If it makes Suns fans feel any better, the same number of “pundits” who chose the Diamondbacks to win the NL West Division title in 2011 is picking the Suns to capture the NBA Pacific Division championship in the abbreviated 2012 season.

---

The Republic‘s Suns predictions | NBA post-lockout story lines | Suns preseason

---

Which is to say, none of them.

OK, duplicating what the Diamondbacks pulled off is probably asking too much of the Suns this season for at least three reasons:

1. Kobe Bryant still is wearing a Lakers uniform, and that means something — divorce lawyers and torn ligaments not withstanding.

2. Someone, possibly Clippers fan Billy Crystal, apparently has kidnapped Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

3. Um, the Suns aren’t very good.

Yes, the Lakers figure to take a step back with the upheaval of the off-season, loss of Lamar Odom and the fact that center Andrew Bynum will miss the first four games while serving a suspension for trying to decapitate J.J. Barea during the 2011 playoffs.

And the Clippers, who already had Blake Griffin and Mo Williams, acquired point guard Chris Paul and swingman Caron Butler while matching an offer sheet for center DeAndre Jordan.

Those are the kind of players Clippers fans — some of whom jumped aboard the bandwagon about one week ago — expect Sterling to give away, not steal.

Meanwhile, the Suns seem satisfied to put a team on the court that is entertaining and able to contend for a playoff spot but not much more.

Still, barring injuries, we have a hard time believing that the Suns will sink to 14th in the Western Conference, where ESPN.com basketball expert John Hollinger rates the club.

An SI.com NBA writer named the Suns as his “flop team” for 2012 and an NBA guy on one sports blog site predicted the Suns would be the team with the worst record in the league this season.

Wow.

If Steve Nash and Grant Hill are around for all 66 games, a total collapse such as that seems unlikely.

Not that we’d expect the Suns to get defensive about the predictions.

Getting defensive has never really been their thing.

By the numbers

29 — Where the Suns ranked in the NBA during the 2010-11 season in scoring defense, when they surrendered an average of 105.9 points per game.

30 — Where the Suns ranked in the NBA after the two-game 2012 preseason, when they yielded 118.5 points a game to the Nuggets.

27.5 — The over-under on the number of victories web-based sports bookmaker Bovada.lv placed on the Suns for this season.

9 — The place in the Western Conference that Bovada predicts the Suns will finish in.

2 — Number of times the Suns have missed the playoffs during the last three seasons.

43 — Number of seasons the Suns have played, not counting this one.

29 — Number of playoff appearances in those 43 previous seasons.

0 — Number of championships Suns have won in those 43 previous seasons.

The X factor

Is Robin Lopez.

Has he really improved as much as advertised? Even as a backup to Marcin Gortat, Lopez can make a big difference in the team’s lackluster defense if he’s right physically and between the ears.

The Ex factor

Is Vince Carter. We liked Jared Dudley coming off the bench, but maybe not as much as we liked Carter on the bench.

Dude was painful to watch.

Anyway, whether it is Dudley or free-agent acquisition Shannon Brown in the starting five, the Suns have upgraded.

Suns make the playoffs if:

- Channing Frye stops looking over his shoulder at rookie Markieff Morris and begins looking at the rim.

- Gortat’s thumb heals quickly.

- Nash, who is approaching 38, and Hill who has reached 39, hold up over a frenetic, lockout-shortened schedule.

- The team finally has found its backup point guard in Ronnie Price.

- Josh Childress plays as big as his hair.

Suns miss the playoffs if:

- Nash is traded.

- It wasn’t just a bad dream and Amar’e Stoudemire really is in New York.

- Elston Turner is not a miracle worker.

- Jared Dudley doesn’t average 30 minutes a game.

- Authorities are unable to locate Frye’s missing 3-point shot.

Reach the Heat Index at 602-444-8271 or bob.young@arizonarepublic.com.

PHOENIX (AP)—The Phoenix Suns had nine players on the court when they
opened training camp on Saturday night, with the others expected to join the
team in the next day or two.

Grant Hill, free agent signee Sebastian Telfair and first-round draft pick
Markieff Morris were working out details in their contracts before joining the
workouts at Grand Canyon University.

Another free agent acquisition, Shannon Brown, has signed his deal and
practiced. Brown, who left the Los Angeles Lakers, says his ability fits well
into the Suns’ fast-paced system.

“It’s the up-and-down, the continuous basketball,” Brown said. “Coach
(Alvin) Gentry lets his guys play. He doesn’t focus on what you can’t do. He
tries to let you maximize what you can do out there on the court. That’s what
I’m here to do.”

Corey Gaines, coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, was pressed into service
so the team could run 5-on-5 drills.

Hill has agreed to a $6.5 million, one-year contract to return to the Suns
after being courted by the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.

While Gentry insisted he never seriously believed Hill would go elsewhere,
close friend and two-time league MVP Steve Nash felt otherwise.

“I think legitimately he was considering other places,” Nash said, “and
he had great opportunities elsewhere. So we should feel very fortunate to have
him back.”

Nash said Hill is an asset for more than his considerable ability on the
court.

