Sixer coach Jim O'Brien named veterans Aaron McKie and Marc Jackson and rookie Andre Iguodala to the starting lineup, as Glenn Robinson and Samuel Dalembert

McKie beat out Willie Green to be the starter at shooting guard, Iguodala gets Robinson's old spot at small forward, and Jackson takes over from Dalembert at center.

"Glenn took it about as good as any NBA player has ever taken news that he was not going to be in the starting lineup," O'Brien said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for the professional way he handled the situation."

Robinson griped about playing time last season when injuries shortened his first season in Philadelphia to a career-low 42 games. Robinson dedicated himself to offseason workout programs and proclaimed in training camp to be in his best shape in years.

Dalembert was one of two Sixers to play in all 82 games last season and was ninth in the league with 2.3 blocks a game. While he was shooting 74 percent in the preseason, he struggled at times adapting to O'Brien's defensive scheme.

"It does matter for me. I'm not going to lie. I do want to start," Dalembert said last week when asked about the possibility of losing his starting job.

It doesn't appear that Samuel Dalembert will be signed to a contract extension prior to the October 31st deadline, which will make him a restricted free-agent on July 1st.

This doesn't mean that the Philadelphia 76ers will worry about resigning their young center.  They will be able to match any offer he receives and they appear to be very committed to Dalembert.

Allen Iverson is beginning to feel comfortable at the point guard position.

Iverson scored 27 points and Willie Green added 15 to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to an 86-81 exhibition victory over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night.

Iverson wasn't seen as a true point guard who could distribute the ball. In his first try at point several years ago under former coach Larry Brown, Iverson showed little interest in the job.

So far, Coach Jim O'Brien said Iverson has been very unselfish, usually looking for the open man and leading the fastbreak.

"I'd rather have the ball in his hands than anyone else," O'Brien said.

Kyle "Ashton" Korver, a 6-7 forward from Creighton, is beginning his pivitol second season with the Philadelphia 76ers.

"He has to be a three-point specialist," said O'Brien, whose team visits the Spurs tonight before returning home to host the New Jersey Nets Saturday night. "Guys really focus in on where he is and get him the basketball. He can't ever worry about missing a shot. I don't want him to say anything to himself [after a miss]. I don't want to see his head go down. He's got to have a gunslinger mentality. He's got to have that much confidence that he's going to [make] every shot."

O'Brien concedes that Korver is "a pretty darn good defensive player, too, a very good team defensive player," but immediately follows that with: "I think he has a gift for shooting. I don't want to insult him; he has to be a defensive player like everybody else, but he has a certain gift of being able to hit standstill shots."

"I don't count my [practice] shots," Korver said. "I don't like to shoot 10 here, then 10 there, shoot so many shots [that] it just gets boring and repetitive, it doesn't seem fun anymore. I like to mix it up.

"In the summer, I work out about 4 hours a day - I'd say an hour-and-a-half of basketball stuff, 30 to 45 minutes shooting, the rest of the time running, lifting weights, conditioning stuff. I feel like, if you go hard 30 to 45 minutes, you can get up plenty of shots.

"People don't do a lot of shooting drills anymore. Even in Iowa, where I'm from, we did shooting drills [in high school], but you'd have to do it on your own...I like to just pretend, put myself in game situations. I just like to get myself in a mental groove. The night before games in college, I'd get a key from [an assistant coach], shoot for an hour before the game. Nothing hard, just visualizing."

Jim O'Brien's first impressions of rookie Andre Iguodala have been very favorable.

"He does so many little things well," the Sixers coach said. "He might not, if you're sitting in the stands, ever be spectacular in one phase of the game, other than his hands.  He gets his hands on an enormous number of balls. But I think he's got the gift.  I think you can win with guys like Andre, with his defense.  He's big, he puts it on the ground well with both hands; sometimes he tries to make great passes when a simple pass is there."

Iguodala is a 6-6 forward out of the University of Arizona where he played under Lute Olsen.

Allen Iverson is beginning his relationship with the NBA officials early this season, as he was ejected in the second quarter of the 76ers preseason game versus the Toronto Raptors.

Iverson yelled at Courtney Kirkland to blow his whistle after the official failed to call a foul on Toronto in the second quarter. Kirkland gave Iverson a technical and then tossed him from the game after the guard repeated his demand.

Iverson, who was jawing with Kirkland earlier in the game, was sitting along the baseline. He left for the dressing room with 6:25 left in the second quarter.

"I guess he had a short fuse," Iverson said. "I deserved the second one, but I don't think I deserved the first one."

Philadelphia coach Jim O'Brien didn't think an ejection was warranted.

"It's early for the officials too, and I just think they should have a bit more respect than they gave him," O'Brien said. "But you know, his lack of minutes was probably a blessing in disguise."

Philadelphia 76ers center Samuel Dalembert has donated $20,000 to aid in hurricane relief to his homeland of Haiti to aid in the damage inflicted by Hurricane Jeanne.

The NBA will match his $20,000 and Sixers head coach Jim O'Brien has also decided to give $1,000 of his own money, making the total $41,000 which will be given in fact to the Red Cross.

The hurricane has left Haiti devestated, amassing gruesome statistics: 1,300 people dead, 2,600 injured, and overs 300,000 damaged or destroyed homes.

?The news speaks for itself (what is happening in Haiti), the money is helping everyone in need over there with food, water and other such items. I feel like it?s the right thing to do, ? said Dalembert.

Allen Iverson has called last season his worst of his career, missing substantial amount of time on the injured reserve and missing the playoffs.

With Eric Snow traded to Cleveland, Iverson will slide over to point guard with Willie Green inheriting the shooting guard spot. Iverson hasn't played the point since his first couple of seasons in the NBA, but expects a smooth transition because he understands the game more.

"I want the ball in my hands on the break a lot," Iverson said. "I want to put a lot of pressure on the defense."