Something is missing.

For the Suns to tumble this far, to have become a bottom-tier offense, it is no longer just the 2010 departure of Amar’e Stoudemire. The Suns could not maintain winning without Stoudemire but they did maintain a high-scoring offense, ranking fourth in the NBA even after Jason Richardson was traded 25 games into last season.

The missing element is the Suns’ transition 3-point shots.

The transition and the 3s.

The Suns have lacked the pace they have pushed for seven seasons and they have lacked the league-leading accuracy they had on 3s for five of those years.

The Suns are taking nearly as many 3-point attempts this season but are not getting the transition 3s they like to take when they catch defenses scrambling to retreat, undermanned and unbalanced.

“The tempo has to change,” said Suns coach Alvin Gentry, whose team is averaging about four fewer possessions per game compared with last season. “We haven’t got as many transition 3s as I’d like. We’ve got to get that back. That’s where JD (Jared Dudley) has been really good and that’s where Grant (Hill) has been good shooting the corner one. We’ve got to get teams on their heels. Our defense has improved to where we’re top 10. If we’re rebounding the ball, there should be opportunities to run.”

The Suns shot 37.7 percent from 3-point range last season to rank fourth in the NBA and that was their worst clip in seven years. The Suns are shooting 32.6 percent this season to rank 17th. Without Stoudemire’s slams, the Suns still devastated teams at times with runs of hot 3-point shooting that came like a flurry of punches when they ran.

“I prefer transition 3s,” Dudley said. “I love them. There is more flow. In basketball, the right 3 at the right time is all about the basketball gods. For this team, the transition 3, when you have numbers and kick it out, is the perfect shot. There’s nothing better except maybe pick-and-roll and swing-swing (passes).”

Dudley prefers to run to the right wing spot for his fast-break 3s. If he is in the corner, he finds that the defender has a better chance of recovering with the length of the pass. But when Nash is driving, or when Hill is out in front on the break to draw defenders to the paint, Dudley can get off a clean look on a wing 3.

“When Nash throws it to you above that 3-point line, it’s time for you to shoot or I have an advantage that someone is closing out so hard that I can go by them,” Dudley said. “In transition, I don’t even look at the defender. I’m looking at the rim. I look at spacing to see who’s on the court and I’ll know at half-court whether I’m going to get the 3.”

Suns power forwards Channing Frye and Markieff Morris get transition 3s as well but they are more apt to get them as trailing big men in the secondary break.

“When Steve is attacking and Marcin (Gortat) is rolling hard, I’ve got to make that guy play me tighter,” Frye said. “It’s going to give Marcin and the other big guys that extra 3 or 4 feet. It’s a unique skill we have to shoot off the break but it just spreads the floor out more so now it’s harder for guys to rotate. Now toward the end of a game, it gets more tiring.”

The Suns added another potential weapon to recapture their transition 3-point game: Michael Redd. Much of the delay for Redd’s debut had to do with conditioning because he needs to be able to shoot on the run to fit the Suns’ style.

“You’ve just got to run and spot up, which I’m accustomed to anyway,” Redd said. “The transition 3 is part of my game. It’s just about finding the open space.”

Dudley sprints to his area, eases up on his final two steps and hits with his left foot first before planting with the right foot to shoot. Frye had been a two-count shooter, stepping into his shot, the past few years but has changed to a one-count shot, moving legs and arms together, for better balance after finding that he was leaning on shots earlier this season. It is not all new to Frye, who was taught to shoot on one count by Lute Olson at Arizona.

“Now my legs are a lot more under me,” Frye said. “The strength is there. I learned a lot from Steve (Nash) to use my butt more instead of my arms. You allow your legs to create momentum.”

There still will not be any transition 3s without a transition.

The Suns’ rebounding problems have affected that but it’s not a new shortcoming. The Suns still found ways to rank in the top five for possessions per game for six consecutive years until last season, when they were still seventh, according to basketball-reference.com. This season, they rank 22nd for pace.

“You’ve got to have someone like Grant Hill, Shawn Marion or Amar’e Stoudemire who runs the breaks so hard that the wing gets left open,” Dudley said. “It’s kind of like when we’re playing the Clippers. Blake Griffin is running so hard. I’ve got to get back. I can’t worry about Caron Butler. I’m in the lane and it’s a transition 3.”

GILBERT — Amare Stoudemire will opt out of the final year of his contract if he doesn’t re-sign with the Phoenix Suns before the deadline at the end of this month.

