Paul Coro

azcentral sports

FLAGSTAFF – Tyson Chandler is a proponent of drafting teenage big men – then and now.

Chandler was that teenager in 2001 when he was that draft’s No. 2 pick out of Compton (Calif.) Dominguez High School. But even with his 34th birthday coming Sunday signaling that his career hourglass is fuller on the bottom, the Suns' 16th-year center supported Phoenix landing teenage power forwards Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss on draft night in June.

“I thought it was good for the future to be quite honest,” Chandler said. “I thought that was where we lacked last year – at power forward. We’ve already got young guards with all the shooting in the world so we needed to build on that side of the ball.

“That’s what I came here for. That’s my job, to help hand the leadership off. It’s even that much more important for me to teach them how things are supposed to be done. I want to be part of this franchise getting back to the glory days. I feel like I’m definitely going to tap into it. I feel like we’ll be better than people expect. Just the competition. If we play like we’ve been playing out here, that’s good enough for me.”

RELATED: Suns install new offense to be more efficient

In his first Suns season since signing a four-year, $52 million contract, Chandler looked more like a former All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year once Earl Watson took over as interim head coach in February. Annually an elite rebounder and a selectively efficient scorer, Chandler went from averaging 5.9 points and 8.5 rebounds on 52.2 percent shooting in 23.5 minutes per game before the All-Star break to averaging 9.9 points and 9.3 rebounds with 66.9 percent shooting in 26.8 minutes per game after the break.

“Now coming in, everything is so structured,” Chandler said. “Guys knows what is expected of them. Earl is doing an excellent job of teaching guys on the perimeter and the wings defensively and that’s ultimately going to help my job. And on the other side, he’s a stickler about getting guys the ball in the right spot and where they’re comfortable. It makes my life real easy and that’s what happened in February and that’s what is going to continue to translate.”

Despite the Suns coming off a 23-59 season, Chandler said the playoffs are a realistic goal for this season if the team can have better health and be willing to make sacrifices.

“We’re going to compete,” Chandler said. “We’re going to go about this thing as a family. We’re going to stay together. We hit some rough patches last year when the foundation kind of broke. I think this team realistically is a playoff team. Some things have to happen in order for you to accomplish that goal and it’s tough with youth but it’s definitely something we can accomplish.”

MORE: Bledsoe slims down, stays strong

Scrimmage review

In Wednesday’s scrimmage portion of a three-hour practice, a team featuring Chandler, Devin Booker, Jared Dudley, Brandon Knight, T.J. Warren and Alan Williams was dominating to the point that Dudley asked if there was a mercy rule.

With the team leading 66-43, Watson wiped the score clean for one 12-minute scrimmage that gave P.J. Tucker the chance to help his adopted squad.

“They were getting their butts kicked there and I was on the bike,” said Tucker, who is in rehabilitating after back surgery. “I couldn’t wait to finish up so I can get up and start talking. They weren’t talking no defense. They started getting tired. They just needed that push.”

The squads ended up adding on a two-minute overtime in a guard-dominated battle but Eric Bledsoe and Tyler Ulis combined for 14 of the team’s 23 points to win with Tucker barking throughout it.

“P.J. never stops talking,” Watson said.

Knight nearly gave his team the win with a 3-pointer but Ulis drew a Williams foul on a drive to get to an abbreviated extra period, where rookie Dragan Bender started the winning team’s scoring with a driving baseline and-one dunk and Bledsoe followed with the decisive 3-pointer.

RELATED: Watson shows tough love, defense at camp

Rookie backpacks

The Suns veterans handed out cartoon backpacks that must be worn throughout camp and preseason by eight Suns camp players, the ones who are rookies or in their first NBA training camps. That means even Williams, who played 10 games last season, is getting the rookie treatment.

“We’ve got something coming up for the game Saturday,” Tucker said. “They just don’t know it yet. Halloween, that’s all I can tell you. You’ll see some funny stuff Saturday. That’s for sure.”

The backpack lineup: Williams and Derrick Jones Jr. ("Frozen"), Shaquille Harrison ("Elena of Avalor"), Derek Cooke Jr. (Disney princesses), Ulis ("Finding Dory"), Chriss (Tinkerbell), Bender (Mickey Mouse Tsum Tsum) and Gracin Bakumanya (Hello Kitty).

Yoga day

The Suns had a lighter, closed practice Thursday before an afternoon yoga session that continued their offseason tradition of doing yoga together weekly at a Phoenix studio.

“Being very mindful, mental toughness, just growing as people, growing as a spirit,” Watson said of the yoga’s purpose. “We want to grow into one team and do everything together and have experiences beyond basketball.”

MORE: Brandon Knight looks at his best

Free throws

* Watson on Booker initiating offense in training-camp play: “It’s just the flow of our offense, the way it happens. Passing, moving. Anyone can catch it at the top of the key and you have opportunities to create basketball plays.”

* Watson on the team’s conditioning: “Our players are in shape. We’re so far ahead conditioning-wise because we were together all summer.”

* The Suns will live-stream Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage and their three preseason home games (Oct. 3, 5 and 14) on suns.com and the Suns mobile app. Suns postgame host Jon Bloom, who also is the newly named play-by-play voice for D-League affiliate Northern Arizona, will handle the call with Suns radio analyst Tim Kempton. Those games also will be broadcast on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Reach Paul Coro atpaul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him atwww.twitter.com/paulcoro.

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