Sixers Notes: Team still tweaking new offense

For the 76ers, much is up in the air.

They finished the preseason with a 5-3 record but are still working on finding rhythm, cohesion, and - as Sixers coach Eddie Jordan says - "harmony" within their new Princeton offense.

The meaningless games are over, and the meaningful ones begin Wednesday, when the Sixers open the regular season in Orlando against the Magic.

The Sixers ended their preseason Friday with a 110-88 loss to the previously winless New Jersey Nets. The score - and the play - seemed to suggest the Sixers were behind where they wanted to be, but Jordan said it was not the case.

"Not one bit," Jordan said when asked whether he was disappointed with Friday's game. "I liked the way we were independent of each other, and yet we depended upon each other. We ran the offense with less play-calling from me. Even though we lost, with the numbers, it's the way we look at the game. . . . I wanted to get 20 minutes for our main guys, and right around the 19-, 20-minute-mark, I couldn't wait to take them out."

Added Jordan: "It was a successful preseason because we came out healthy, we won, and we improved tremendously."

Jordan said his top concern was lowering the team's rate of turnovers: The Sixers averaged 19.5 per game during the preseason.

The biggest question mark is how well the team can run its new offensive system. In the preseason, moments of brilliance were overshadowed by stretches of ineffectiveness.

Jordan said it might take until Thanksgiving before his team can execute the offense.

"I feel great about the stuff that we've been doing, but the stuff he just put in, we're still learning that and trying to get it down," forward Thaddeus Young said. "I run them through my head all day every day; I pretty much wake up dreaming about plays."

Power forward Elton Brand said the key to a successful start is remaining organized on the offensive end.

"Jordan says Thanksgiving, but, personally, it's coming to me more," said Brand, who averaged 9.5 points in the preseason. "Honestly, you dream about the plays, going through it, and where you should be: 'OK, I see it now.' It's definitely coming. Hopefully not Thanksgiving, but it may take that long."

Jordan said after practice Saturday that Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala is "on the cusp" of superstardom.

Brand said he believed Iguodala should have been an all-star last season.

"He deserved it," Brand said. "He was the key member of the team. . . . He's right there on that level."

Forward Rodney Carney scored 13 points Friday in the only preseason game he played after missing the first seven with a strained left hamstring. Carney said he didn't know yet where he fit in Jordan's rotation.

"I can't wait to see what we're going to do in the first game, the rotation and how guys are going to play," Carney said.

- Kate Fagan