After the 76ers' starters fell behind, 10-0, in a team scrimmage yesterday at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, first-year coach Eddie Jordan blew his whistle to stop the action. "I said, 'Look, this could happen on Wednesday,' " Jordan said after the practice was over. " 'How are you going to react? And it's going to be on the road.' " Jordan was referring to the Sixers' season opener tomorrow night in Orlando. The Magic eliminated the Sixers in the Eastern Conference playoffs last season.
After finishing the regular season with a 41-41 record, the Sixers fell to Orlando, four games to two, in the first round. The Magic went on to reach the NBA Finals.
Since their 2008-09 season ended, the Sixers have made a few additions that make them different from the group that was eliminated last spring in an ugly loss at the Wachovia Center.
Not only is Jordan in charge now with a new system, the team added key reserves in forward Jason Kapono and swingman Rodney Carney, and first-round draft pick Jrue Holiday.
More important, the Sixers have 6-foot-9 Elton Brand back after the power forward sat out most of last season with a shoulder injury. And 7-0 Jason Smith, a former first-round selection who was sidelined for the entire season by a knee injury, appears ready to help.
"Those are the things we have to see and capitalize on," said Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski
For the Sixers , the preseason has been about getting on the same page with the Princeton offense that Jordan employs.
They started out 4-0 before dropping three of their last four preseason outings.
"We're different because we're playing a different way," Jordan said. "And I'd like to think we're better going into Wednesday's game than we were last year."
Orlando features center Dwight Howard and former St. Joseph's guard Jameer Nelson. The Magic lost Hedo Turkoglu, but they added another weapon in high-scoring guard Vince Carter.
"We're veteran enough to get through abnormalities," Jordan said. "The veteran part of it and the experience part of it, you should be able to handle whatever comes your way Wednesday night. We put in so much in so little time, probably more than any other team I've had. I think I've gotten in enough for them to have going into the regular season on offense. On defense, it's our basic package: our containment defense, our help defense, and our pick-and-roll defense.
"It's been improved, and we're ready to go, though we could defend multiple screens better. But we're ready to go."
After practicing today, the team will take a 3 p.m. flight to Florida. The Sixers worked a little on Orlando yesterday and will do a little more today. Jordan said preparations would go up another notch at the team's shoot-around tomorrow.
Contact staff writer Kevin Tatum at (215) 854-2583 or ktatum@phillynews.com.
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