Despite a 110-88 loss to New Jersey in Queens, N.Y., on Friday night, 76ers head coach Eddie Jordan is happy with how his team has progressed since he held his first practice as the head coach on Sept. 29.

"I like the way we were independent of each other," Jordan said of the loss, "and yet we were dependent on each other. We ran the offense with a lot less play-calling from me. And even though we lost, it's the way I look at the game. I wanted to get Rodney [Carney] some time, and he got some good time. I wanted to get Primoz [Brezec] some time and I wanted to get Jrue [Holiday] some time. I wanted to get 20 minutes from our main guys."

Jordan met all his goals as Carney, playing in his first game this preseason due to a hamstring injury, scored 13 points in 24 minutes; Holiday and Brezec saw some of their most extensive action of the preseason, and six players played more than 20 minutes.

The team finished with a 5-3 record, and, according to Jordan, have been able to grasp his new offensive and defensive styles at a very good pace. The team and the coach both know that the process is a long one, but are very happy with the results thus far. The first test will come Wednesday night in the season opener at Orlando.

"I just can't wait for the season to start, the real season," said forward Elton Brand. "[In the preseason] you're playing different minutes or playing with different players. You play 6 minutes in the first quarter then you don't play in the second quarter. Now it's real, so I'm ready for that."

Wednesday, Jordan will trot out a starting lineup of Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala at guards, Sam Dalembert at center and Thaddeus Young and Brand at the forwards. His rotation off the bench will consist of Marreese Speights, Jason Kapono, Willie Green, Jason Smith, Royal Ivey and Carney, with Holiday and Brezec fighting for time.

"It was a successful preseason because we came out healthy, we won, and we improved tremendously," Jordan said. "When you look at the way we played in the preseason, I want to be a lot more consistent. No. 1, I want to cut our turnovers down. Mostly that was fastbreaks. We could have converted a lot more fastbreaks. And then I wanted our defense to be solid and turn people over."

During the eight-game exhibition stretch, the Sixers gave the ball up 19.5 times a game and forced 18 turnovers, both numbers Jordan wants to see get better, along with a lot of other areas.

He'll get a better feel for his team starting Wednesday. When, as Brand put it, the real season starts.