No need to panic, but no time to coast

By Randy Hill
FOXSportsArizona.com
 
One fickle week ago, many Phoenix Suns fans were wondering how much Steve Nash would fetch in a trade and what caliber of good-luck talisman team president Lon Babby might bring to the NBA Draft lottery hoedown in Secaucus, N.J.
 
Last week, the sound of crickets defined the local chapter of the Hedo Turkoglu Fan Club.
 
Since then, bitter Amar'e Stoudemire was booed in Madison Square Garden, while the Suns were in the process of reeling off five victories in their past six games. A current three-game salvo includes one gun-slinging victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles and a gutsy, come-from-behind win at home over the Denver Nuggets the following night.
 
But the fun's just beginning.
 
"Can't we just enjoy this for a little while?" Suns coach Alvin Gentry asked in mock anguish after Monday's victory over the Nuggets inspired inquiries regarding his team's next challenge. "Actually, it's a tough stretch."
 
Right, a quick review of the Suns' season-opening schedule suggested that Gentry would have an even more difficult time in early November than Charlie Sheen's publicist.
 
"I don't think you can make a whole lot out of the schedule," Gentry, doing his best to not seem like a whiner, said. "Like I told the guys, at the end of the day, we'll play 41 games on the road and 41 at home."
 
True enough, but two of those 41 road games will be crossed off after Wednesday night in Miami and Thursday evening in Orlando. In addition to being at home and loaded (referring to talent, not nightlife), both opposing teams will have ample rest before entertaining the Suns. As road trips go, this one seems similar to that long walk by Dorothy and Toto.
 
OK, like the Suns, Miami's Heat check in with a record of 6-4, which seems a bit pedestrian, considering the ridiculous -- and self-generated -- expectations.
 
"I wouldn't read a lot into their record," Gentry said of the Heat. "They're going to be fine. And Orlando's probably one of the top five teams, well, they are one of the top five teams in the league."
 
So, with a travel show that also includes a Saturday stop in Charlotte and a Monday visit to Houston, we'll have another shot at figuring out what kind of team Gentry has.
 
"All of that is still to come," Gentry said of how this season shakes out.
 
But our small sample of this November challenge has indicated that the Suns are capable of finding ways to win. In L.A., they dropped 22 3-pointers (one shy of the league's single-game record) on the Lakers. The next night, they made just four from deep but held the Nuggets to 30 percent shooting in the second half to survive on dead legs.
 
"We kept grinding it out and grinding out," Suns guard Jason Richardson said of a team whose strategic history left little evidence of a grind mentality. "We played team ball and got a team win."
 
And it's the sign of versatility when a team can win when Richardson doesn't play the entire fourth quarter, one night after slapping 35 points (he made 7 of 10 shots from 3-point range) on the Lakers.
 
"A win like this definitely boosts our confidence," said Richardson, who still looked like a happy camper after his lowest scoring output of the young season.
 
And now the Heat?
 
"It's just another game for us," he said.
 
For Suns fans, however, it's another opportunity to see how the Suns handle elite teams behind a chemistry-building roster that -- for several weeks -- will not have center Robin Lopez (knee injury) available.
 
With a 10-game body of work in Gentry's hip pocket, here's what we can look for when the Suns line up against the Heat and Magic.
 
HEAT CHECK
 
* Expect Gentry to order his perimeter defenders to go under ball screens against LeBron James and his sidekick, Dwyane Wade. In the Denver game, the Suns returned to this familiar tactic but had more second-half success because the bigs defending the screener took better angles and put more pressure on the ballhandlers. This allowed the Suns' on-ball defenders to recover before the Nuggets guards could build up a head of steam and attack the rim.
 
If James and Wade start making pull-up jumpers off screens, the Suns may go to "green" or "blitz" schemes that require both defenders to put more of a squeeze on the ballhandler. Green is a hard hedge; blitz (which probably has a more sophisticated name) is supposed to be an all-out trap. But the two Heat superstars are strong and quick enough to split two defenders if they leave a gap. Attacking the dribbler also requires more consistent weakside rotations on skip passes to shooters and when the screener slips the screen.
 
As a screen-slipper, Chris Bosh poses a rim-rattling threat, while Udonis Haslem is an elbow-area pressure release who loves to shoot from there.

The Suns' rotation to the slip screener continues to be slower than Gentry needs for his defense to really click.
 
* If Grant Hill, Richardson, Jared Dudley and Josh Childress are unable to have reasonable success against the dribble penetration of James and Wade, Gentry might consider going to a zone. Miami is ninth in the league from beyond the arc (LeBron is shooting 27 percent from 3; Wade is at 34), but the Suns' attempt at a match-up zone looked like a lightly rehearsed mess against Denver. James and Wade might get into the teeth of any zone alignment and kill it.
 
* It'll be interesting to see what Gentry does with Bosh. Miami started 7-foot-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas at center in its last game instead of 6-9 Joel Anthony, who poses little threat to score down low. Even though Z likes to loiter around the elbow, he's probably way too large for Turkoglu to deal with. Hedo, who actually is pretty good at showing as screen defender on pick-and-roll, might have the agility to deal with Bosh, but we'll probably see Channing Frye on the lefty.
 
Gentry might just continue having his bigs completely front on defense and rely on weakside-help rotations that were much better in the second half vs. Denver. With Miami ranked last in the league for points-in-the-paint, the Suns might have greater worries.
 
* Miami is ranked 24th in tempo and has been remarkably bad in allowing transition buckets. This could portend offensive success for the Suns, right? Yeah, Gentry still wants to push the pace and encourage open 3s, but he was more than willing to slow down things and exploit Denver's switch-every-screen defense. By going to Hakim Warrick on the post against a switched-off guard, the Suns demonstrated their commitment to doing whatever it takes to win.
 
MAGIC MOMENTS
 
* Turkoglu, who worked in Toronto last season, returns to the site of his greatest NBA success.
 
"I still have a lot of friends down there," Turkoglu, who was the league's Most Improved Player while employed by the Magic, said. "It should be fun."
 
It certainly will be more fun playing against Rashard Lewis, another "stretch four," instead of the hulking galoots Hedo usually deals with during typical power forward shifts.
 
* Orlando has several eager 3-point shooters it uses to surround center Dwight Howard. With Howard still considered less than textbook in his footwork near the hoop, Gentry could play single coverage behind him and take his chances. This would keep the Suns out of rotation against all of the Magic snipers but put Frye in harm's way against Howard.
 
Frye, who's certainly attempting to reinvent himself as a crusty post defender, might pick up early fouls battling behind Howard, leading to court time for Garret Siler and newcomer Earl Barron (the Suns now lead the league in Earls). Well, maybe not Siler. Gentry could go really small, with Warrick fronting Howard and Orlando's shooters licking their chops.
 
* In the second back-to-back in five days, we'll see how much the Suns lean on their bench, which -- according to Hoopsstats.com -- is the most efficient in the NBA. Gentry could use a return to form by Goran Dragic, who has been struggling lately against hard hedges and traps from opposing defenses.
 
* With either Vince Carter or former Sun Quentin Richardson on the defensive hook against Jason Richardson, look for Gentry to use the pin-down set out of the "Horns" formation early and often. He did this to open the third quarter against Denver, and J-Rich helped the Suns get rolling when his number was called.