Suns notebook: Stop, in the name of ... defense

TUCSON - When they finally scrimmaged during the last 15 minutes of practice Thursday, the Suns played a friendly game up to five.

Not five points. Five defensive stops.

"If we got five stops in a practice last year, we'd stop and go home," one Suns official quipped.

Not anymore. If you don't get stops under coach Terry Porter, you run. If you don't switch or help or get back, teammates will grumble because they're going to have to run again. Thursday morning, the Suns had a one-hour film session - and hardly mentioned offense.

After three days of camp, the catchword is fatigue. The energy level remained high but the players are tired and sore and ice and cold tubs are welcome friends.

"You are always tired after three days of camp. You're supposed to be," Suns forward Boris Diaw said. "But this year is different."

Shaquille O'Neal was delighted when he came to Phoenix, because he had heard tales of Mike D'Antoni's short practices and emphasis on scrimmaging. But the game has quickly changed. When asked what the difference was between practice under Pat Riley in Miami and Porter practices, Shaq exhaled and answered "30 minutes."

Today's 5 p.m. public scrimmage at McKale Center promises to be different than the scoring free-for-alls of the past.

"If we look like we're on our way to (scoring) 120 points, I'll stop it," Porter said. "It's important that we start to establish our style and identity. That's not our identity."

STOUDEMIRE OUT AGAIN

One thing won't change during tonight's scrimmage: Amaré Stoudemire won't be playing. Stoudemire, who missed all of camp in 2005 and 2007 because of knee injuries, is out until at least early next week after a Diaw finger to his right eye Wednesday night caused a partial tear in his iris.

Stoudemire, who had just returned to practice full time after suffering an ankle sprain two weeks ago, saw team ophthalmologist Jay Schwartz in Phoenix Thursday, and was driven to another doctor by owner Robert Sarver upon his return to Tucson.

He will miss at least a couple of days.

"When I looked at it on tape it looked like just a glancing blow, but he really got a finger in there good. It looked pretty bad when I saw him in the morning," Porter said.

General manager Steve Kerr said there was no damage to either the cornea or the retina, which would have been much more serious. Stoudemire still had blurred vision as of Thursday but that is expected to subside.

Trainer Aaron Nelson said Stoudemire had already spoken with him about wearing goggles due to previous similar incidents.

He will likely be wearing them upon his return.

BONUS SHOTS

There was no update on guard Leandro Barbosa's status. Barbosa flew home to Brazil earlier this week to be with his ailing mother. The Suns do not expect him back before next week, at the earliest. ...

Porter said the scrimmage will consist of four shorter-than-normal quarters. He said he will mix up the lineups to start the game and might have players switch jerseys during the game if there is a need to balance lineups. ...

The Suns finish their practice by shooting free throws one at a time. If you miss, the team runs. The team made 10 out of 13 Thursday, as Steve Nash (career 90 percent from the line) and Grant Hill (87 percent last year) both missed for the second straight night.