Suns - Trailblazers Preview

By BRETT HUSTON

STATS Senior Writer

The Phoenix Suns say their style won't change with Amare Stoudemire no longer serving as Steve Nash's favorite target underneath the basket.

Without one of the league's more prolific post scorers, however, Phoenix's expectations might have taken a huge hit.

Another Western Conference finals appearance seems unlikely after Stoudemire's departure, leaving the onus on Nash to lead an unorthodox mix of offseason acquisitions as his Suns enter Tuesday night's opener against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers - their first playoff victim from last spring.

Nash and Stoudemire formed the league's pre-eminent pick-and-roll duo in their six seasons together, which saw Nash win back-to-back MVPs and Stoudemire become a fixture on the West All-Star team.

With an injury history that included multiple knee surgeries and a serious eye issue, the Suns (54-28) opted to not offer Stoudemire a maximum contract last summer. The five-time All-Star ended up heading to New York with a five-year deal worth $99.7 million, while Phoenix netted nothing but a trade exception in return.

The Suns knew they wouldn't be able to replace an interior presence who averaged 23.3 points since Nash's arrival in 2004-05. Instead, they acquired three small forwards - 6-foot-10 Hedo Turkoglu, 6-9 Hakim Warrick and 6-8 Josh Childress - in addition to re-signing 6-11 3-point specialist Channing Frye.

So much for getting a team back together that took the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers to six games in the West finals.

"We have a lot to overcome," said Nash, who never averaged fewer than 9.7 assists with Stoudemire on the team. "This is a league that when you get to the end you've got to have a certain amount of size. I'm not sure we have it. I'm optimistic because we have good players and good guys but we definitely are an imperfect roster in many ways."

Phoenix averaged at least 108.4 points in all of Nash and Stoudemire's seasons together, largely with a pick-and-roll offense that got Stoudemire rolling toward the hoop or a shooter an uncontested look from beyond the arc.

According to coach Alvin Gentry, that's not about to change.

"We're a pick-and-roll team, so we're going to be running the pick and roll with everyone," Gentry said. "We're not thinking that anyone is going to be what Amare was, but Amare's not here anymore."

Nash might find himself running it more often with center Robin Lopez, who averaged 11.4 points in a stretch from mid-January to the end of March before suffering a back injury that kept him out until the conference finals.

Perhaps the biggest key to Phoenix getting back to the playoffs, though, is Turkoglu. The swingman initiated much of Orlando's offense while averaging 18.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists from 2007-09, but flopped last season with Toronto.

With the Suns, however, he'll be asked to replace Stoudemire, with Grant Hill starting at small forward and Jason Richardson alongside Nash in the backcourt.

Portland (50-32) has plenty of issues up front as well, but it's not for a lack of personnel. Injuries to the Trail Blazers' big men have been a seemingly annual occurrence the past few years, and Greg Oden (left knee) and Joel Przybilla (right knee) won't be available right away after going down just three weeks apart in December.

Marcus Camby will start at center until either - or both - return, but Portland is thin behind him. The Blazers signed free agent Fabricio Oberto on Friday to replace Jeff Pendergraph, who tore his ACL in the preseason and was waived.

Still intact, however, is Portland's own dangerous pick-and-roll combination of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Roy, hampered by minor injuries last season, saw his numbers slightly dip from his outstanding 2008-09. He missed the first three games of the first-round series with Phoenix, then shot 30.3 percent in Games 4, 5 and 6.

With an injury-hampered roster, Roy says he's not concerned with setting expectations for this season - particularly considering Portland hasn't won a playoff series since 1999-2000.

"I'm kind of throwing the whole goal thing out the window," Roy said. "We're going to prepare. We're going to prepare to win the division, and we're going to prepare to get out of the first round. I don't know how we're going to write that ... We're going to work, that's the most important thing."

Roy made waves in training camp by declaring that he wants the ball in his hands more often - a comment seen as somewhat of a dig at point guard Andre Miller - but that wasn't even the most intriguing offseason drama in Portland.

Swingman Rudy Fernandez, who averaged 8.1 points off the bench, was fined $50,000 earlier this month after his agent told a Portland radio show the Spaniard was homesick and no longer wanted to play in the NBA.

Fernandez, though, made 21 of 40 preseason 3-pointers as he attempts to edge out Wesley Matthews - who signed a five-year, $34 million deal - for prime minutes off the bench.

Though Phoenix won twice at the Rose Garden in the playoffs, the Blazers have won the last three regular-season meetings there -- including 124-119 on Dec. 18, 2008, in which Roy scored a career-high 52 points.