After starting the Tony DiLeo era 2-0, the Sixers had a major setback Thursday as they learned that star forward Elton Brand would be out for a month with a fracture of the humeral bone and a tear of the labrum.

Sixers team doctor Jack McPhilemy said he does not think the injury will require surgery at this time.

Brand suffered the injury after coming down hard in the third quarter of Wednesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Brand left the game clutching his right shoulder and the initial diagnosis was that he had suffered a dislocated shoulder.

Brand did not travel with the team to Washington, where they will face the Wizards on Friday. He will be made available to the media on Saturday before the Sixers’ home game against the Indiana Pacers.

The injury comes at a poignant time for the Sixers, as  they have been reeling from a worse then expected start to the season that ultimately resulted in the firing of popular head coach Maurice Cheeks on Saturday.

The sluggish start has led to speculation over whether the signing of the slower, more half-court oriented Brand was the right move for the fast paced, full-court Sixers offense. The Sixers have at times looked disoriented and out of rythm.

One player in particular that has struggled this season is Andre Iguodala, who has moved from the small forward position to shooting guard, a position that requires him to make more mid range jump shots. Iguodala has never been much of a shooter, but is one of the game’s best run-n-gun players.

As a result of Iguodala’s struggles, he has been moved back to the 3-spot, which makes sophmore Thadeus Young the odd man out of the starting rotation. With Brand out, Young expects to see a lot more action, as do guys like Reggie Evans and rookie Marrese Speights.

Not helping Brand’s cause is Wednesday night’s game against the Bucks. When Brand left the game the Sixers were trailing by seven points, having never led in the game up to that point. They ended up winning the game by five points, in large part from a huge fourth quarter from guard Lou Williams and an energetic Evans, in which the Sixers looked much like they did last season.

That being said, Brand is considered by many of his teammates to be an essential part of the Sixers’ long term success, and I quite agree. While I think it would behoove the rest of the team, particularly Iguodala, to return to the fast-paced style of last year, Brand is the only proven half-court player on the team. He has averaged around 20 points/10 rebounds a game over his career and his skills will be absolutely necessary if this team wants to compete against the Celtics, Cavaliers, and Pistons down the road. Brand is a talented enough player to adapt to the new style of offense, perhaps playing the role of cleanup, as well as being the Sixers main post up threat.

If the Sixers hope to be the team everyone expected them to be, he will have to be.