Sixers benefit from Brand-new Elton

IT'S REALLY NOT that hard to figure out how Elton Brand got his groove back.

After an injury-plagued first season in Philadelphia and then a second season when he was condemned in coaching purgatory, Brand is finally healthy again - physically and mentally.

With a body reconditioned after two devastating injuries and a spirit revitalized by new head coach Doug Collins, Brand has finally become the player the Sixers thought they had when they signed him to that "Philly Max" free-agent contract.

By leading the Sixers in scoring and rebounding, the former No. 1 overall pick, now in his 12th NBA season out of Duke, has been a consistent veteran presence leading a surprising turnaround from a team not expected to do much.

Instead of being the symbol of the cap-management blunders that seemingly buried the Sixers beneath mediocrity, Brand and his work ethic have become vital parts of a franchise beginning to reconnect with its suffering fan base.

Despite last night's 99-95 loss to the Orlando Magic, the Sixers are in the seventh spot for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Brand, 31, is the old hand on a team of bright, new faces.

"It's been a blast," Brand said of the Sixers' resurgence. "We're vying for a playoff spot and the team is playing well."

Good things were supposed to have happened a lot quicker.

Brand playing nursemaid for a group of youngsters, many still in grade school when he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1999, was not what the Sixers had in mind when they gave him a 5-year, $80 million deal.

In the summer of 2008, the Sixers were coming off a playoff season and had a savvy point guard in Andre Miller, what they considered a rising All-Star in swingman Andre Iguodala, a defensive stopper in center Samuel Dalembert and two budding kids in Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young.

Brand was going to solidify the Sixers on their path up the Eastern Conference hierarchy.

"We thought the missing guy was a power forward - a guy who could be a physical presence inside on both ends of the court," Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski said.

Brand was coming off a devastating Achilles' injury that had cost him almost all of the 2007-08 season with the Los Angeles Clippers, but he was still considered the best unrestricted free agent on the market.

So, with an opportunity to take advantage of salary-cap space, Stefanski committed more than $160 million to Brand and Iguodala to move the Sixers toward the next level.

Things, obviously, didn't go as planned. Only 23 games into his Sixers' career, Brand, who had been limited to eight games in 2007-08 because of a ruptured Achilles' tendon, dislocated his right shoulder and ultimately played only 29 games before having season-ending surgery.

"Elton went through a lot," said Stefanski, who drew the ire of disgruntled Sixers fans for tying up so much salary-cap space in two players who no longer looked like potential All-Stars. "That first year, he was starting to play really well and getting double-doubles. We were getting really excited and then, boom, the shoulder injury. He really lost that first season."

The dynamics of the Sixers changed instantly. Coaches were fired. Miller was allowed to walk in free agency.

Brand returned healthy for 2009-10, but that lost season will forever be known as coach Eddie Jordan's ball of confusion. Brand never found his way in Jordan's failed Princeton offense.

Brand accepted his reduced role like a professional, but appeared to have some of his joy for the game sucked from him.

"It was difficult, but you have to keep it going," Brand said of last season. "That's the thing. Even though I was coming off the bench, you have to stay prepared and ready to play."

Stefanski, who had as much at stake as his prize acquisition, appreciated Brand's attitude.

"Elton was the ultimate professional," he said. "Things just didn't go his way with the coach.

"A player of his stature could have made problems for the coach and for me. He never did."

Still, Brand looked like an $80 million bust saddled to a team now about to undergo major rebuilding.

Enter Collins.

I'm not sure how many people believed Collins when he said on the day he was hired that he would to get Brand feeling good about himself and playing well again.

Nobody questions that now.

Brand's work ethic reshaped the body. Collins' basketball wisdom reshaped the spirit.

"I didn't know ," Brand said. "I knew him from his son [Chris] at Duke and as a commentator.

"But you never know until you get in the gym for practice. A coach might not like your game. Fortunately, things have worked out well."

By Year 3 of Brand's deal, the Sixers were supposed to be approaching the peak, not starting up the mountain again.

Still, with the uncertainty caused by this summer's expiring collective bargaining agreement, Brand's contract is difficult, if not impossible, to move.

Brand, however, does not begrudge his situation. He's out to make the most of it.

The Sixers, as things stand now, are a playoff team and have it within their hands to remain one.

"It's exciting," said Brand, who has been to the playoffs only once in 11 seasons. "We don't look at the standings. We know we just have to win the games we need to, and we'll be there." *

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