Here at Bright Side of the Sun we take the words TOTAL COVERAGE pretty dang seriously.

While our beloved Suns are off taking nice vacations, we are still slaving away, attempting to provide you all with first class Suns coverage.

So friends, without further adieu, we present you with the Phoenix Suns Season in Review, 2011-12.

Up for discussion today is Sebastian Telfair.

Let's get this out of the way - I'm giving Sebastian Telfair an A for his final season grade.

Now before you all jump on me in the comments about how ridiculous and out-of-touch I am - let me remind you of my logic. My grading criteria are based on expectations and season performance, plain and simple. Once again Sebastian Telfair is a player on this year's Phoenix Suns team who played above and beyond his expectations during the most critical times of the season. I'm pretty sure when you do that in school you get an A.

I'm not comparing Telfair to Steve Nash or LeBron James - I'm grading Bassy for who Bassy is. Now understanding that - bring the beef in the comments... my body is ready.

Now if you want to see how big trophies, Jay-Z, old poetry and the energizer bunny all relate to Telfair, take the jump and enjoy the ride.

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Here at Bright Side of the Sun we take the words TOTAL COVERAGE pretty dang seriously.

While our beloved Suns are off taking nice vacations, we are still slaving away, attempting to provide you all with first class Suns coverage.

So friends, without further adieu, we present you with the Phoenix SunsSeason in Review, 2011-12.

Up for discussion today is Michael Redd.

Man, Michael Redd. What an amazing story right? Let's be clear from the start, to give a fair evaluation we should first acknowledge what the expectations were. Jump it and I swear you'll get a gackle out of what was said when the Suns signed Redd late December. Jump it fools!

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So we were in the 8th seed, then we were out of the 8th seed and now we're right back in the 8th seed with a delicious win over the Los Angeles Clippers last night.

It's crazy - This is and will continue to be a wild finish so let's take a look at where we stand today after the jump!

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You know what time it is, time to get clickin'. Catch up on all your Suns-relevant news right here and feel free to leave a comment about anything.

The Suns Twitter-front has been pretty silent in the wake of last night's game, the only one to tweet has been Jared Dudley.

Chalk this loss up and throw it away.. Have to come back tomorrow night and beat the Clippers..We still hold our own destiny! #playoffrun

— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) April 19, 2012

Find the Links after the Jump!

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Is the title too corny? Anyways - Did you have time today to scour the vast wilderness of the internet to find the best Phoenix Suns-pertinent news? No? Oh well no worries - I got your back.

Jump for important stuff like what Channing Frye had for breakfast yesterday. What did you have for breakfast?

Matts big breakfast. So legit instagr.am/p/Jh5gvPrXdE/

— Channing Frye (@Channing_Frye) April 17, 2012

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Though this rosterbation may be a bit premature since the Phoenix Suns find themselves smack-dab in the middle of an intense run to claim a spot in the Playoffs, this post is deserving given Jamal Crawford's comments during the final quarter of last night's game against the Portland Trailblazers

Here's ALL that we know for sure (*remember that bold word), from Arizona Sports 620's Jon Bloom last nigh:

Jamal Crawford just told EJ on press row and Alvin Gentry on the sidelines that he "needs to be here in Phoenix" w/ Blazer teammates nearby

— Jon Bloom (@Azbloom) April 17, 2012

Let's get into this after the jump.

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And it wasn't even that close.

Well, who really expected the Suns to win this game? The Spurs are a very good team (and in my opinion the best team in the West) and perfectly primed to play their peak basketball right now at just the right time, exactly as commander Gregg Popovich planned. We weren't but six minutes into the first quarter and the Spurs, lead by a blazing hot Tim Duncan, jumped out to a 21-4 lead and Alvin Gentry elected to remove the entire starting lineup and put in the bench.