Stoudemire, speaking at his basketball camp Tuesday, said he deserves a maximum contract and would like it to be with Phoenix, where he has played since he was drafted out of high school in 2002. The All-Star power forward said there was “no chance” he would exercise the final year of his contract with the Suns, which would pay him about $17 million.

Phoenix could give him more than any other team — a six-year deal worth about $127 million.

“We’ve got the fans excited about basketball again,” Stoudemire said. “So what I don’t want is for me to have to leave and the fans are now not quite as excited about the game here. I want to keep the hype, want to keep the fans involved, want to keep everybody ecstatic about the Phoenix Suns.”

Stoudemire, who helped the Suns reach the Western Conference finals, can become a free agent on July 1 but indicated he would like to have things settled with the Suns before then.

Asked if he would be a Sun if he was offered a maximum deal, Stoudemire said, “There’s a very great chance of that.”

Stoudemire said his agent, Happy Waters, would meet soon with Suns owner Robert Sarver and general manager Steve Kerr.

“My agent is doing a good job of keeping the line of communication open with Steve Kerr and Robert,” Stoudemire said. “Those guys became great friends, so I’ll just sit back and let them handle it. Once it comes down to a bottom line, that’s when I step in.”

Sarver has said he doesn’t mind spending the cash as long as he gets his money’s worth. Whether that means a full deal for Stoudemire, perhaps a shorter-term contract or nothing at all remains to be seen.

“That meeting’s going to tell a lot,” Stoudemire said.

Kerr did not return a message on his cell phone.

Stoudemire averaged 23.1 points and 8.9 rebounds last season and was especially effective after the Suns decided against trading him at the All-Star break. He averaged 21.2 points in the playoffs but only 6.6 rebounds.

There is concern by some that Stoudemire eventually will need another operation on his left knee, after he missed virtually all the 2005-06 season following microfracture surgery. He also was sidelined the final months of the 2008-09 season after surgery for a detached retina.

Stoudemire, with career averages of 21.4 points and 8.9 rebounds, cited the success the team has had in his eight seasons there.

“The most important factor of playing for an organization is to be able to be totally comfortable and give them 100 percent,” he said. “That’s what I’ve done my whole career, so it’s only right to look for a maximum contract. From the time that I was here we’ve done great. We’ve done great in the community, three Western Conference finals, we’ve been in the playoffs and won 60 games or so in several years.”

Stoudemire was confident there would be plenty of interest should be become a free agent. He mentioned the near-trade as evidence.

“Now there’s a chance to get me without giving up players,” he said. “I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a recruiting frenzy, but again it could not get to that point. You never know.”

The Suns do not have a representative on the All-NBA teams for the first time since 2004 and only the fifth time since the league began honoring a third team in 1989.

Guard Steve Nash was the only Suns player to receive votes but his 17 voting points (no first-team votes) were not close to the 106 points that San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili accrued to claim the final third-team guard spot. In fact, Nash finished 10th in All-NBA voting among guards behind Derrick Rose (593), Kobe Bryant (551), Dwayne Wade (392), Russell Westbrook (184), Chris Paul (157), Ginobili, Rajon Rondo (68), Tony Parker (27) and Deron Williams (19).

That is what a Suns record of 40-42 will do for you. Just ask Andre Miller or Mark Jackson. They are the only other NBA assist champions to be left off the All-NBA teams since the third team was added in 1989. Miller led the NBA in assists in 2001-02 for 29-53 Cleveland, and Jackson did it in 1996-97 when he split the season between 21-61 Denver and 39-43 Indiana.

Nash led the NBA with 11.4 assists per game but Rondo and Williams finished second and third and also did not make the teams.

Former Suns star Amar’e Stoudemire was a second-team All-NBA selection as a center. It is Stoudemire’s fifth career All-NBA honor, including three second-team selections and one first-team honor with the Suns. Each time, he has been classified as a center.

Rose, the league MVP, and Heat forward LeBron James headlined the first team. James was the only unanimous selection, receiving all 119 first-place votes. Also named to the first team were Bryant, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Magic center Dwight Howard.

Joining Stoudemire on the second team are Wade, Westbrook, Lakers forward Pau Gasol and Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki.

The third team consists of Ginobili, Paul, Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph and the Hawks center Al Horford.

Steve Nash already had enjoyed his 37th birthday in Oakland on Monday – receiving a call from his twin 6-year-old daughters and even having some pizza slices – but spent much of the evening handing out presents in the Suns’ 104-92 victory over the Warriors.

Nash committed a turnover following his first assist, but then delivered 14 assists without a miscue. Twenty-something Nash never recorded a game of at least 15 assists with one turnover or none. Nash did it 12 times with Amar’e Stoudemire over the past six years.

