Collins gets a good look at 76ers in first exhibition

ROANOKE, Va. - Inside an old-school arena and in front of an impartial crowd, the 76ers began what is expected to be a very different season.

On Tuesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center, the Sixers were technically the home team - the arena is operated by the team's parent company, and Hip Hop's Hare Raisers entertained during time-outs - but most in attendance were just eager for some big-time plays in the preseason opener.

Each team produced a few, and the New Jersey Nets eventually defeated the Sixers, 103-96, but more to the point was the evaluation of talent, team rotations, and execution.

For the Sixers, there were some positives: Rookie Evan Turner scored 12 points, the team finished with 22 fastbreak points, and backups Jodie Meeks and Craig Brackins looked like decent contributors. And there were a few negatives: The offensive execution was occasionally suspect, the discrepancy in three-point shooting was alarming, and the first-half interior defense struggled.

The Nets finished the night 8 for 12 from beyond the arc. The Sixers were 2 for 18 - a statistic eerily similar to last season's efforts. For New Jersey, center Brook Lopez scored 19 points in the first half and finished with 24.

"I played my bench a lot tonight, when you look at the minutes," said Sixers coach Doug Collins. "I gave those guys a lot of minutes."

The second unit of Lou Williams (10 points in nearly 25 minutes), Meeks (nine points in 24 minutes), Brackins (five points in 20 minutes), Marreese Speights (19 points in 30 minutes), and Turner (25 minutes) played almost the entire fourth quarter.

The Sixers, who finished last season 27-55, will continue their preseason schedule on Wednesday against the Boston Celtics in Manchester, N.H.

Before the game, Collins said he would run controlled rotations and would avoid mass substitutions. He also said he was eager to see the defensive performance of his big men.

"I don't want to come in with a bunch of guys at the same time," Collins explained of his rotations. "It becomes disjointed."

Instead, the Sixers substituted in trickles, replacing players as they picked up fouls, as situations called for change, or, in the case of small forward Thaddeus Young, when an injury demanded it.

Young went down in the second quarter with a corneal abrasion to his left eye. He did not return. Young's injury is not expected to be serious and he is listed as day-to-day.

Young and swingman Andre Iguodala, expected to be two of the team's top scorers, finished the game a combined 1 for 8.

"On the fastbreak, we scored," said Iguodala, who did not make a field goal in 24 minutes. "We got some stops and got out on the break, so we showed some good things."

"We obviously have a lot of work to do," Collins said. "But I thought some positive things happened."