Carney making Sixers' honor roll

Being on the court for so many hours the past few days can be grueling, both on the mind and the body, so Jordan termed yesterday "hump day."

"Today is hump day for everybody," Jordan said. "Everyone is sore and beat up a little bit, trying to think about the offense and the defensive schemes. We talked about it in a meeting this morning about working a little bit harder, being focused, getting through the burn a little bit."

At those morning meetings, players' names are etched onto a white board - the honor roll, as Jordan calls it. It is a reward to the players who performed well at practice. Returning swingman Rodney Carney's name has been on there every day.

It took the coach only one word to describe Carney's play thus far.

"Awesome," Jordan said. "He's on the honor roll. We do the honor roll every morning and he's been right there, he and Sammy [Dalembert]. They're just so active, so athletic. They're involved. Their effort and energy are at a high level.

"Everybody's struggling, everybody's breaking down, but the energy level, you can control, and they've been at the top of the list."

After spending his first two NBA seasons with the Sixers, Carney was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves before last season. He was signed by the Sixers as a free agent in early September.

He is a different player, he says, from the one who played in 137 games, including 41 starts, during his previous 2-year stint here.

"I'm glad I'm back," Carney said. "It's a new situation here, new coaches and basically a new team. I think I got a lot better in Minnesota, so I come here and bring what I can do. I can shoot the ball better, get it to the hole, play good defense. [Good athleticism] caters to this offense and to this defense, so I'm pretty happy I'm back.

"It was time to grow up and a time to get better, and that's what I did in Minnesota. I started a lot, I played a lot of minutes, guarded key players and got a lot better. Now I'm more complete than I was when I was here before. When I was here before, I was just lagging at the three-point line, looking to maybe get a couple of them. But now I'm being more assertive. I'm a lot better."

Carney's play can be likened to a drag race - it is full speed all the time. It often makes him stand out among the players, especially yesterday when many seemed to be slowed by the grind of the previous workdays.

"I was a little sore but I'm not as sore as I thought I would be," Carney said. "I'm actually in pretty good shape. I'm getting along."

He'll be looking to do more than just get along once the season starts, however.

"There are a lot of opportunities here," he said of his ability to play forward or guard. "Forwards play guards and guards play forwards. So you can get isolated at any given time, especially on run outs. If I'm playing forward on the wings, we see opportunity with a dribble handoff to the guard and we can go for it. There are plenty of ways to score between those two positions.

"As long as I get in there and have a chance to contribute, I'm OK. Thad's good, 'Dre's good, they've made names for themselves and I'm just coming here and trying to give them support."

Some observations from practice time when the media were allowed to watch yesterday included:

* Jason Smith blocked a driving layup by Sean Singletary, then hustled to receive a long outlet from Willie Green for a breakaway dunk.

* The first-teamers had very little success trapping Singletary while they were working on their fullcourt pressure. He is fast with the ball and makes good decisions.

* Dalembert looked good at the offensive end, hitting a 15-foot jumper, a turnaround and a couple of contested layups.

* Assistant coach Randy Ayers, who is similar to a defensive coordinator, had the players working on their defensive rotation and on how to defend the pick-and-roll. Jordan told the team the communication on defense had to be loud, and the players responded.

* Smith does a nice defensive job on Elton Brand. Smith's combination of length and strength seem to give Brand trouble.

* Because of another long morning session, Jordan had the team on the court for about an hour last night, just shooting.