Bordow: Suns hitching wagon to Shaq

Perhaps it was silly to ever think Shaquille O’Neal could be a complementary piece of the Suns’ offense.

He’s 7-foot-1 and 321 pounds. That’s a lot of man to hide.

Suns notebook: O’Neal climbing the charts

Sure enough, as the Suns begin to take shape under coach Terry Porter, O’Neal’s role has increased. In fact, it’s fair to say he now dictates what the Suns do offensively.

And I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

Phoenix is trying to run a hybrid offense: Pound it down low when O’Neal is on the court and active; run more when he’s on the bench.

In theory, the Suns should be able to find a happy balance.

In practice, it’s much more difficult.

Take Phoenix’s game against the Chicago Bulls last Friday. O’Neal sat out so he would be rested for the Milwaukee Bucks the following night.

The result: Phoenix scored a season-low 83 points and shot just 40.6 percent from the field.

On Wednesday, the Suns played at the Houston Rockets’ slower pace and were impotent offensively, losing 94-82. The loss confirmed what many felt: That the 6-2 start was more the result of a favorable schedule than a rising Phoenix.

“Our first eight games weren’t the toughest,” Raja Bell said. “We know that.”

It won’t get any easier for Phoenix, what with Detroit, Utah and the Lakers on the docket next week. Maybe then we’ll have a better answer to two important questions:

Given the fact the Suns expect O’Neal to play in 60 games or so — and that’s if he stays healthy — is it wise for him to be such an important part of the offense? And can Phoenix rediscover its running game on those nights when O’Neal rests?

“It’s tough to have him and not want to use him,” Bell said. “I think we all understand that. When he’s not out there, we’ll take those opportunities to push the tempo.

“I think you can do both. It was hard that night (the Bulls game), but it was the first night it happened. The more we get used to it, the better we’ll be.”

No Sun has been more frustrated with the changing gears of the Suns’ offense than Steve Nash. He’s always used his voice and status to keep the team honest, but his concern now seems different. He doesn’t know if Phoenix can be successful trying to play two different ways.

“When Shaq plays (well) it’s great,” Nash said. “We’re much more deliberate. I just hope we find the versatility and balance. When Shaquille isn’t on the floor, we’re not a team that’s built for half-court basketball.”

Porter wonders what the fuss is all about. The Suns were averaging 103.3 points per game before Wednesday’s loss to the Rockets. Plus, it’s not as if O’Neal was dumped into Phoenix’s lap this year.

“Sometimes we make too big a deal out of it,” said Porter, who appears to be growing tired of the constant questions about the offense’s makeover. “They played (28) games last year with him (O’Neal) and they still weren’t quite the up-tempo team they were previously.”

Then Porter made sure he got his point across.

“The days of us ever getting back to what we used to be are over,” he said. “This roster is not made up for it.”

The problem is, it’s apparent some of the Suns’ roster isn’t suited to a slower paced game. Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw, in particular, are out of their element. Then there’s Nash, who is marginalized in a half court attack. Simply put, he’s not Steve Nash anymore.

“Honestly, we are a running team. That’s what we’re built to do,” Bell said.

Perhaps Bell is right, and it’s only a matter of time before the Suns become a smooth-running hybrid. But in predicating their offense on O’Neal’s effectiveness — and availability — Phoenix is taking a big risk.

And that wasn’t the plan when O’Neal came on board.