Posted: October 9, 2012
With the Suns tipping off preseason action in Sacramento tomorrow night, the players suited up for their final practice before seeing how they’d fare against an opponent not donning a Suns uniform.
With October 31 as the deadline for Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry to name his starters, expect Gentry to try out various combinations of players together this preseason. With only five players dressing from last season’s squad, Gentry is in the process of seeing if his staff’s theories on rotations will come to fruition.
While every possible starter is being pushed by his backup thus far this preseason, not everyone is going to see extended playing time against the Kings.
“We don’t want to play 12-13 guys a night,” Gentry said. “I want to give them a feel and play them for 7-8 minutes at a time.”
Thus far, the players seem to be gelling off the court, which usually lends itself to appearing on the court.
“I think it’s more about them knowing each other from a basketball standpoint than a chemistry standpoint,” the Suns head coach said.
The main objective for this group will be to get off to a hot start this season. At the conlcusion of the past two seasons, a twinge of regret was felt around Phoenix after squandering early-season opportunities that caused the team to miss the postseason.
In order to do that, Gentry wants to shore everything up on the boards, especially on the defensive end. One of his huge areas of emphasis this preseason has been and will be protecting the glass.
Let's see how his players fare in that area tomorrow.
NOTES: Suns point guard Goran Dragic is expected to play Wednesday, although not a ton, as he continues to nurse his left sprained ankle. Also, after colliding with teammate P.J. Tucker at practice Monday, Shannon Brown received seven stitches above his left eye and sat out of practice Tuesday.
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