IS GETTING ITS DRAFT BOARD READY
Maurice Cheeks has carefully given every player a look through the first four games of the preseason. That's not going to happen when the ball goes up for real Oct. 29.
There will only be room for a limited number, perhaps nine men in the rotation.
"By the first game, I'll make a decision about who's going to play,'' said Cheeks, the 76ers' coach. ''I'm not going to try and fit two minutes here or there for a guy. I'm going to stick with (a rotation). If one isn't playing well, then I'll go to someone else.''
So who plays? Who sits? Who wears street clothes?
The Sixers have 16 players, including the injured Jason Smith, and at least one has to go. The NBA limit is 15, with 12 in uniform.
Unless we've all been missing something, the starters will be forwards Elton Brand and Thaddeus Young, center Samuel Dalembert and guards Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala.
The rotation guys: Figure forward Reggie Evans, center Theo Ratliff, forward/guard Kareem Rush, guard Lou Williams.
If there's a ''spot'' guy (much as Kevin Ollie was in previous seasons): Perhaps it's Royal Ivey, Willie Green or Donyell Marshall.
If there' s a guy forcing his way into playing time: It's Marreese Speights.
If he makes the team, he'll be in street clothes: Jared Reiner.
One more guy in street clothes: That could change from game to game.
Likely cut: Antywane Robinson.
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.
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for almost 20 years, working in the sports department the past 12 years. This is his first season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he has been the La Salle beat writer for the past six seasons.
