EIGHT-MAN ROTATION
Pos	Player	Key Stat	Skinny
PG	Jason Kidd	10.8 APG	Now that he can shoot, has no point peer
SG	Penny Hardaway	15.8 PPG	Can still dominate, especially at the 2
SF	Cliff Robinson	59 blocks	Very productive, but key here is defense
PF	Tom Gugliotta	8.9 RPG	Didn't disappoint after leaving Wolves
C	Luc Longley	.483 FG %	Would you rather see Oliver Miller?
SG	Rex Chapman	.359 FG %	His role is only as offensive spark
SF	Shawn Marion	rookie	Rookie leaper had explosive preseason
SF	Rodney Rogers	7.4 PPG	Former Clipper is another scoring option

		The Suns need to find ways to get an effective defensive system going, because they will score points. The new rules will benefit Jason Kidd and Penny Hardaway. Plus, they have other offensive threats in Tom Gugliotta and Clifford Robinson. Luc Longley is a key player who must have a consistent year. But the Suns need to stop other teams. I think the Suns are contenders in the West and can be trouble for teams with their quickness and rebounding ability. If they defend, they could challenge everybody, but I don't think they can beat San Antonio. They might be able to overcome Portland. The Suns are certainly one of the top four teams in the West.

What left empty seats in America West Arena for the first time since it was built in 1992 -- even for a playoff game, no less -- was the fact the Suns had become a boring basketball team. Even with Jason Kidd having an MVP-caliber season, the loss of high-flying Antonio McDyess and the disappointing debuts of free agents Tom Gugliotta and Luc Longley turned the Suns into an also-ran on the Valley sports scene.

Something had to be done. Quickly.

That something arrived in August in the form of Penny Hardaway, the Suns' $80 million roll of the dice. Can he revive his career the same way Kidd did after his arrival from Dallas? Will this be, as both players have said, the NBA's best backcourt ever?

Other changes were made. A team with no post-up game and almost no inside presence now has Hardaway and Rodney Rogers, a free-agent rescue from the Los Angeles Clippers. A team with no true shot-blocker added Oliver Miller -- who has parted ways with almost 80 pounds and is back to his college weight of about 300 -- to team with Longley in the middle.

The only sore spot that wasn't addressed was outside shooting; with the loss of George McCloud to free agency, an already deficient area was weakened. The Suns have to hope Rex Chapman rebounds from a horrid season and accepts his role as a backup in the backcourt.

Player to watch

Hardaway The Suns are going to score points. Nobody denies that. What the team needs to do is prevent them, and although Penny Hardaway should electrify on offense with Jason Kidd, he may be more valuable here if he gives his all on defense. Penny has always been a steals guy and has the size to guard the big 2s that Rex Chapman couldn't. This could be the beginning of a great team if Penny thinks big picture.

Point guard
The Suns found their heartbeat and undisputed leader in Kidd last season. He led the NBA in assists (10.8 a game) and set personal highs in scoring (16.9), rebounding (6.8) and steals (2.28). He also connected on a career-best 44.4 percent of his shots, turning what had long been his biggest weakness into a strength.

Kidd finished with seven triple-doubles on the year-more than all the other players in the league combined-and was named an all-NBA first-teamer (and Basketball News' Player of the Year) and to the NBA's all-defensive team, both for the first time in his career.

And he's getting better.

The backup spot remains a question mark. Although Hardaway might see some minutes at the point, the job of understudy will go to either Randy Livingston or Gerald Brown. Livingston, signed out of the CBA at the end of last season, played well in the playoffs and turned some heads. His long battle from a series of knee surgeries might finally be won. He's not a scorer, but the Suns don't need him to be.

Brown, a local product from Carl Hayden High, was a standout in the post-lockout minicamp but had trouble adjusting to the speed of regular-season games. He has worked hard to improve, but Livingston appears to be the favorite.

Shooting guard
What had been a weakness last year has become a source of strength. Hardaway says he is finally healthy and in the right frame of mind. If that's true and he bounces back to his former All-Star form, Phoenix has the league's best backcourt -- perhaps one for the ages. Kidd and Hardaway are among the NBA's biggest players at their positions (did someone say post-up?).

But if the injuries to Hardaway persist or the attitude that turned him into a clubhouse cancer in Orlando resurfaces, the Suns will have paid a lot of money for a big problem.

Chapman lost his starting job the minute Hardaway put pen to paper. But if the veteran-who with four years of service is now the longest-tenured Sun-can rediscover his shooting touch and provide offense off the bench, his value to the team will be immeasurable. Offseason surgeries have Chapman feeling 100 percent.

Two other players could figure into the mix. Second-year pro Toby Bailey played well in spurts last year and had a monster training camp. First-round pick Shawn Marion, who has everyone in the Suns' front office beaming, could see time at both small forward and shooting guard.

If Kidd, Hardaway and Marion find a chemistry on the floor together, their speed alone will cause the opposition headaches.

Small forward
Clifford Robinson was easily the unsung hero of last season, scoring 16.4 points a game while defending everyone from 7-foot centers to water-bug point guards.

With Hardaway and others around, Robinson will likely be counted on more for his defense than his scoring. But he remains one of the team's most important parts.

And now the Suns have Marion, who gives the team a boost of athleticism that was sorely missing last season. His ability to score inside and run the floor are positives, but his lack of defensive experience may make it hard to put him on the floor long. If he doesn't play "D," coach Danny Ainge will leave him on the bench.

Power forward
Gugliotta never really found his comfort zone with the Suns after joining the team 10 days before the season opener. He was asked to do things he had never done before, and he had trouble meshing with Kidd in the transition game.

Spending a month with his point guard over the summer on the U.S. Olympic team will help Gugliotta, but not as much as having Hardaway around as another scoring threat. Teams will have to pick their poison, a situation in which Gugliotta thrived alongside Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury in Minnesota for two years.

The Suns picked up Rogers, a 6-7, 255-pound banger, in hopes that he'd provide a post-up presence and an inside threat. But Rogers has to prove that last year -- when he arrived at camp with the Clippers woefully out of shape and disinterested -- was a fluke. If Rogers regains the form of his first few years in the league, the Suns are stacked here.

Center
Longley is never going to be a dominant center -- that much seems certain. But he came to camp in terrific shape, and if he can provide what the Suns counted on when they signed him -- interior defense and rebounding -- the organization will be happy.

Miller is the wild card. His shot-blocking skills and passing ability are tailor-made for this Suns team, but being able to put them to good use is contingent on Miller staying on the floor -- and away from the refrigerator. He says all that is behind him, but he's said that before.

Coaching
By his own admission, Ainge didn't do the best coaching job in the world last year. He stuck with Chapman too long, he misused Gugliotta and relied on Kidd too much late in games. He vows to be better. And if he's not, after all the money the Suns ponied up on players in the offseason, even Ainge's popular stature in the Valley won't be able to save him.