by By Kate Fagan; Inquirer Staff Writer , The Philadelphia Inquirer

After yesterday's practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Sixers coach said he still was looking for his first guard off the bench, still waiting for one guy to emerge and become No. 8 in the rotation.

Tonight at the Wachovia Center, the 2-2 Sixers will play the 0-5 New Jersey Nets, and Jordan still will be watching, waiting, and evaluating.

Yesterday, Jordan said one of the players who are in a tight pack at the bottom of the Sixers' stat sheet must "distinguish" himself. Those players are Willie Green, Royal Ivey, Rodney Carney, and Jrue Holiday.

Jordan said his first big man off the bench is clearly Marreese Speights; his first midsize guy is clearly Jason Kapono.

"I'll tell you what I told the team the other day . . . my eighth person, my eighth player, which is the first small, is someone I [still] need to find who is going to make some headway, someone that's going to tell me he's the eight guy," Jordan explained. "That's going to come from Willie, from Jrue, from Royal, from Rodney. And some of it is going to be matchup, but if you distinguish yourself as 'The Guy,' then that's going to be the rotation."

The obvious choice would be Green, last season's starting shooting guard. But through four games, Green has played 9.5 minutes a game, scoring 4.3 points on 27.8 percent shooting.

"For the most part, we're still in the process of trying to develop our identity and what kind of team we're going to be this year . . . , " Green said. "I think right now we're in between and trying to find our identity."

Since training camp, Jordan has spoken highly of Ivey, but Ivey received a "DNP-Coach's Decision" in the Sixers' most recent game against the Boston Celtics. Ivey is averaging 10.3 minutes a game and is 5 for 7 from the floor.

Carney, hurt for all of the preseason with a strained hamstring, hasn't quite worked his way back into Jordan's rotation. He has played the same amount of time as Ivey, scoring at the same clip: 3.7 a game.

Holiday appears to be last in this foursome. The rookie was inactive for the season opener against the Orlando Magic and did not play in an overtime win against the New York Knicks. He has played a total of 19 minutes, but is 3 for 3 from the floor.

Recently, Jordan said Holiday could be "the best ever" within Jordan's Princeton offense. In Tuesday's loss to the Celtics, Holiday was the first guard off the bench.

Jordan explained his thinking: "I wanted to see who else could do it."

Contact staff writer Kate Fagan at 856-779-3844 or kfagan@phillynews.com.

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