Three games into the season and what exactly have we learned about the 76ers? Well, that's a very difficult question to answer as it seems coach Eddie Jordan isn't sure exactly what he has, either.

Jordan said during the preseason that he basically wanted to set his rotation at 10 players. He also said his second-unit players were playing a little bit better than the starters throughout the preseason.

With that in mind, the minutes Jordan doled out to his reserves were somewhat puzzling.

After scoring 26 points in the season-opening loss in Orlando, Marreese Speights played just under 13 minutes against the Bucks on Friday night and had only four points. Speights was used for 30 minutes in Saturday's wild, 141-127 overtime win over the Knicks, and promptly collected 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Matchups are always a reason for substitutions, and perhaps Jordan didn't like the way Speights matched up with the quick Bucks. He was asked before the game whether any of his players were competing for a starting spot. He said he is not making changes to the starting lineup, but that when guys play well, they will earn more minutes. So it was odd that Speights saw little time after his Orlando performance.

Sharp-shooting forward Jason Kapono, who is averaging 9.7 points and has hit half of his 10 three-pointers, seems to be the top sub off the bench early on, while guard Willie Green saw just 17 minutes of time in the two weekend games. Jason Smith, coming off knee surgery that sidelined him all of last season, played just over 4 minutes on Friday night, then didn't see the floor against the Knicks.

Guard Royal Ivey didn't see a minute of play after halftime of the Bucks game, though Jordan did praise him for his energy after the game. Ivey committed a bad foul on Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings with 2.4 seconds left in the first half, which might have raised the ire of Jordan. Ivey played 11 minutes against the Knicks.

The same sort of situation happened in Orlando when Lou Williams fouled Magic guard Jason Williams near midcourt in what resulted in three made foul shots.

Jordan is a stickler for details and doesn't seem to be the type to put up with stupid plays. Perhaps he was sending that message to Ivey on Friday.

If Jordan's substitutions are all about matchups, it might turn out to be awfully wearing on his starters. In the two wins, Andre Iguodala averaged more than 42 minutes, and Thaddeus Young 41, while Williams (more than 37) and Elton Brand (more than 32) also saw extended play.

Sick Knicks

 

When the Sixers played the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in the preseason, it wasn't pretty. New York, under coach Mike D'Antoni, appeared to be about as selfish as a group can be.

In Saturday's loss to the Sixers, their third straight to open the season, that appeared to still be the case. Though they came back from a 23-point deficit, they are a very hard team to watch. D'Antoni's philosophy of jacking up from wherever whenever worked very well in Phoenix, but the Knicks don't have the players for it. And the defense is worse than nonexistent.

Another sign of just how bad the organization is was shown on Saturday night when, according to the New York Post, former Knick Stephon Marbury was removed from his front-row seat while he was filming the game from across the Knicks bench. He told the Post, "I got what I wanted," and claimed he was filming a documentary on his night at a Knicks game.

By the numbers

 

How about the Sixers shooting 52.6 percent from the floor as a team through three games? Some of that is due to the new Princeton offense, which, when run properly, creates a lot of open shots. More of it has to do with the Sixers' running game. They have forced close to 17 turnovers a game, which is a prerequisite to getting out on the break. Before Friday's game against the Bucks, Eddie Jordan lamented about his team's break, but was pleased after the game in which they got 19 points off the break. *