Suns Make an Impression

The race in the Pacific Division, and maybe even the Western Conference, has tightened up. The Lakers saw that for themselves Friday night as the first opponent for the Phoenix Suns, a pest-like problem last season with the four-guard alignment but now able to offer an inside presence with the acquisition of power forward Antonio McDyess.

Of course, these are the same Suns who might end up using Tom Chambers and Horacio Llamas off the bench at center behind John Williams. But Laker Coach Del Harris came away impressed after Phoenix’s two-point victory at America West Arena, signaling more company for his team in a conference that was crowded enough already.

“They had a good team at the end of last season, obviously,” Harris said. “Their record spoke for itself as they developed into a playoff team. Then when they added a McDyess, and Cliff Robinson, that really upgraded their team. They’re going to be a factor out here in the West.”

Enough of one to challenge the Lakers, Jazz, Rockets, SuperSonics and (presumably) Spurs among the elite?

“Hard to say,” Harris said. “There’s certainly going to be nights when they can beat any of those teams. Then you have to see whether they’d be capable in a seven-game series. That’s the next step. But they have such scoring power and overall know-how. They’re a very smart team.

“As far as the middle is concerned, they’ve got Hot Rod Williams, Mark Bryant and McDyess and Danny Manning--people forget how big he is because he moves so well--and Loren Meyer when he comes back [from a back injury].”

The Lakers will also get an in-person preseason look at the defending Pacific champions, the SuperSonics, during exhibition play, watching them or facing them Oct. 24 or 25 during the four-team tournament at the Forum. For now, though, Harris is convinced the swap of newcomer Vin Baker for Shawn Kemp at power forward will do no harm to Seattle.

“Unfortunately, I don’t see any drop off,” he said. “I sure wish I did.

“Vin Baker is a little bit better all-around player than Shawn Kemp, in terms of total basketball skills and contributions. But when Shawn is at his best, he’s a little better than Vin. He’s a little bit tougher. But on a graph, Vin Baker is a much more steady contributor. Shawn has a lot of downs with his ups.

“I think a lot of people out West were not familiar with Vin Baker because he played in Milwaukee and played on a bad team, but they soon will be. He brings tremendous attitudinal lift on that team, and that’s got to count for something.”