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Everyone had a role and knew it last season. They came in twos, like Noah's Ark. Steve Nash and Goran Dragic. Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa. Grant Hill and Jared Dudley. Amar'e Stoudemire and Louis Amundson. Robin Lopez and Channing Frye.

Everybody got on board, helping Coach Alvin Gentry pull off a 10-man rotation that can be difficult in the NBA because of how minutes are distributed.

He again asked to make it work this season but with a flawed roster. Half of the rotation players are wing players. Hedo Turkoglu and Hakim Warrick have been seeing fewer mintues when their low energy does not warrant more. Meanwhile, Earl Clark can't hardly get playing time even though he has shown tremendous strides in professionalism and effort in practices.

It was only one game Tuesday night in Portland but the 106-99 loss was a reality check that the Suns. They are 21 games into the season and still searching for themselves, especially with the reserve unit. Gentry tried another new look, starting Tuesday's fourth quarter with four reserves, sitting Josh Childress for a half for the first time and leaving in Grant Hill. After Dudley closed the third with the final five points and made a 3-pointer to start the fourth, the Suns led by nine. Moments later, a 67-second span had a Blazers 8-1 run and Dragic was being benched for it.

Gentry just recently said he would not give Dragic the quick yank in such a situation to not hurt his confidence or extend Nash, who wound up playing the final 9:15 on the front end of a back-to-back set. Nash and Grant Hill each played 39 minutes. But Gentry did pull Dragic at a time when he had help blowing the lead. The reserves don't carry the defensive indemnity they had a year ago and it has been mentioned often recently that some are still in the wrong places offensively.

"Nobody knows their place," Dragic said, speaking of sets Phoenix runs. "We call it but we don't play. We're going to to have to do something.

"We cannot create shots for ourselves. Hedo has to shoot the ball more often when he's open."

Gentry sounded like a man who is going to make some harsh decisions in the rotation. In a way, he already has. The players with the long-term deals the Suns added in early July played the least Tuesday night in Portland. Warrick got 11 minutes. Dragic had nine. Childress played six.

"I don't know if we can play as many guys as we're playing," Gentry said. "We have too many perimeter guys we are trying to work into the lineup. It doesn't work."

The biggest quandary has been fitting in Turkoglu. For 18 minutes of work, his six points and five assists Friday would seem fine but one 3-pointer came after the game was decided and his impact is rarely felt otherwise for a $9.8 million bench player whose contract would be difficult to move.

"Sometimes we don’t get a good start coming off the bench," Turkoglu said. "They expect us to be aggressive and give a spark. Sometimes you feel good, sometimes you don’t. You can’t find your rhythm in those situations.

"He (Gentry) wants me to spread the ball and be a spot-up guy. Sometimes when they take that away, I'm not involved in anything and I can’t be aggressive."

JMac1 wrote:Who? I hope it is Turk and Chill for a Big

swe_suns wrote:If we trade Jchill+Hedo for a PF, would Dudley play SG?

Nash/Dragic
Jrich/Dudley
Hill/Clark
PF/Warrick
Frye/Lopez

Half of the 10-man rotation plays the wing best and Gentry laments that he has not worked in Clark, whose practice effort is outshining regulars. Dudley saw the lights on this oncoming train.

"I thought the minutes would be subtracted from everybody," Dudley said of the July signings. "When Josh signs a contract like that, he has to play. Hedo has his money. He has to play. J-Rich (Jason Richardson) is going to play because he's a baller. Grant (Hill) is a starter and I feel like I should play so that's five. We're trying to mix and match and do it by committee. That's why for me it was a big deal to get my (extension) deal done."

Qwigglez wrote:We need to trade Hedo.

Qwigglez wrote:Heck if it means getting rid of Hedo, I might add a first round pick to get Dalembert. Like someone else mentioned, I don't care for Jason Thompson, he isn't a player to build around. Off-season hits. Go after Marc Gasol. Could even keep Barron for veteran's minimum for an insurance policy. I'm sure the Suns will use their biannual on someone too (Grant Hill, again).

Take care of J-Rich for 8mil a year

. Front load a contract to Gasol (14mil should be fine).
Nash/Dragic
Richardson/Childress
Hill/Clark/Dudley
Frye/Warrick
Gasol/Lopez/Barron

Thats a good mix of offense and defense. The Suns would be around 61mil.