by Paul Coro - Oct. 23, 2008 12:36 PM
The Arizona Republic When the Suns recruited Matt Barnes as a free agent in July, they talked to him about the possibility of starting - and Barnes received a recruiting call from Phoenix's resident starting small forward, Grant Hill.
It wasn't about the starting role for Barnes, but the pitch was enough for him to know he would get significant minutes. He got all of that today with Suns coach Terry Porter naming Barnes as the starting small forward in a move designed to manage Hill's minutes and help the young reserves.
"Grant brings a lot to that second unit with a lot of stability as a veteran with possibly two rookies on that second unit," said Porter, who will start Steve Nash, Raja Bell, Barnes, Amaré Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal for the first time in tonight's preseason finale. "He can relieve some of the pressure that Goran (Dragic) may get at times and I like Grant to have the ball in his hands. That's one of his strong points - to make decisions and make plays." The Suns' brass wanted to reduce Hill's playing time to about 25 minutes per game, down from 31.7 last season. If Hill had started, the gaps he sat out would have been longer. On the flip side, Hill now has to get accustomed to a new warm-up routine and entering the game well after tip-off. Hill has come off the bench eight times in a 705-game career.
"I don't mind it at all," Hill said. "One of the things we talked about at training camp was our depth can be a weapon for us. You look at the Lakers and their second unit did wonders for them coming in a lot of times to extend the lead and provide a spark. We're going to need that.
"Hopefully, we can wear you out as a team and continue to hit you with talent and guys who can make plays."
Hill aims to be a game-changer like Leandro Barbosa or Manu Ginobili off the bench.
"I think it preserves Manu with the way he plays and he's usually at his best when it matters," Hill said.
Porter said he likes Barnes' ability to spread the floor offensively with his shooting range on the first unit while keeping a solid wing defender at the position.
"It didn't really matter to us," Barnes said. "We're probably going to both play about the same amount of time.
"Once my shots start falling, I can help stretch the floor. I can help Raja out there because this league is full of two and threes who are scorers. I'll just bring a lot of energy."
Barnes has started 64 times in 286 career games but 41 of those came in the past two seasons with Golden State. The Warriors were 12-6 in games Barnes started last season.
