Suns still a work in progress

For those who followed training camp and two public scrimmages, the first preseason look at Planet Orange’s brave new world didn’t provide a lot of surprises.

But for those who last saw the Suns last April, Phoenix looked like a team under construction and not quite ready for public consumption in a 100-96 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

“We’re just pouring the concrete,” guard Steve Nash said.

And just like any cement project, the Suns had their smooth spots — but also showed some unsightly cracks.

Playing without two of their most potent offensive components in Amaré Stoudemire (eye) and Leandro Barbosa (family illness), the Suns went a nine-minute stretch of the first and second quarters without any of their top seven players on the floor and expanded a four-point lead to seven.

With nine minutes left in the first half, the Suns had just 25 points — but they led the Hawks by nine. And the crowd, which was fairly large for early October, didn’t seem to mind as long as the locals were ahead.

Alando Tucker (14 points) and energy player Louis Amundson (12) took advantage of the extra playing time and helped the Suns enjoy a 24-3 bench-scoring edge over Atlanta.

But then came the third quarter, when the defense imploded and Atlanta put up 36 points. And with the Suns starters watching the fourth quarter, the reserves didn’t have that second wind offensively.

“We showed some good signs early, but as the game wore on, we didn’t sustain it,” said coach Terry Porter, who spent a lot of game observing from his seat. “I thought when we had a chance to set our defense, it was pretty good for the most part. But overall for the first game, I was pretty pleased.”

The Suns got an impressive economical 21 points (on 9-for-14 shooting) and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes from Shaquille O’Neal. The Hawks didn’t have a post player to deal with O’Neal, and Porter’s offense leaves him in a much more comfortable position in the low post, where he can shoot or dish after drawing defenders to him.

“I can do what I do and get everyone else involved. That’s how games are won,” O’Neal said. “If they don’t double me, I go to work. If they do, a lot of guys will be open and I have a lot of shooters around me.

But things didn’t go as well for his backup. Rookie Robin Lopez played just 17 minutes and fouled out in the final seconds of the third quarter, costing him a chance to play quality minutes down the stretch.

“It was definitely good to get the first game out of the way,” Lopez said. “There were some offensive plays where I guess I didn’t know what I was doing, but you have to learn from that.”

The same can be said for rookie guard Goran Dragic, who contributed five points and three assists but struggled on both ends in the fourth quarter. He had trouble containing second-year Hawk Acie Law, and didn’t direct traffic well when the Suns had chances to rally down the stretch.

“On defense, he might have reacted too quickly and got up in bad positions,” Porter said. “It’s a learning process. But I thought he ran the team well and did some good things in traffic.”

After drilling over and over on defense and a set offense, the Suns actually looked more uncomfortable when running situations presented themselves. On the final possession of the first half, Grant Hill was so surprised to get the ball on the break that he missed the easy basket.

“It was almost like ‘Are we allowed to do this, dad?’ ” Nash said. “We’re learning. We’ve stressed the slow-down, half-court stuff because it’s been a weakness for us. To try to get back to what we’re good at and find that balance … it’s going to take some time.”

BONUS SHOTS: Porter said Stoudemire was able to take part in all facets of the shootaround on Wednesday and reported no problems with his new goggles. The Suns have games today and Saturday and won’t practice on Friday or Sunday, so he won’t get his first full-contract practice until Monday. The Suns want him to get one or two weeks of conditioning under his belt, meaning his first preseason appearance likely won’t come until at least Oct. 20, when Charlotte visits US Airways Center. …

Barbosa remains in Brazil at the side of his mother, who remains gravely ill. The Suns have communicated with him only through text messages (because of poor phone connections) and his return remains open-ended. Porter said he was going to send Barbosa a video version of the playbook so he could do some studying during his vigil. …

The Suns waived forward Coleman Collins after the game. Collins played nine minutes, missed both of his shots from the field and grabbed three rebounds.

Suns at Jazz
When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Energy Solutions Arena, Salt Lake City
Radio: KTAR (620 AM)
TV: None