Sixers' Nocioni rehabbing sprained ankle in Argentina

Andres Nocioni, the rugged forward the 76ers acquired in June from the Sacramento Kings, is on crutches and wearing a protective boot.

Nocioni sprained his left ankle Friday while training with Argentina's national team in preparation for the World Championships that begin Aug. 28 in Turkey.

The medical reports finally reached the Sixers yesterday. Dr. Dave Rubenstein, of Main Line Health Services, examined Nocioni's MRI report and concluded Nocioni has a lateral sprain.

There is no timetable for Nocioni to return to the Argentine team. He is said to have gone to a rehabilitation center in Buenos Aires.

Loosely translated from a story in El Diario Olè, Nocioni said, " . . . I had high hopes of making a good World Cup [impression] . . . And this is a big setback. I'll have to [be out] 15 days."

He seemed unsure about whether he would be ready for the tournament.

"I hope that [I am] in good shape, but do not want to complicate the team," he said.

He also said, "I'll try to play, but if I see I cannot, I will make a decision."

Billy King, the former 76ers president/general manager and now the GM of the New Jersey Nets, has made some changes in his new team's personnel and scouting departments. Among them, King named Danko Cvjeticanin, who had been the Sixers' international scouting coordinator, to a similar position and added Frank Zanin as a scout. Zanin, who played at West Chester University, had spent 9 years with the Sixers as a video coordinator, advance scout and assistant coach . . . The Sixers' Jodie Meeks, Spencer Hawes and Marreese Speights are training at Tim Grgurich's skills camp in Las Vegas. *

For more Sixers coverage, read the

Daily News' Sixers blog, Sixerville, at

http://go.philly.com/sixerville.