The deficit was just too much to surmount -- though the valiant substitutes led by Sebastian Telfair and Robin Lopez were able to rattle off a number of impressive runs. Bottom line is that our starting unit is not playing well. They have been struggling as of late and tonight -- the last game of a long road-tip, their weary legs and weathered emotions were evident from the start.

The big news of the game is that on a reverse layup attempt in the 1st Steve Nash (who was already in pain due to a bruised knee from the night before in Houston) tweaked his hip, an injury that has plagued the two-time MVP in the past and he wouldn't return after only 6 minutes of playing time. We worry about his health, but from the sounds of it, it appears to be minor and because of the large and early deficit Gentry elected to rest Nash on this 2nd night of a back to back. Grant Hill also sat the rest of the game after the 1st quarter.

Another note of worth -- tonight Suns TV Color Analyst Scott Williams announced at the end of the game that he is done broadcasting, that this was his last game and he is turning the reigns over to Eddie Johnson. Interesting.

We'll talk about playoff implications tomorrow. In the meantime ... they may have taken our pride this night on ESPN BUT the Spurs can't take this away from us.

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Yuck.

There is no official word yet but the indication is that Nash has tweaked a hip.

— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) April 15, 2012

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I do what I want. #gangsta instagr.am/p/JaPw35EahA/

— Josh Childress (@JChillin) April 14, 2012

There's more meaning in this tweet than I think JChill intended.

You know the Drill - ROLL CALL IN FULL EFFECT. BRING YOUR BIG-BOY PANTS!

Suns vs Spurs coverage

Suns vs Spurs preview

Pounding The Rock

Well - As you could probably tell from my tone in last night's post game coverage, I feel with the loss last night to the Grizzlies - the Suns have severely damaged their playoff hopes. They now sit two games outside of the playoff picture in the 10th spot in the Western Conference as Utah's win last night over Houston leap-frogs them over the Suns into the 9th position.

There are only 8 games left in the regular season and all of them against quality opponents. You be the judge... I won't lose all hope until they are statistically eliminated but the Suns face the most difficult schedule to finish out the season among WC playoff hopefuls. Add to that the recent struggles of the starting unit and I'm not sure they have enough left in the tank to make a miracle push.

Believe me. I hope I'm wrong. More after the jump.

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The preview read "It's the Final Countdown" - and indeed after tonight's loss and considering our very difficult schedule to finish out the season the light at the end of the "No Playoffs" tunnel begins to dim rapidly. The Memphis Grizzlies walloped the Suns to the tune of 104 - 93 and avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Suns.

Coming into this game I had two questions. 1) Can Jared Dudley guard Rudy Gay? Tonight we learned the answer is a resounding NO. My other question was whether or not Robin Lopez could quell the rumbling Zach Randolph of the bench and he coupled with Rookie Markieff Morris did a decent job on Z-Bo.

Unfortunately Marcin Gortat and Channing Frye could not get the job done tonight defensively. It wasn't just Zach Randolph, but Dante Cunningham and even the guards like Quincy Pondexter that repeatedly fought for offensive rebounds or shook their man to become available for a wide open looks under the rim. An extremely disappointing night for our starting bigs. Let's discuss a little more after the jump.

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Some Defense would be nice...

My friends - our battle is upon us. Prepare for war.

RT @ddockett: @JaredDudley619 I need yall to make the playoffs so I can come to the game! Let's go,! ( Let's get it !!)

— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) April 11, 2012

The #Suns face another hot team trying to climb the West standings in Memphis. Game-day Orange Slices: bit.ly/HBaNuu

— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) April 11, 2012

Tonight, with only nine games left to play in the irregular season, the Phoenix Suns take their road party to Memphis to face the Grizzlies for the final time. The first two matches were in Phoenix and closely contested - but in the end it was Phoenix that pulled out the victories.

