Will 'reprogramming' Brand work in Sixers' system?

No matter how you view the Sixers this season - which begins tonight at Orlando - you can see that head coach Eddie Jordan is tailoring Brand's role: a few snips here, tightening things there.

Sixteen months and one shoulder surgery ago, Brand looked to be the Sixers' low-post, go-to option.

Now he is regaining rhythm and strength after back-to-back season-ending injuries, the first of which was a torn Achilles tendon as a Los Angeles Clipper during the 2007-08 season. He's also returning to a team that's already developed several scoring options - swingman Andre Iguodala, forward Thaddeus Young, guard Lou Williams - and that's currently developing Jordan's Princeton offense.

So what is Brand's role? And is there a disconnect between what the Sixers need from him and what he's determined to give?

During eight preseason games, Brand averaged 9.5 points, which was fifth among players healthy all preseason. Before coming to the Sixers, the 30-year-old Brand had career averages of 20 points, 10 rebounds.

Brand said the preseason was no indication of where his game is.

"You're playing different minutes, you're playing with different players, you play six minutes in the first quarter, you don't play the second quarter, you know what I mean?" Brand said. "Talking to Coach it's like, 'Here's where you need to be on offense.' We're working through it."

Jordan said Brand's role is somewhat different than he had in the past.

"I think he was a 20-10 guy with a team that really catered to him and didn't have enough scoring in other positions," Jordan said. "Right now we have other guys who can score, we have guys coming off the bench; we have a deep bench. I just want him to be efficient, and execute for his teammates and for himself."

Brand admitted the offense challenges him to get the ball in a different way. For most of his career, he ran to the low block and waited for his touches. Within the Princeton, he's on the wing, on the elbow, at the top, and only sometimes on the block.

"It is different than the traditional way I get the ball," Brand said.

On Oct. 13, Brand scored 20 points against the New York Knicks. When the team runs certain sets and plays, he said, he has felt more comfortable.

"The spacing - at times - is a good thing," Brand said of the Princeton. "It helps get me to the post without guys double teaming."

Brand's standard line on his health is that he isn't 100 percent, but no NBA player with 10 years in the league is. He said he wants to prove this season that he isn't on the downward slope of his career, saying he still has that all-star goal.

"Absolutely, you have to have that all-star goal," Brand said. "That's the ultimate."

The Sixers, and specifically Jordan, seemed focused on Iguodala as the team's go-to man, with Jordan saying he's "already the team's best player," and "on the cusp of superstardom."

Jordan said he understands that Brand is a "scorer in the NBA. . . .He wants - like they all do - his touches to be effective."

During the first half of the Sixers' Oct. 20 preseason game against the Washington Wizards, a game in which Brand made 1 of 4 shots from the floor, he grabbed a rebound, ignored potential outlet passes to Williams and Iguodala, dribbled to the elbow, penetrated to the block, then missed a difficult shot.

"His teammates need to understand, too - and I think they do - that, 'Elton needs a touch now. Let's get Elton in the box, let's get him on the elbow.' " Jordan said.

Jordan's goals include getting Brand shots within the flow of the offense, while eliminating possessions like the one on Oct. 20.

Before that preseason game against the Knicks, Jordan said he would speak privately with Brand about his role.

"I see improvement from him," Jordan said. "I see him understanding what the spacing is about. I read where he tells you guys that he needs to understand that spacing is important."

Added Jordan: "We're trying to reprogram him in a way."

Brand, who in his career has never been anything but the axis around which an offense spins, said he believes his vision for this season coincides with Jordan's vision.

Said Brand: "I think it's aligned."