NEW YORK -- Here are five observations of the Phoenix Suns from a preseason game:

	Penny Hardaway's healthy knees will allow him to play like the old Penny.

1. The Suns are expecting big bounce-back seasons from two golden oldies, Penny Hardaway and Tom Gugliotta. Hardaway, twice a first-team All-NBA performer and a four-time All-Star, played at what he termed was only "50 percent" last season due to knee troubles and made only 41.8 percent of his shots, the second-worst field goal percentage of his career. Gugliotta, once a 20-point scorer in Minnesota, was limited to only 44 games because of knee injuries and a stress fracture in his foot. When he did play, he was distracted by a divorce. Both Hardway and Gugliotta are healthy, physically and mentally. "A big key to where we go is their progress," said Bryan Colangelo, the Suns' president and general manager.

2. Starting his first full season as Suns head coach, Frank Johnson has scrapped the pick-and-roll-oriented offense from the Scott Skiles days and installed a more wide-open motion offense. Without a low-post threat, the Suns hope to take advantage of the perimeter skills of Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson and rookie Amare Stoudemire. Look for Marbury to continue to be the one to take the big shots in crunch time.

3. Stoudemire, drafted ninth overall last June, certainly isn't lacking confidence as he makes the leap from high school to pros. The Orlando product didn't hesitate when asked what he thought his biggest strength would be in his rookie season. "My quickness," he said. "I'm 6-foot-10 and I've got the quickness to get out and cover 'threes' (small forwards). If they guard me with a 'three,' I'll just take them down into the post and post 'em up. But if a team guards me with a power forward, I'll just run him. I think I'll have the advantage both ways."

4. After making 13 straight playoff appearances, the Suns last spring were on the outside looking in. Their 36 wins marked their lowest total since 1987-88, when they last didn't make the postseason. "The top four teams in the West are set," said Suns president Bryan Colangelo, referring to the Lakers, Kings, Spurs and Mavericks. "But we think the next four spots are wide open, and we should be one of the teams going for one of those spots."

5. The Suns get a break with the schedule right away, playing 12 of their first 17 games at home. They don't have their first major road trip until the second week of December, when they play five games over seven days in Memphis, New Jersey, Boston, Philadelphia and Atlanta. That could be a big confidence-builder for a team that went only 13-28 on the road last season -- the Suns' worst road mark since 1987-88, when they lost 35 of 41 road games.

Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com.