Here is the scenario - the Memphis Grizzlies currently sit in 5th place in the Western Conference Playoff scheme and are looking to chase down the Los Angeles Clippers who they trail by only a 0.5 game for a coveted home-court advantage. They should be playing with a lot of determination tonight for that reason alone - but add to it the fact that they are 0-2 against the Suns and would make a bet that the Grizzlies will come out with some serious intensity tonight.

The Suns on the other hand - in theory - should be playing with more urgency given their current place in the playoff hunt, just one game out a spot altogether. Also of note is the reality that these are two of the hottest teams in the league right now since the All-Atar break and both are peaking at just the right time for a strong end-of-season/playoff push. This will be a difficult road game to win. This is the final countdown - nine games left on the schedule and the remaining games are no walk in the park (@Houston, @Spurs, Portland, OKC, LA. Clippers, Denver, @Utah and again against San Antonio to end the season). I believe the Suns can extend their current winning streak to three and they are going to have to win this game if they want to continue to fight for a playoff spot ... but there are a few things that concern me - more after the jump.

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A very slow Thursday for the Western Conference as only one playoff contending team took to the hardwood last night. It was the Los Angeles Clippers (33-22) and they cruised to an easy victory against the shuffling Sacramento Kings (19-36) 93-85.

With their win the Clips pick up a .5 game on the trailing Grizzlies and Mavericks to pad a 2 game lead on the race for home-court advantage in the West. The Suns are 4.5 games out of 4th... FYI.

Other than that it was a bunch of East teams including the Dwight Howard circus that played last night. For updated standings, awesome videos and irresistible links you better continue reading.

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Lights out for the Sacramento Kings (19-35) ... quite literally. Not two minutes into the game tonight a circuit of the arena lights flickered out and caused a brief stop in play as both coaches were consulted by the officials. The delay did not last more than a few moments but it was a literal foreshadowing of the outcome of this game as the Phoenix Suns (27-26) again sprung above .500 and came out the victors of this battle royal --- - ----.

The Suns came out very strong and focused defensively to at one point take a 17-point lead. But as the time remaining in the game digressed so did the focus of the Suns and the Kings ended the 1st half on a run to bring the lead down just eight points. The momentum for the Kings carried into the third and by the start of the 4th quarter the Kings had stormed back behind 39 points from DeMarcus Cousins, 25 from Isaiah Thomas and 16 from newly acquired Terrence Williams off the bench to take a one-point lead over the Suns after Chuck Hayes sunk two free throws.

But it would be the hot hand of Michael Redd who contributed with 16 of his own timely points off the bench and the will of Steve Nash (18-12) in the 4th quarter that would propel the Suns to regain and extend the lead to 12 at one point as the Suns hold on and turn the lights off on the Kings.

The Suns picked up a half game on the Jazz and the Rockets - that much closer to a playoff spot!

More after the jump!

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LET'S DO THIS! GAME TIME! ROLLLLLL CCAAAALLLL!

The Phoenix Suns begin their three-game road trip in Sacramento to start things off against the Kings. It's time for some road rage -- there is no room for error as the Suns currently sit two games out of a playoff spot and the team rhetoric as of late is that the playoffs have already started for the Suns. Every game from here on out is a playoff game -- because every game matters that much when it comes to making the post-season.

"We know that we are going to have to play well and we are going to have games that we have to win and a lot of those games are going to be on the road," coach Alvin Gentry said. "For us, (Sunday was) our first playoff game and we get on a plane and fly to Sacramento and that will be our next playoff game. I think that's the way we have to approach it."

The Sacramento Kings are one spot from the very bottom of the Western Conference. If the Suns are going to make the playoffs this is a game that they absolutely must win.

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Well ... we all knew this stretch of games would be tough. But the bad start to the season has the Suns in a tight spot where every game really does matter. We started yesterday 1.5 games back of the 9th ... er 8th ... er 7th spot, and with the loss to the Clips last night we slid to two full games back.

