There have been 245 coaching changes in the NBA since Jerry Sloan became Utah’s coach in 1988.

Suns coach Alvin Gentry accounted for seven of them, four in being hired and three with firings. The Suns changed coaches nine times in that span.

And when the Suns become the first team in 23 years to play Utah without Sloan on the bench Friday, it will be with an ex-Suns player as their head coach. Tyrone Corbin, a finalist for the Suns head-coaching job when Terry Porter was hired, is taking over as Utah’s coach. The last time the Suns played Utah without Sloan as head coach (Nov. 19, 1988), Corbin played for Phoenix.

Corbin was Tom Chambers’ favorite NBA teammate.

“He was a guy who you wanted to hang out with and a guy who was selfless on the court,” Chambers said. “He was always telling me to push a guy right or left on defense because he couldn’t guard my guy both ways for me. He was a likeable, high-quality guy. The consummate professional.”

Gentry hates playing a team after a team meeting or some upheaval so Friday’s case is extreme.

“I don’t know what to expect,” Gentry said. “I don’t know if anybody knows what to expect. He’s been there through two buildings. Just not having him on the sideline is going to be very weird.”

Frye’s 40

Center Channing Frye had played at least 40 minutes in seven of the past 15 games entering Thursday. He had played 40 minutes in seven of his previous 115 games with Phoenix.

“Sometimes it’s because of his defense,” Gentry said. “I don’t think he gets nearly the credit he deserves. He does a good job, especially in our screen-and-roll defense of getting out and then recovering. Sometimes, he’s not shooting the ball well but he’s still in there for the purpose of playing against teams that run a lot of screen-and-roll.”

Frye also entered Thursday with his best three-game rebounding stretch (33 rebounds) in three seasons. He credited centers Marcin Gortat and Robin Lopez.

“The energy they bring motivates me to get down there,” Frye said.

Free throws

Guard Goran Dragic missed a fifth consecutive game for his cut toe Thursday and is doubtful for tonight’s game.

- Ex-Suns fan favorite Louis Amundson did not play in his first return to Phoenix for the third game against the Suns this season because of injuries. He has missed four consecutive games with back spasms and has played in 23 of 52 games this season.

OAKLAND – With less than two weeks until the NBA’s trade deadline, speculation turns rampant on possible deals from coast to coast.

The Suns already made their big trade. They still are settling into their Dec. 18 six-player deal with Orlando – making it less likely that any more shake-ups will come before the Feb. 24 deadline.

Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver and President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby have said they do not foresee trading point guard Steve Nash, who has reaffirmed a commitment and desire to stay with the Suns.

“We’ve already made one huge trade, and we’ve got to let that settle out before we do anything more, but we’ve always got our eyes and ears open,” Babby said. “We will do our due diligence.”

The Suns were 8-4 in their past 12 games entering Monday after going 4-12 in the previous 16 games.

“I think we’d like to play with the guys we have,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “Those guys have gotten settled in, but it’s still a process. When you don’t go through training camp, where you don’t have those six, eight practices where you get a handle on what’s going on, it’s going to be a huge adjustment, and there’s just not a lot of practice days in the NBA.”

Free throws

- Warriors forward Louis Amundson did not play against his former Suns team for the second time this season after leaving Phoenix as a free agent. Amundson had a reoccurrence of his preseason back-spasm problems after his best game of the season Jan. 30 vs. Utah in which he had 11 rebounds and four blocks. He has played only 23 of 50 games this season because of back problems, a broken finger and an ankle sprain.

- Before the unusual three-hour Suns practice Dec. 30 to simplify defensive schemes, the Suns had given up 110.0 points per game and 49 percent shooting in the first 30 games this season. In the 18 games since, entering Monday’s game, the Suns had given up 100.3 points per game and 44.3 percent shooting.

- Nash became the Suns’ all-time leader in 3-point attempts, passing Dan Majerle’s 2,200. Nash already holds the franchise marks for 3s made and 3-point percentage.

- Suns center Marcin Gortat entered Monday tied with Lakers forward Lamar Odom for the NBA lead in most double-doubles as a reserve (six). Gortat scored in double figures for a fifth consecutive game Friday for the first time in his career.

- Suns guard Vince Carter took a season-high seven free throws in Friday night’s game, all in the first half.

“That’s what we’ve got to have,” Gentry said. “We’ve got to find a way to generate some isolated situations where guys can drive and get us to the line or guys can drive and create situations.