“What he means to the team as far as his experience, intelligence and
unselfishness, what he means to our community,” Nash said. “I think he means
as much to the fans as he does to the point guard and as he does to the coaches.
He’s just one of those players that kind of separates himself from your everyday
NBA player.”

After just one practice, Channing Frye said the team chemistry is better
this year.

“I could tell right now just the flow of our offense,” he said, “that we
have a lot more athleticism and length.”

The Suns’ attempt to trade Mickael Pietrus for a draft pick fell through
when he flunked his physical with Toronto. His agent says he plans to return to
Phoenix.

Gentry is entering his third full season as Suns coach. The team, struggling
following the departure of Amare Stoudemire, failed to make the playoffs last
season after a surprise run to the Western Conference finals the previous year.

Gentry said he likes the changes the team has made after its personnel
shakeup in the midst of last season.

“Coming back now and knowing that this is going to be our team is a good
situation,” he said. “I think the guys are excited about it.”

Another free agent acquisition, Shannon Brown, has signed his deal and practiced. Brown, who left the Los Angeles Lakers, says his ability fits well into the Suns’ fast-paced system.

“It’s the up-and-down, the continuous basketball,” Brown said. “Coach (Alvin) Gentry lets his guys play. He doesn’t focus on what you can’t do. He tries to let you maximize what you can do out there on the court. That’s what I’m here to do.”

Corey Gaines, coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, was pressed into service so the team could run 5-on-5 drills.

Hill has agreed to a $6.5 million, one-year contract to return to the Suns after being courted by the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.

While Gentry insisted he never seriously believed Hill would go elsewhere, close friend and two-time league MVP Steve Nash felt otherwise.

“I think legitimately he was considering other places,” Nash said, “and he had great opportunities elsewhere. So we should feel very fortunate to have him back.”

Nash said Hill is an asset for more than his considerable ability on the court.

“What he means to the team as far as his experience, intelligence and unselfishness, what he means to our community,” Nash said. “I think he means as much to the fans as he does to the point guard and as he does to the coaches. He’s just one of those players that kind of separates himself from your everyday NBA player.”

After just one practice, Channing Frye said the team chemistry is better this year.

“I could tell right now just the flow of our offense,” he said, “that we have a lot more athleticism and length.”

The Suns’ attempt to trade Mickael Pietrus for a draft pick fell through when he flunked his physical with Toronto. His agent says he plans to return to Phoenix.

Gentry is entering his third full season as Suns coach. The team, struggling following the departure of Amare Stoudemire, failed to make the playoffs last season after a surprise run to the Western Conference finals the previous year.

Gentry said he likes the changes the team has made after its personnel shakeup in the midst of last season.

“Coming back now and knowing that this is going to be our team is a good situation,” he said. “I think the guys are excited about it.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Over the past few years we’ve watched the Phoenix Suns abandon their Seven Seconds or Less, run and gun style in favor of a more deliberate offense with various attempts at improving the defense and rebounding. In 2008-09 the Suns added an inside presence (Shaq) and went too far away from who they were. In 2009-10 they tacked back towards their offensive game (but not all the way back) and reached the Western Conference Finals.

The big difference between the Suns transition and what the Phoenix Mercury are trying to do in 2011 was a couple of coaching changes. When Terry Porter replaced Mike D’Antoni it was too much, too fast and the wrong guy piloting the change. It wasn’t until Alvin Gentry took over that a more orderly transition could begin.

The Mercury don’t have that issue. They still have Corey Gaines at the helm and he’s not ever going to completely abandon his style of play learned at the side of Paul Westhead. But there’s also no denying that this is a team trying to alter its identity.

“We’re trying to use our strength inside with Candice (Dupree) and Kara (Braxton) so we’re going to try and be a little more inside-out. But our weapons have always been getting out in transition and scoring that way,” Diana Taurasi said this week, playing the role of Steve Nash as the floor leader who loves to run but sees a need to change.

Gaines also has the added bonus of having a far more talented roster to work with relative to the rest of his league. Much of the Suns failures can be blamed on the front office not surrounding Nash with enough talent. The same can’t be said for the Mercury.

Mercury power forward Candice Parker led the WNBA in field goal percent and both rebounds extremely well and is fantastic finishing the pick and roll. Gaines has an inside force in Kara Braxton who looks mobile and motivated this season and two of the top wing players in the game in Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor. Both can shoot, score and handle the ball well enough to run initiate the offense from anywhere on the court.  Mix in third-year all purpose defender, DeWanna Bonner, point guard Temeka Johnson, and a deep bench and he’s got plenty enough talent to compete.

Any transition requires an adjustment period and that was obvious in the first game against Seattle when despite a long training camp the Mercury were completely out of their offensive flow for large stretches of the contest. Only Diana Taurasi’s ability to make brilliant individual plays kept it from being worse.

It will be interesting to watch the Mercury and see what lessons they’ve learned from the Suns as they move away from being a team that tries to run opponents off the court and win high-scoring contests to a team with a more balanced approach to the game.

The Mercury are back in action Friday night for the second game of their 34-game summer schedule against the Los Angels Sparks.