This season, Nash has done it twice, helping to put his assist average at 11.1, which tops or ties his past three season averages.

“I don’t really feel any different,” said Nash, the NBA’s seventh-oldest player. “I think the numbers are basically the same. This year has been a trying year, too. In a lot of ways, this has been the hardest year. I think a lot of those things – All-Star, MVP – you’ve got to carry your team to a place. Our team has been so up and down that I don’t really even think about that stuff. I’m just trying to see if we can get it better.”

Barring a need for an injury replacement, Nash won’t be an All-Star this season. Trade speculation might have cut into his fun anyway.

Nash is trying to catch up on fun, something that was lacking after his team was turned upside-down. He has more new teammates than returning ones from last year’s conference-finals team. The Suns have won nine of their past 13 games and, with a win Thursday against Golden State, can reach .500 for the first time since Dec. 19.

“That’s definitely more enjoyable,” Nash said. “We’ve got an uphill climb. The first goal would be to get back to .500. The second goal would be to stay there. The third one would be to start creeping up with our winning percentage so that we can get in the playoffs. Now’s not the time for complacency.”

Nash is averaging 16.7 points and 11.1 assists, greater averages than the past two seasons, despite losing the team’s top two scorers, Stoudemire and Jason Richardson.

“I feel like that’s my job,” Nash said. “Come out, be aggressive, make plays for my teammates.

“It might not be the same way without Amar’e, but there is still a way to get it done, try to adjust and find ways to be effective, manipulate the defense, make them pay for however they want to play us.”

Nash said he takes in trade speculation for two seconds before moving on, especially after Suns management publicly stated an intent to keep him.

“I appreciate them being faithful to me and telling the press that they’re not going to trade me,” Nash said. “That’s probably kept the trade talk to a minimum. I don’t really even concentrate on that, regardless. I’m always going to concentrate on trying to rally the troops, be accountable every day, try to lead the team, be aggressive on the floor and make plays so we can win as many games and try to get back to the playoffs.

“I’m loyal to the Suns, the franchise, the fans. I was given a contract, and I want to honor it. That’s all I’m concerned with. When they tell me it’s time to go, it’s time to go. But until then, I’m just going to play my hardest and try to get better.”

The Suns have a three-headed monster at center but not the type that is going to stomp on arenas or devour post players.

It is a versatile monster, like a Transformer. Coach Alvin Gentry has traditional, physical centers in Robin Lopez and Marcin Gortat, who look and substitute like a tag team. When Gentry wants to play with more shooters, he moves Channing Frye and his returned shooting touch to center.

But they can be centers of attention for the wrong reasons – when they get hammered on the boards, allow baskets in the lane and fail to finish easy shots or pick-and-rolls with Steve Nash.

Gentry was not enraged by Amar’e Stoudemire’s season-high 41 points in Monday’s win at New York because it was by design to limit other Knicks, and only two of the forward’s 15 baskets were dunks.

When the Suns trailed 101-100 in the fourth quarter, what started the rally besides Nash’s return was Stoudemire missing inside on two possessions against Frye’s extended arms.

When the Suns were at their worst in the second quarter, New York scored twice on second chances and Gortat and Lopez each had a stretch of missed opportunities with both not being able to grab catchable Nash passes.

“We need to have that,” Gentry said of the centers’ scoring threat. “They did a better job of finishing than they had, so hopefully we’ll keep improving. That’s why it doesn’t bother me when I see Steve with four or five turnovers. It probably should be two or three. The other three are plays that should be made.”

If the hook shot he made twice early Monday becomes reliable, Lopez could post up as a scoring means to lessen the struggles with Nash out. Nash and Grant Hill played the same 37 minutes Monday, and the Suns outscored New York by 24 in them and got outscored by 16 in the 11 minutes they sat. Gentry closed with Hakim Warrick as a pick-and-roll threat, but Lopez showed he can finish with authority on occasion when he dunked on Wilson Chandler in the third quarter.

“Robin is getting some of his athleticism back,” Gentry said. “He’s been much more aggressive.”

Frye got fouled trying to dunk on Stoudemire and later dunked on a fast break. Gortat, like Lopez, has had trouble finishing shots at the rim. He had seven rebounds in 19 minutes Monday, but two were missed tip-ins.

“My mind has to be set up different than I’m used to,” Gortat said. “I made those adjustments a couple games ago. I’m trying to be more aggressive and use my chances. I’m still focused on playing defense. The biggest factor for me is getting rebounds. I’m 100 percent sure it’ll come back and I’ll rebound the way I used to – one every three minutes.”

