment: Calm down. While Sixers president/general manager Ed Stefanski said he does not comment on rumors, a source familiar with the Sixers situation said that Ford's premise is incorrect, that Stefanski had not contacted anyone about Brand, that the chat session comment had no legs.

The source also said that, if Brand's name did come up in conversations with other teams--and that's not necessarily the case, either--it might have been teams inquiring about Brand's rehab process after suffering a dislocated right shoulder Dec. 17. At the same time, team executives are constantly trying to gauge the value of their players around the NBA. That's just the nature of the business.

All Stefanski would say was: ''I think it's early, and Elton is just trying to fit in. He's been lively defensively. He's just trying to feel his way.''

Coach Tony DiLeo's plan is to again bring Brand off the bench tonight against the Houston Rockets in the Toyota Center/ This will be Brand's third appearance after missing 16 games. He played 13 minutes against the New York Knicks and 18 minutes against the New Orleans Hornets.

DiLeo said he does not have a specific timetable for when Brand would resume his role as the starting power forward.

''We don't have it in mind that he'll go back to starting after three games or four games or anything like that,'' DiLeo said. ''When it's time, it'll show itself.''

Sixers forward Thaddeus Young was selected today to play for the sophomore squad in the rookie challenge game at All-Star Weekend. The game will be played on Friday, Feb. 13 in Phoenix. The squads are selected by the NBA's assistant coaches.

“This is a definitely a great opportunity and I would like to thank everybody who voted for me,” Young said. “I'm looking forward to going out there to participate as a representative of the Sixers organization, to play as hard as I can and give the fans a good show.”

This season, Young has appeared in all 43 games with 39 starts and is averaging 13.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.09 steals in 33.6 minutes per game while shooting 49.5 percent from the floor. He has the sixth-highest scoring average among sophomores and the eight-highest point/rebound/assist total.

Young will be the first Sixers representative at an All-Star Weekend Event since 2006, when Andre Iguodala won the MVP award in the rookie challenge game.

Former 76ers guard Lionel Hollins, introduced today as the Memphis Grizzlies' coaching replacement for another former Sixer, Marc Ivaroni, wanted two former NBA head coaches on the bench with him. He has Johnny Davis, a former Sixers coach, as a holdover, but he doesn’t have close friend and onetime backcourt mate Maurice Cheeks.

Hollins had extended an invitation to Cheeks, fired earlier by the Sixers, and got an early indication that Cheeks would come.

“But he decided he wanted a little more time to himself,” Hollins said. “I certainly understand that. He’ll have opportunities later.”

Hollins said he wanted two experienced men with him ''who will have huge responsibility, who have the right to stop a practice and coach because they know what to look for. I'm not egotistical. I know basketball, but I also know the value of having good people around you.''

Cheeks' contract with the Sixers runs through next season. With an offset clause likely in place, Cheeks would not have been able to earn any additional money. He would have simply been helping a friend.

Maurice Cheeks has an offer to join the Memphis Grizzlies as an assistant coach, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

If Cheeks, fired Dec. 13 as the head coach of the 76ers, accepts the invitation, he will be joining new head coach Lionel Hollins. Cheeks and Hollins were teammates with the Sixers, and have remained close friends.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that Hollins has been chosen as the fulltime replacement for Marc Iavaroni, who was fired with a record of 11-30. Iavaroni, who was in his second season with the Grizzlies, was the starting power forward with the 1982-83 championship Sixers, where Cheeks was the point guard.

The Commercial Appeal reported that former Sixers head coach Johnny Davis would serve as the interim coach for two games before Hollins, an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks, joins the Grizzlies.

The Daily News source said that Cheeks indicated that he was interested in joining Hollins.

The Sixers were 9-14 when Cheeks was released by the Sixers, and was 122-147 in his his three seasons-plus.

No Elton Brand today, either.

The 76ers have decided not to activate Elton Brand for this afternoon's game against the Dallas Mavericks, allowing more time for his injured right shoulder to heal.

This is the 16th game the 6-9 power forward has missed since suffering a dislocation of his right shoulder Dec. 17 against the Milwaukee Bucks. He has resumed practicing and has been doing extra before games, either in three-on-three halfcourt scrimmages or going through drills.

Coach Tony DiLeo, in concert with Brand and the team's medical staff, made the decision, in part, because the Sixers do not have another game until Saturday night when they host the New York Knicks in the Wachovia Center. That has become the new target date for  Brand's return, although DiLeo would not even fully commit to that.

The Sixers are riding a seven-game winning streak, their longest since 2002-03, are 9-6 in the absence of Brand and are 11-6 under DiLeo.

At the same time, former Hatboro-Horsham High star Matt Carroll is making his debut with the Mavericks. The 6-6 guard was acquired Jan. 16 by the Mavericks with center Ryan Hollins from Charlotte for center DeSagana Diop. Carroll was averaging 4.1 points in 14.0 minutes in 34 appearances with the Bobcats.

This is for all of you emailers and commenters (you know who you are) who have gone to great lengths this season to bust on Samuel Dalembert.

And, OK, there have been enough games when he has been a total puzzle, not just to you and me, but to the 76ers. His offensive game has all but disappeared for long stretches. He and Elton Brand seemed to struggle to find ways to complement each other. But he has also had 12 games of at least 10 rebounds. And he has also been their leading shot-blocker.

