No doubt it was an odd feeling for the 17th overall pick in June's draft.

"I don't think that ever happened," Holiday said of never getting into a basketball game.

"It hurts down deep in your gut, man," coach Eddie Jordan said. "You've been playing and you're sitting there and you've prepared yourself for days, and you don't play. That's a heck of a feeling."

In his 4 years at Campbell Hall High School in North Hollywood, Calif., Holiday led his team to three state titles. Following his senior season, he was listed as the No. 2 overall prospect by Rivals.com and named the Gatorade national player of the year. He played one season for Ben Howland at UCLA, starting all 35 games and averaging 8.5 points, before declaring for the NBA draft.

Now he is entering a new world of his basketball life. And so far, it has been, well, rocky.

"I think it's early for him," said Lou Williams, one of the many guards ahead of Holiday on the depth chart right now. "He's still kind of soaking everything in. But he's a naturally talented player. He still competes hard. I think it's going to take some time for him to get his feet wet. When he does, I think he'll be a tremendous help for our team."

For now, it's trudging through the daily practices with the hope that playing time comes during the four remaining exhibition games. Like all employees, Holiday is looking for that chance to prove himself, to show that he can be given more of a workload.

"I'm just trying to be the best that I can be," Holiday said yesterday after practice and before the team left for Phoenix, where it will face the Suns tonight. "I'm trying to compete against [fellow guards] because it's making me better. They've been in the league. They know the ropes. I'm trying to make myself better as well as trying to make them better."

Holiday, 19, is in a position many rookies find themselves, which simply is trying to become accustomed to NBA life, and, of course, seeking the all-important playing time.

Williams is very familiar with Holiday's plight.

"I think the hardest part for me - and he can relate to this - I came in as a McDonald's All-American, Naismith Player of the Year, I had all these awards as a high school player and then coming in and starting over from zero," said Williams, who in 2005 was drafted 45th overall by the Sixers out of South Gwinnett High School in Georgia. "Not getting the practice time that I wanted, not getting the playing minutes that I wanted or that I thought I deserved. Going through all of that, you can be kind of naive to it. So I think that's one of the challenges he's going through so far. He's a little down about not playing in that last preseason game.

"I spoke to him about my experiences, and these past couple of days in practice, he's been competing very hard and he hasn't hung his head, so that's a positive thing."

Obviously, better days are ahead for Holiday. He knows that and he hears it constantly from teammates and his coach.

"After that game that I didn't play, [the veterans] were the people that came over to me, told me that all would be cool. Lou told me that he played 23 games in his first season [actually 30]. I can't feel bad about it."

Said Jordan: "Jrue's holding up well. We've had some mini talks. He's doing fine. It's what we expected. The vets love him, and they help him. But when he's on the floor and they feel that tentativeness, they pounce on him. It happens to everybody. It's a right of passage.

"I think Jrue's a little more prepared because of his parents [Shawn and Toya]. They played high-level basketball. He went to college 1 year. So he's a little bit more prepared in that regard."

Holiday has no background to prepare for not playing. As he said, it never happened before. For now, he will have to accept what is or isn't given to him.

"I want to be different [from other rookies] and play every game and contribute to my team any way I can. They told me, once the opportunity comes, make the most of it. That's what I'm waiting for, that's what I'm going to do." *