The 76ers' center, recently dismissed from the Canadian National Team in the midst of an Olympic qualifying tournament in Athens, Greece, was described by Canadian coach (and former Sixer) Leo Rautins as:

Often late for practices and meetings, inattentive, indifferent, alienated from his teammates, inexplicably demanding more shots.

"Hearing some of the things said about him, that caught me by surprise," Cheeks said in a telephone conversation yesterday. "That's not the Sam that I know."

Cheeks made it clear that his experience with Dalembert - who has played in all 82 regular-season games in back-to-back seasons - has been far different than what has been portrayed with the Canadian team.

"My experience with Sam has been nothing short of great," Cheeks said. "He does everything I ask him to do. I don't know what went on with the Canadian team, I don't know anything about that, but my experience with Sam has been excellent.

"Sam has been one of our mainstays; he's one of the reasons we have become - as of last year - successful. For me, he's been on time, attentive. He knows our success has a lot to do with him."

Cheeks, the Sixers coach, said he had not spoken with Dalembert or Rautins, and that a message left for Dalembert had yet to bring a response because of conflicting schedules.

"I'm not upset at Leo," Cheeks said. "Coaches have different ways of doing things. He probably had his way of doing things, and I have mine."

Rautins' most scathing comments, reported by the Toronto Sun, included: "If you choose to play for Canada and everybody goes to all kinds of trouble to help make that happen, and you just show up, that's not a commitment. Showing up is not a commitment. A commitment is doing everything you can to help that team."

And: "At meetings, he acted like he would rather be clearing dirt on the street . . . and falling asleep. I mean, come on. Sam was late more than he was on time."

The Canadians, playing their final two games without Dalembert, were eliminated in the quarterfinals, with Croatia, Germany and Greece advancing from the 12-team field to Beijing.

Extending a conversation

Question to Maurice Cheeks: Have you had a conversation with Sixers president/general manager Eddie Stefanski about an extension beyond the 1 year that was added to your contract during last season?

Cheeks: "We're working on it."

Q: So, you've had the conversation?

Cheeks: "We're working on it."

Q: Are you close?

Cheeks: "We're working on it."

Next question: Has Cheeks been led to believe that Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams, the Sixers' two restricted free agents, will remain part of the team?

Cheeks: "Yes."

And about Marreese Speights . . .

Cheeks said the first-round draft choice was "very good" during the team's five-game schedule in the Las Vegas summer league.

"He has a chance to be pretty good," Cheeks said. "He works at it, and he loves the game. When guys love the game, they have a chance to get better. He still has to learn the pro game, but offensively he's pretty good. He just has to learn the nuances of the game." *