But the good news is that both Utah and Denver lost last night. That continues to give the Suns hope that they can still catch up if they can somehow end their current funky skid and remember how they were playing just a week or so ago. Putting the fate of your playoff appearance in the hands of other teams is not the most enjoyable way to make the playoffs -- we all know that from experience.

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Phoenix holds the Rockets' to 86 points on 43% shooting as they gain a full game on the 8th seed and now stand only .5 game back of the playoff field. This is crazy. The Suns are now 23-22.

The Phoenix Suns extend their winning streak to a season high four games and move to one game above .500 for the first time in a long time. In the context of this season that is as weird for me to write as much as it is as weird for you to read - but watching this transformation recently looks nothing but natural for this Suns team. They are finally playing to their talent potential and everyone is contributing in some form or another and everyone has seemed to hit regular season form. Finally. Even one Michael Redd.

Are you kidding me? Redd caught fire shooting 10-13 for 25 points - a season high. I think our own Haremoor should be given some credit for Redd's performance tonight. It was his positive prediction in our Game Preview that Redd would go wild for 20+ and that good juju found its way to the arena! Haremoor - we salute you.

The Final scoop of this game is this - the Houston Rockets are an injury plagued team that is struggling right now and running a very thin roster with their two most potent scorers out. Goran Dragic has been playing well - but a one-man backcourt isn't going to get the job done against a hot Phoenix Suns team. The Suns took care of business tonight and notched a victory against a conference rival with whom they are battling for a playoff spot. A huge victory that also ended a 4-game losing streak to the Rockets.

- Pic thanks to atkammoh for finding/making or whatever. This is the best.

Your Phoenix Suns are clicking again on all cylinders and at the half lead by double-digits. Think we can start the longest winning streak of the season tonight!?

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Looks like Marcus Camby is a go for tonight - We need Gortat and Lopez to be on point with Dalembert and Camby.

Marcus Camby trade now final. He is free to play tonight vs. Suns.

— Jason Friedman (@RocketsJCF) March 18, 2012

I also failed to mention that this will be the first time the Morris twins face-of in a real NBA game. That has to do something emotionally for Markeiff - maybe he'll continue to show signs of breaking his rookie blues tonight with his brother in the house.

It is a Story of contrast between the Houston Rockets and the Phoenix Suns. The Rockets are in the top 8 of the west - while the Suns look on (with blazing fury and determination) from the outside. The Rockets are injury-stricken for the moment with two of their best players Kyle Lowry (illness) and Kevin Martin (Shoulder) out, the Suns are all healthy and ready to go. The Rockets made moves at the trade deadline trading Jordan Hill to the Lakers for Derek Fisher (who has yet to report to the team), acquiring Marcus Camby (who also has yet to suit up for the Rockets - though he could tonight), and most recently signing Courtney Fortson to a 10-day contract in an attempt to find a backup PG with Lowry out... the Suns did nothing at the deadline - keeping their roster in tact.

And now most importantly - the Suns are riding a hot shooting streak and massive momentum after having just won all 3 games in a back-to-back-to-back set (a feat only accomplished by 3 other teams in the league - Chicago, Miami and OKC) and overall are 8-2 in their last 10 games while the Rockets are struggling with their thin line-up and are only 3-7 in that same stretch.

Can the Suns make it 4 in a row for the first time this season? Can the Suns also break a 4 game losing streak to this Rockets team? Can the Suns break the .500 hump? A win tonight and the Suns could pull to within a half-game of a playoff position. A little more after the jump.

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Want to know what's going to happen tonight? I have one answer that could possibly take place in some possible realm tucked into another parallel universe.... or something like that.

Join me as I simulate Phoenix Suns games in NBA 2K12 using their new Live Statistical updating system so real life stats and tendencies are factored into how each player and team competes night in and night out.

WATCH the video! Simulation - Suns 88 Grizzlies 66 - Steve Nash = MVP of the game.