“He’s got to be that guy for us. He really does. Everything we do at the end can’t be screen and roll. It just creates too much of a situation for Steve to try to make every single play. If they’re switching or trapping, he has to give the ball up, so we have to have guys that are capable of taking the ball and making plays.”

OAKLAND – With less than two weeks until the NBA’s trade deadline, speculation turns rampant on possible deals from coast to coast.

The Suns already made their big trade. They still are settling into their Dec. 18 six-player deal with Orlando – making it less likely that any more shake-ups will come before the Feb. 24 deadline.

Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver and President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby have said they do not foresee trading point guard Steve Nash, who has reaffirmed a commitment and desire to stay with the Suns.

“We’ve already made one huge trade, and we’ve got to let that settle out before we do anything more, but we’ve always got our eyes and ears open,” Babby said. “We will do our due diligence.”

The Suns were 8-4 in their past 12 games entering Monday after going 4-12 in the previous 16 games.

“I think we’d like to play with the guys we have,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “Those guys have gotten settled in, but it’s still a process. When you don’t go through training camp, where you don’t have those six, eight practices where you get a handle on what’s going on, it’s going to be a huge adjustment, and there’s just not a lot of practice days in the NBA.”

Free throws

- Warriors forward Louis Amundson did not play against his former Suns team for the second time this season after leaving Phoenix as a free agent. Amundson had a reoccurrence of his preseason back-spasm problems after his best game of the season Jan. 30 vs. Utah in which he had 11 rebounds and four blocks. He has played only 23 of 50 games this season because of back problems, a broken finger and an ankle sprain.

- Before the unusual three-hour Suns practice Dec. 30 to simplify defensive schemes, the Suns had given up 110.0 points per game and 49 percent shooting in the first 30 games this season. In the 18 games since, entering Monday’s game, the Suns had given up 100.3 points per game and 44.3 percent shooting.

- Nash became the Suns’ all-time leader in 3-point attempts, passing Dan Majerle’s 2,200. Nash already holds the franchise marks for 3s made and 3-point percentage.

- Suns center Marcin Gortat entered Monday tied with Lakers forward Lamar Odom for the NBA lead in most double-doubles as a reserve (six). Gortat scored in double figures for a fifth consecutive game Friday for the first time in his career.

- Suns guard Vince Carter took a season-high seven free throws in Friday night’s game, all in the first half.

“That’s what we’ve got to have,” Gentry said. “We’ve got to find a way to generate some isolated situations where guys can drive and get us to the line or guys can drive and create situations.

“He’s got to be that guy for us. He really does. Everything we do at the end can’t be screen and roll. It just creates too much of a situation for Steve to try to make every single play. If they’re switching or trapping, he has to give the ball up, so we have to have guys that are capable of taking the ball and making plays.”

OAKLAND – With less than two weeks until the NBA’s trade deadline, speculation turns rampant on possible deals from coast to coast.

The Suns already made their big trade. They still are settling into their Dec. 18 six-player deal with Orlando – making it less likely that any more shake-ups will come before the Feb. 24 deadline.

Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver and President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby have said they do not foresee trading point guard Steve Nash, who has reaffirmed a commitment and desire to stay with the Suns.

“We’ve already made one huge trade, and we’ve got to let that settle out before we do anything more, but we’ve always got our eyes and ears open,” Babby said. “We will do our due diligence.”

The Suns were 8-4 in their past 12 games entering Monday after going 4-12 in the previous 16 games.

“I think we’d like to play with the guys we have,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “Those guys have gotten settled in, but it’s still a process. When you don’t go through training camp, where you don’t have those six, eight practices where you get a handle on what’s going on, it’s going to be a huge adjustment, and there’s just not a lot of practice days in the NBA.”

Free throws

- Warriors forward Louis Amundson did not play against his former Suns team for the second time this season after leaving Phoenix as a free agent. Amundson had a reoccurrence of his preseason back-spasm problems after his best game of the season Jan. 30 vs. Utah in which he had 11 rebounds and four blocks. He has played only 23 of 50 games this season because of back problems, a broken finger and an ankle sprain.

- Before the unusual three-hour Suns practice Dec. 30 to simplify defensive schemes, the Suns had given up 110.0 points per game and 49 percent shooting in the first 30 games this season. In the 18 games since, entering Monday’s game, the Suns had given up 100.3 points per game and 44.3 percent shooting.

