REALLY NEEDS A FANTASY FOOTBALL WIN
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.
Free agents include former Penn Charter and Notre Dame star Rob Kurz, NBA Developmental League 2007-08 Rookie Of The Year Blake Ahearn, D-Leaguer Gary Forbes and Marcus Slaughter, who has logged time in Germany and France. Holiday is the Sixers' point guard of the future; Ahearn, with 15 games of experience with San Antonio and Mimai, will challenge him in practices.
The Sixers will practice July 3-4-5 in Orlando, then begin a five-game schedule July 6 against Indiana. Utah, Orlando, Oklahoma City and Boston are the other entries.
Holiday and Speights, by the way, will also participate in Tim Grgrich's skills camp later this summer.
Phil Jasner joined the staff of the Daily News in 1972. He has covered the 76ers and the NBA on a full-time basis since 1981. He won the 2004 Curt Gowdy Media Award, presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for outstanding contributions to the sport during his career; he was a finalist for the award in 2001, when he also received a lifetime achievement award from the Professional Basketball Writers Association during the NBA Finals. He is a past president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association and the Philadelphia College Basketball Writers Association. Along the way, he has covered high school sports, the Big 5, the Eagles and the NFL, the World Football League, the North American Soccer League and what was then the Major Indoor Soccer League. He is a proud graduate of Temple University, and spent his early professional days at the Pottstown (Pa.) Mercury, Montgomery Newspapers (Fort Washington, Pa.), the Norristown (Pa.) Times-Herald and the Trentonian.