Are the Grizzlies underestimating the hot Phoenix Suns!? Watch for my opinion and let us know in the comment section what you think!

Editor's Note: We got word that the video couldn't be displayed due to copyright issues. Sorry.

The struggling Phoenix Suns (7-12) win against the struggling Memphis Grizzlies (10-9) 86-84 as both teams looked to break losing streaks. This win for the Phoenix Suns is only their 2nd quality win of the season meaning it's only their 2nd win against a team with a winning record.

The Suns came out of the gate and controlled the game after a slow start and by halftime the Suns were ahead by 16 points on 46.5% shooting while the Grizzlies were shooting a paltry 34.2% from the field. Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins said after their loss in L.A. against the Clippers, "Our perimeter people did not shoot the ball very well" and indeed tonight their was almost ZERO perimeter scoring for the Grizzlies - everything was inside, diving to the hoop or short to barely mid-range.

On the night - the Grizzlies only attempted 3 3-point attempts, one of which was the final game winning attempt hoisted by PG Mike Conley that fell well short. The game was ugly in that the same Gorilla on the Suns' back reared it's head again tonight (extended shooting/offensive droughts) as the Suns 16 point lead at the half was erased by a Memphis surge late in the 3rd quarter and into the 4th - but the game was exciting none-the-less as Phoenix made free-throws when it was critical and secured key rebounds and made defensive stops when it counted to win the game.

Tonight was a good night and there is no shame in feeling good about the win tonight - Alvin Gentry shook up the rotation and the starting line-up for the second time this season and the Suns responded in a very positive fashion after thoroughly "getting their head kicked in" as Nash would say last night in Portland. Phoenix looked like the team fresh and waiting for tonight's game - not the team that had been blown out by nearly 40 points the night before.

Hit the jump and we'll take a look at the changes Alvin Gentry made and how they panned out.

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It looks like Alvin Gentry is going back to the original starting line-up. Let's see if these guys can back up their talk (Dudley and Frye)

Hey guys guess what!? It's a new day and time for another game! I think that's the only consolation we're going to have this year with the shortened season - we will be able to forget bad losses like last night and move on quickly to the next bad game.

The Suns (6-12) arrived back in Phoenix around 2am and have this beautiful Saturday to forget last night's abomination of a game in Portland and prepare mentally and physically for a younger Memphis Grizzlies (10-8) team hungry for a win. Yaaay! They'll probably watch film this morning and hold off on working out.

This is all that really needs to be said - the Suns need to win.

But for some extra Saturday morning reading please continue my good sirs and gentlewomen.

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The Chicago Bulls continue their great start at home to the season and improve their home record to 6-0 as they thoroughly rout the Phoenix Suns without the help of Derrick Rose, who sat out today with a toe injury.

After an early 9-0 run and later a 12-0 run in the first half, the Bulls never looked back as they entered halftime up by 20 and pushed the lead to over 30 at some points during the game. Everyone believed the game would be defensively heavy... but it was a laugher as the Bulls provided their most dominating offensive performance of the season.

In a surprise to everyone, Rip Hamilton got the starting nod at SG for the Bulls, having not played in some time due to a groin injury, and he contributed with 11 points. But the bulk of the scoring for the Bulls came from the hand of Carlos Boozer, who shattered his season high in the first half alone with 26 points. He finished the game with 31 points on 14-21 shooting. CJ Watson also filled the shoes of Derrick Rose nicely, scoring 20+ points his own.

Bright spots for the Suns were the performances of Steve Nash and Marcin Gortat: Gortat with another double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Steve Nash with 25 points and 9 assists. They showed improved chemistry on the pick and roll, burning Carlos Boozer a number of times. Robin Lopez also showed some life, scoring 16 points off the bench. More after the jump.

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It's time for the 2nd half my friends -

That 39 in the first half and that 16 in the first? Yeah those bad boys don't go well together.

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Keep up the good convo!

Come back anybody!?