- Nash became the Suns’ all-time leader in 3-point attempts, passing Dan Majerle’s 2,200. Nash already holds the franchise marks for 3s made and 3-point percentage.

- Suns center Marcin Gortat entered Monday tied with Lakers forward Lamar Odom for the NBA lead in most double-doubles as a reserve (six). Gortat scored in double figures for a fifth consecutive game Friday for the first time in his career.

- Suns guard Vince Carter took a season-high seven free throws in Friday night’s game, all in the first half.

“That’s what we’ve got to have,” Gentry said. “We’ve got to find a way to generate some isolated situations where guys can drive and get us to the line or guys can drive and create situations.

“He’s got to be that guy for us. He really does. Everything we do at the end can’t be screen and roll. It just creates too much of a situation for Steve to try to make every single play. If they’re switching or trapping, he has to give the ball up, so we have to have guys that are capable of taking the ball and making plays.”

Phoenix Suns update:

A few orange slices to munch on during while you endure having a losing team for a fourth off-day …

* Today’s practice, the Suns’ third consecutive one, will be enough for Suns coach Alvin Gentry and the staff to make a decision about whether to play and start Robin Lopez for the first time since his Nov. 14 knee injury.

In his first two full practice days back, Lopez has looked better than expected with Gentry noting some extra bounce to Lopez’s step. That seems to be the result of Lopez getting strength back in his right leg, which had a pinched nerve from his bulging disk in the spring.

Lopez and center Earl Barron have shared time at first-team center during practices. Gentry said it would be easy to limit Lopez’s time at starting center if conditioning is still an issue for Lopez, which usually is among the last rehab hurdles with timing and confidence.

Lopez only played 17.8 minutes per game in his first nine starts before the injury. That is not far removed from what Barron usually has played, although he was down to 13 minutes in Friday’s game when he missed all four shots, made two turnovers, grabbed two rebounds and committed four fouls in 13 minutes. The Suns were outscored by nine in Barron’s court time Friday but he is the only Sun without a negative plus-minus rating for the season besides Steve Nash, Channing Frye and  … wait for it … Earl Clark. The Nash difference is ridiculous — plus-91 with him in 711 minutes and minus-123 without him in 418 minutes.

* That center decision also ties into more rotation questions as the staff continues to wrestle with how to make the wing-heavy rotation work 23 games into the season. Gentry has said that he is trying to play too many people. It worked with 10 last season but each player had a clear role and a clear backup and it was easy to feed other players more minutes and sit Louis Amundson or Leandro Barbosa for minor minutes in some games.

If Gentry is headed to a nine-man rotation with Lopez coming back, it seems Barron and someone else is going to fall out of the mix. For the first time, Josh Childress did not play both halves of games twice last week. If starters Jason Richardson and Grant Hill are going to play at least 60 minutes between the two of them and Hedo Turkoglu needs to be at the three more, then it becomes hard to split the rest of the time without one player falling out. If that person is Childress, that is a tough break considering he has to audition by playing with a finger splint on his shooting hand.

Turkoglu had an extensive post-practice chat Monday with Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby, his former agent.

* Part of this puzzle is getting Goran Dragic going and Gentry is hoping that it will help to give him some time with the starters, who spread the floor better and don’t wind up in the wrong spots on sets as often as his reserve running mates have. Dragic has the worst plus-minus on the team with the Suns getting outscored by .28 points per minute that he is playing.

* At the risk of making too much of false rumors, the Kings aren’t interested in giving Jason Thompson to the Suns to fix what they need in their own division and the Pacers are not interested in sending Solomon Jones to Phoenix for Earl Clark.

Philadelphia’s Marreese Speights, recently out of the rotation there, seems like he would be an interesting inquiry, just based on how he has played against the Suns alone. In three games with 24 to 30 minutes against Phoenix, Speights averaged 18.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. Yes, it was against Amar’e Stoudemire. And, yes, there are reasons for Doug Collins not playing Speights now. But it’s not like a Stoudemire is out there available for acquisition.

* Suns second-round pick Gani Lawal has played nine games for D-League affiliate Iowa. In a bench role of 21.2 minutes per game, Lawal is averaging 11.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 0.9 blocks. He is making 47.8 percent of his shots from the field and getting to the line, scoring eight of his 10 points there Sunday. Mercury coach Corey Gaines initially joined Lawal on his assignment but has returned to helping at Suns practices.

Tweetin’ at www.twitter.com/paulcoro