CBSSports.com wire reports
Jan. 17, 2011

NEW YORK — The Suns sure look different from the team that went down without a fight in Amar’e Stoudemire’s return to Phoenix.

They’re scoring again like the old Suns teams did — and that’s what it took to win in Stoudemire’s highest-scoring game since departing the desert.

Vince Carter scored 29 points, including the 20,000th of his career, and Phoenix ran past the New York Knicks 129-121 on Monday to match a season high with its third straight victory.

“I know that thing about defense wins championships, but I still haven’t seen a team yet win a game 0-0,” coach Alvin Gentry said. “You’ve got to be able to make shots and put it in the basket. That’s the only way you’re going to beat a team that’s geared up to score.”

Grant Hill added 25 points for Phoenix, which overcame a season-high 41 points from Stoudemire and handed the Knicks their third loss in a row. Steve Nash finished with 15 points and 11 assists in a good start to a five-game Eastern trip for the Suns.

The Suns also held Stoudemire scoreless for the first eight minutes of the final period after he had 33 points through three, giving them just enough defense in a matchup that not surprisingly was otherwise all about offense.

Former Knicks forward Channing Frye scored 18 points. It was the Suns’ third consecutive high-scoring performance after a four-game stretch in which they were held below 100, the first time that had happened since December 2005.

One of those came 10 days ago during a 121-96 loss in Stoudemire’s return to Phoenix. But the Suns got revenge against him and former coach Mike D’Antoni and have scored at least 115 points in every game during their winning streak.

“I don’t like to think of things in terms of retribution and payback, but it didn’t feel good to get smashed at home, so it was a rewarding win today,” Nash said.

Carter, who became the eighth active player to reach 20,000 points, also added 12 rebounds. That Jan. 7 blowout loss was only his fifth game with the Suns after his acquisition from Orlando.

“They beat us pretty good last time and it was still my first couple of games there, so I just felt like I could have given this team more,” Carter said. “Now that I feel more comfortable, I see where I can get my shots or just make plays for the team.”

Wilson Chandler scored 23 points for the Knicks, and Raymond Felton had 13 assists but another poor shooting night, going 3 for 13 for seven points. The Knicks fell to 22-18 after a game that D’Antoni said “definitely should be a wake-up call.”

“We know that four games over .500 is unacceptable,” Stoudemire said. “We had a chance to really take advantage of our situation and we didn’t. So now we have to fight to get back to where we rightfully belong.”

Danilo Gallinari scored 17 points in his return to the lineup after missing six games with a sprained left knee, but the Knicks were without big man Ronny Turiaf because of a bruised right hip.

Stoudemire left Phoenix for New York in the summer when the Suns wouldn’t fully guarantee him a maximum contract over concerns about the long-term condition of his knees. He scored at least 20 points for the 25th consecutive game and moved ahead of Bernard King for the third-longest streak in franchise history, four shy of Richie Guerin’s record set in 1962.

He also picked up his 12th technical after he bumped Frye in the first half and is now four away from an automatic one-game suspension.

“I think he’s fine. I’ve been around Amare a long time. He can control it and hopefully he will,” D’Antoni said. “I think we’ll attack some problems before we attack that. We’ve got some problems.”

Hakim Warrick, essentially Stoudemire’s replacement, scored six straight for Phoenix before Gallinari’s 3-pointer tied it at 106 with 5:29 left.

Nash answered with a 3, Carter scored five straight for Phoenix, and Frye capped a 13-4 surge with another 3-pointer that gave the Suns a 119-110 lead with 2:39 remaining. The Suns stayed ahead with their excellent foul shooting, finishing 28 of 31.

Notes

• Knicks president Donnie Walsh believes he could acquire at least one first-round pick if needed. The Knicks have long been considered to be running behind the Nets in the Carmelo Anthony chase, in part because they have no pick to include in a trade with Denver. “I could probably get more than one, but I’m not going to say how many,” Walsh said before the game. “But I’m confident I can get a first-round pick.”
• Suns coach Alvin Gentry was impressed with New York Jets coach Rex Ryan last week and imitated Ryan’s news conference in which he said the matchup with the Patriots came down to himself against New England coach Bill Belichick. “It’s personal, it’s me and Mike, OK,” Gentry joked of the matchup with Mike D’Antoni, his former boss. “It just comes down to me and Mike, that’s it. It doesn’t have anything to do with the players, anything. It’s me and Mike. I’ve got to be a better coach than Mike today, OK?”
• Speaking of football, wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Terrell Owens were sitting in the same row across from the Phoenix bench.