Iguodala receptive to change
Iguodala receptive to change
Andre Iguodala said he'd like to play a little point guard this year for the 76ers.
Yesterday, a few minutes before he and Lou Williams participated in the "What It Takes 2" forum at the School District of Philadelphia headquarters, Iguodala talked about the coming season.
YONG KIM / Staff Photographer
Andre Iguodala says he will be happy to have lead-guard duties under the team's new coach, Eddie Jordan.
"I'll be really interested to see - it's up in the air," the swingman said of exactly how good the team would be. "I think we'll be good regardless. This year, I'm trying to be open to everything."
The forum, presented by the Urban Youth Racing School and the School District of Philadelphia's Office of High School Reform, was intended to decrease the high school dropout rate and motivate minority students.
The appearance was Iguodala's first with the program, but he said he intends to continue working with it.
Iguodala also said he had been in the gym endlessly - specifically in the last month - working on various skills, including the "catch-and-shoot" because of new coach Eddie Jordan's pass-and-cut offense.
Jordan's system calls for a two-guard front, not necessarily including a traditional point guard, and there has been mention of Iguodala's handling some lead-guard duties.
Iguodala said he'd like that role.
Williams, who played behind the now-departed Andre Miller last year, will likely start at the point-guard spot, but Jordan has said he'll mix and match his ball handlers.
Because it's based on rhythm and cohesion, the new offense will likely take much of the preseason to perfect.
"It's definitely going to be rough, learning a new offense," forward Thaddeus Young said by telephone. "There will definitely be growing pains."
Young has been in Philadelphia the last month and said he was working on improving his ballhandling as well as his three-point shooting.
Carney signs. Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski announced the signing of free-agent swingman Rodney Carney.
The Sixers would not release information on his contract, but it is reportedly a one-year deal for the fourth-year minimum of $855,189.
Carney, 6-foot-7, spent the first two seasons of his three-year NBA career with the Sixers before being traded to Minnesota in 2008 to clear cap room for the signing of power forward Elton Brand.
Last year with Minnesota, Carney averaged a career high of 7.2 points in 67 games. He said returning to the Sixers was "never on my mind until Ed Stefanski called me and said he'd like me back."
"I think I'm more confident now," Carney said. "I know my role. Throughout the summer, I worked on handling the ball, and I've gotten significantly better at that. I've been traded a few times . . . and I'm just more mature."
"Rodney Carney is a player that we feel will mesh extremely well with our current personnel and in the up-tempo style of play that Coach Jordan will continue to implement this season," Stefanski said in a news release.
He said Carney "is one of the most athletic players in the league" and "has the ability to stretch the floor, and we are happy to have him back."
With Carney's signing, the Sixers have 13 players under contract. Training camp begins Sept. 29 at St. Joseph's University.
Contact staff writer Kate Fagan at 856-779-3844 or kfagan@phillynews.com.
