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Jerami Grant, JaKarr Sampson expected to be key defensive players

Second-year players know their role is to get strong at the defensive end of the floor.

GALLOWAY, N.J. - As the 76ers wrapped up practice yesterday morning at Stockton University, birds soothingly chirped on loudspeakers in the gym, with soft music in the background. The players took to the floor, raised their feet on chairs and meditated for about 15 minutes.

As the 37 combined wins over the previous two seasons will hint, these are not conventional times around the team, so meditiation is just another attempt by Brett Brown and his staff to implement something a little different. His players are on board with different experiments, whether they involve chirping birds on the sound system, bonding through bowling (as they did last night) or punishment pushups.

Jerami Grant and JaKarr Sampson might be Brown's two biggest experiments of the season, at least on the court. The two came to the team last season as somewhat unknowns to fans. Grant, taken 39th overall out of Syracuse, initially didn't really seem to have a position. He was too small to play power forward and didn't possess any sort of outside game to make small forward a real viable position. Sampson, undrafted out of St. John's, opened eyes with his athleticism in training camp last season, but, like Grant, was that sort of 'tweener who just didn't give the team enough offensively to get a mismatch advantage on the floor.

These two have now become sort of the models of what this organization is about. Through endless work and terrific attitudes, they've developed into key pieces for Brown, as he enters his third season with probably his most stable roster.

Both have grown, literally. Each has packed on muscle and hovers around 220 pounds. Both are 6-9, with tremendous length and well-above average athleticism. They are defense-first type players, a luxury to Brown, as that has been a point of emphasis since his arrival.

"I think they're starting to learn about not taking their inherent athleticism and their personality and their energy and being bounced around the gym," Brown said. "There's a sophisticated growth that I'm seeing. You take their length and then you apply some intellect with the growth of, 'How do you guard in the NBA?' Then you apply it now to their studies. We call it 'KYP' - know your personnel. You start knowing who you're guarding and then you combine all of that - their athleticism and where their fundamental skill and the knowledge of 'This is my man' - then you start growing young defenders that are intellectually gifted, as well as physically gifted. I see that in those two guys lately."

This offseason's additions, particularly Nik Stauskas and Jahlil Okafor, could go a long way to improving the team offensively, but might not help the team so much at the other end of the floor. That's where Grant's and Sampson's values grow in importance.

More than once, Brown has talked of a lineup that would include Okafor, with shooters Stauskas and Robert Covington on the floor. It also would include one of the many point guards in camp, none of whom is really a defensive standout, and Nerlens Noel. Except for Noel, that is not a very formidable defensive lineup.

"You've got three perimeter scorers and shooters, but people (also) have to be challenged defensively," Brown said. "So how you mix and match who is on the floor is going to be on my mind, where you're not tilted (offensively and defensively). They need to be sprinkled in, and those types of roles need to be thought through. (Grant's) role, forget if he's a 'four' or 'three,' will be more intertwined with some of those natural shooters, more offensively inclined players."

Grant could start at small forward and shift to power forward when Noel is out of the game. Same goes for Sampson.

"Last year, we worked really hard as rookies to establish ourselves on the defensive end," Sampson said of himself and Grant. "That's what we build this program around. We take pride in our defense. I feel like I'm way better than I was last year coming in. I feel more comfortable, bigger, stronger. It's just a whole different feeling. I'm feeling comfortable.

"Wherever coach needs me to be, whether it's coming off the bench to cool off a player that's hot on the floor or if it's starting. It's whatever coach needs me to be. That's the role that I'm going to play.

"My ballhandling is a lot better. I feel comfortable with the ball in my hand. My shooting is a lot better; I've been working on that all summer. I feel real good offensively. I feel like I can contribute offensively and bring the same intensity on defense."

Added Grant: "Me and JaKarr are the two best defenders on the ball on the team, so I definitely think that, this year, we're going to be guarding the best players on the team, in terms of guards, as Nerlens will be guarding the bigs. That's a key role for us this year."

Six shots

Today will be the last day of training camp at Stockton. They team will return to practice at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine . . . The first preseason game is Tuesday in Washington. The Sixers will host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday . . . Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten, both recovering from torn ACLs, were joined on the sideline by Richaun Holmes, T.J. McConnell (ankles) and Pierre Jackson (groin).

Blog: ph.ly/Sixerville