LAS VEGAS - The ultimately unsuccessful, breakneck style of the Phoenix Suns is history. That's probably just as well, since an aging Shaquille O’Neal enters his first full season at the center of Phoenix's game.

New coach Terry Porter will certainly take a few fast-break baskets, but his area of concern is at the other end of the court.

The low-key Porter is a marked contrast to the flamboyant and talkative Mike D’Antoni, who left after five-plus successful seasons in Phoenix.

But D'Antoni's Suns only once made it as far as the conference finals. He and general manager Steve Kerr had different ideas about how the game should be played.

O'Neal, 36, enters his 17th season and, he says, most likely his next-to-last. Steve Nash, 34, is in his 13th NBA campaign. Grant Hill, 35, is in his 14th year as a pro.

Those numbers probably explain why the Suns no longer are mentioned as one of the teams to beat in the West.

Porter decided to start Matt Barnes, an offseason free agent acquisition, ahead of Hill at small forward. The other starters are Amare Stoudemire at power forward, O'Neal at center, and Nash and Raja Bell the guards.

That leaves Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw and Hill coming off the bench. Then there are the team's two rookies in 7-footer Robin Lopez and heralded young European playmaker Goran Dragic.

Stoudemire, 26, is approaching the prime of his career. In 2006, his first season back from microfracture knee surgery, he was second-team all-NBA. Last year, he averaged 25.2 points and 9.2 rebounds, earning first-team all-NBA honors.

Stoudemire had to play out of position at center before the arrival of O'Neal. Now he's at his natural spot. At 6-foot-10 and 249 pounds, with quickness, power and an accurate jumper to about 18 feet, he will be a big matchup challenge to opponents. In the 29 games after Shaq joined the team last year, Stoudemire averaged 28.5 points.

The San Antonio Spurs desperately will miss the presence of reigning Sixth Man of the Year Manu Ginobili, who will be sidelined for the first 20 to 25 games of the season after undergoing left ankle surgery in September.

Ginobili has the unique ability to score at will by driving the lane or stepping back to drain a 3-pointer. He also is an aggressive defender and will leave a gaping hole in the lineup. But the 31-year-old Ginobili suffers from the same ailment as most others on the team - age.

With the exception of Tony Parker, the Spurs' projected top seven are all 31 or older. Add in Ginobili and that number increases to eight.

Greg Popovich is one of the best coaches in the NBA but his schemes can't neutralize "Father Time."

Tim Duncan is as skilled as ever. The perennial All-Star is coming off yet another season in which he posted a double-double, averaging 19.0 points and 11.0 rebounds. At 32, common sense would say he can't take much more punishment in the low post, but Duncan continues to defy that logic.

Parker likely will play a bigger role in the offense for a second straight season. The 26-year-old is coming off a strong season in which he averaged nearly 19.0 points and 6.0 assists.

Bruce Bowen, 37, played his usual stellar defense in 2007-08 but may lose a step in the later stages of his career.

The Spurs have depended on a trio of perennial All-Stars, a lockdown defender and a role player to carry them to 11 straight playoff appearances, winning four titles over that span.

However, the Duncan-Parker-Ginobili combination is down to a duo and their defensive specialist, Bowen, is beginning to show his age.

The Spurs eliminated the Suns in five games during the Western Conference playoffs, with the first three games going ‘over’ the closing total and the final two ducking ‘under.’ Phoenix took the regular-season series, 3-1, with the ‘under’ cashing on all four occasions.

The underdog is 6-2-1 in the last nine head-to-head meetings.

October 29, 2008