And lately . . .

He deserves some props.

Over the last four games, he has blocked 14 shots, taken 27 rebounds and scored 20 points. His early one-on-one defense against Greg Oden last night was a big factor in the 100-79 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. By all accounts, Oden did a nice job establishing himself early in the post Monday night, helping the Blazers win in Chicago.

Dalembert, who has started every game for two seasons-plus, finally figured out that if he was going to play fewer minutes he had to find a way to make a quick contribution.And as rookie Marreese Speights began to come on, and as the veteran Theo Ratliff emerged as a situational defender, Dalembert's minutes were definitely going to go down. And they could go down again as Brand returns from the inactive list, probably playing some center when they go ''small.''

''I just realized what was going on,'' Dalembert said. ''My time got limited. I just try to start the game, find a way that I can contribute and do the things I usually do in a longer period of time. (Fewer minutes can) make it very difficult to quickly (have) an impact on the game. I didn't want to point fingers or say anything, I just (felt) if I'm going to play 18 minutes, if I'm going to play 20 minutes, this is what I'm going to have to do, try to make an impact very quickly, before I get back on the bench.''

His 30 minutes against the Blazers were the most since the 32 he played in the Dec. 23 blowout loss in Boston. But he was a real factor in this one, guarding the paint, blocking three shots and taking 9 rebounds. He had four blocks each against Atlanta and Charlotte, and three against Milwaukee.

His preference is to defend one-on-one, rather than depending on a teammate coming to double.

''When I've got a guy who's going to be touching the ball a lot on the post, I want to make my job a little easier,'' he said. ''I don't want to go out there and let the guy get too comfortable, or before you know it we'd be (in) for a long night . . . Since we struggle as a team to really keep guys in front of us, the last thing I want is for a full (defensive) rotation, somebody coming to double-team and help me out, and I will start running all over the place.''

Neither Oden mor LaMarcus Aldridge nor Joel Pryzbilla did much offensive damage for the Blazers. Tomorrow night, though, could be very, very different with Tim Duncan posting up for the Spurs.

At the same time, no one is suggesting that Dalembert has been terrific or dominating. But let's be fair. He's been better than he has been getting for.

Elton Brand was back on the practice court today, involved in contact drills for the first time since suffering a dislocated right shoulder Dec. 17. He indicated that he has been told by the 76ers' medical staff that returning Wednesday night against Portland is pretty much out, but he's clearly getting signficantly closer.

In the portion of practice that reporters viewed from the second floor of the facility at Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine, Brand didn't seem to be favoring the shoulder. He set screens, he took shots, he dropped in a two-handed dunk on a pass from Willie Green.

"I was encouraged,'' coach Tony DiLeo said. ''I didn't see him shy away at all. He used both arms, he went up to block shots, he shot the ball. (His return) is for the doctors' opinion, the medical staff. I think it's more of a day-to-day thing. We're going to monitor it . . . We'll reevaluate after tomorrow's practice.

The Sixers, currently on a four-game winning streak, are 6-6 in the absence of Brand. They're 8-6 under DiLeo, the replacement for the fired Maurice Cheeks.

ATLANTA--There's a lot of time before my flight home tonight. Time to grab a quick airport dinner. Time to weigh some questions and answers.

The other day, someone I respect asked whether the 76ers might be showing the same improvement had threy not fired Maurice Cheeks and brought in senior VP/assistant GM Tony DiLeo from the front ofice. The more I think about it, I'm not sure, without the change, that they would be on the winning streak that reached four games today had they not made the change.

I really feel Cheeks, who did such a fine job last season, was feeling the pressure, that he might even have been out of gas. And it's a fact of life that sometimes NBA players just need to hear a new voice,even if that new voice is saying the same things the previous voice said. Having said that, Cheeks was somewhat ambivalent about the three-point shot; DiLeo has given them the green light. Cheeks was very conscious of using Elton Brand to best advantage in the post. DiLeo has made it clear that Brand--when he returns from his dislocated right shoulder injury--will have to fit in, will have to be the effective trailer on the break that he has been projected to be. DiLeo has put some joy back into their game, telling them to run and to use the triple. Those are things players love to hear.

All he has asked in return is for them to focus and concentrate defensively, to make the proper rotations, to block out around the glass, to rebound. Those are the essential things that trigger the break.

''It looks like we're getting it together a little bit,'' Andre Miller said after today's 109-94 victory. ''We're able to play a little better defense, but no team really plays defense consistently the entire game. I think we made a few stops before (the Hawks) did.''

The Sixers, in fact, held the Hawks to two field goals in their last 10 possessions. That's called getting stops at the right time.

One other by-product of the Sixers' expanded running game: They're using the lob again.

''That's because we're running on the break,'' Lou Williams said. ''Once Marreese (Speights) gets one, once Sam (Samuel Dalembert) gets one, they want to get two, they put themselves in position to get them.''

Cheeks could reach the players with emotional, philosophical messages, and they generally responded. DiLeo seems more basic, more direct to the point.I really believe Cheeks took them as far as he could. I don't feel his work in his time with the Sixers hould be in any way diminished. I still don't expect them to approach my pre-season victory total prediction of 49, but I am becoming more and more convinced that they needed a new voice.

As Theo Ratliff said after the Sixers shot only one free throw in the second half in Dallas: That's life in the big leagues.