PREFERS TEMPLE'S OFFENSE TO PRINCETON'S
Stromile Swift, one of four to sign a free agent contract recently, suffered a strain to his left hamstring late in the morning practice and was not expected to participate in the night session.
He is listed as day-to-day.
Swift, a former first-round draft pick, played in a total of 19 games last season for New Jersey and Phoenix.
Other notes:
* Jason Smith is wearing a sleeve on his surgically repaired left knee, but moved well around the court. Smith missed all of last season.
* Coach Eddie Jordan yelled and stopped the practice twice when reporters were in, the first for two big men not running the court and crisscrossing with each other down low to start the offense and the other time was because an outlet to Andre Iguodala didn’t lead him far enough. “We want you out in the open floor, one-on-one,” he shouted.
* Due to his left Achilles injury suffered two seasons ago, Brand says his left calf is a half inch smaller than his right one. “I do extra lifting with it to try to balance them out. It was an inch-and-a-half smaller last year”
* Sean Singletary did a real nice job of playing on the ball defense.
* Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was a visitor to the morning workout, as was Phil Martelli, who made the short stroll from his beautiful new office at the Ramsey Center to the practice courts.
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.
