{Editor's Note: This excellent Mike Lisboa piece, originally posted on August 17, 2011, is re-published today in recognition of John MacLeod's induction in the Suns Ring of Honor, the ceremony for which will be held at tonight's game.}

The question of John MacLeod’s absence from the Phoenix Suns’ Ring of Honor first occurred to me when Jerry Sloan announced his retirement. While he didn’t enjoy quite the same success as Jerry Sloan, John MacLeod is the longest tenured coach in Phoenix Suns history. "What gives?" I wondered.

This article is not written from an unbiased place. I grew up in Phoenix, having been born there in 1974. My parents had Phoenix Suns season tickets. In junior high, I twice attended the John MacLeod Basketball Camp at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott. While I didn’t know MacLeod personally by any stretch of the imagination, figuratively speaking, he was the face of basketball authority for the first 14 years of my life. That makes an impression.

The Phoenix Suns entered the National Basketball Association in 1968. John MacLeod became the Phoenix Suns’ head coach at the beginning of the 1973-74 season. Prior to hiring MacLeod, the Suns had seen five different head coaches in 5 seasons: Johnny "Red" Kerr (1968-69), Lowell "Cotton" Fitzsimmons (1970-72), Butch Van Breda Kolff (7 games of the 1972-73 season) and two stints by Jerry Colangelo (1970, 1972-73). The young franchise was in dire need of a steady presence on the sidelines. Enter John MacLeod.

Plenty of John MacLeod goodness after the jump.

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Happy Holidays, everyone! As always, I give mad apologies to Clement Clark Moore for butchering his holiday classic. And mad apologies to the rest of you for having to read it.

Cheers,
Mike

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the league

Coaches were vexed about depth and fatigue.

The lockout had ended with a CBA at last,

But the season was starting way too dang fast!

The owners were nestled all snug in their mansions

While David Stern dreamed of small market expansion.

The players with their contracts were ready to play,

But fans were still deciding whether to pay.

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The NBA just unilaterally killed what, on paper, was not just a perfectly legal trade, but a pretty damn fair one at that. This wasn't another Pau Gasol for fishsticks-and-a-ride-home deal. The Lakers were giving up 14 feet of mad skills for 6 feet of mad skills. Arguments can be made for or against the wisdom of this trade, but what can't be argued is whether or not it was remotely equitable. This was bar none the best deal the Hornets were going to get for Chris Paul and Dell Demps should be lauded for putting this masterpiece of rosterbation together.

[Note by Mike Lisboa, 12/09/11 8:34 AM PST ] I somehow forgot to include Kevin Martin above, so,the Hornets also bagged a 20 point a night guy. A starting line-up for a superstar with potentially bad knees? Can you imagine if the Suns had gotten anywhere near this value for Amare Stoudemire?

What the NBA, what the owners, what David Stern just did is completely unconscionable. I didn't think I could somehow become more disgusted with NBA owners and league officials than I was during the lockout, but somehow the bar keeps getting lowered.

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Round 2: Fight! (Same offense, better defense, please.)

For Dignity!

Let's do this!

Your five word recap:

1st Quarter: Niiiiiiiiice. Ish.

2nd Quarter: Meh.

3rd Quarter: Eek!

4th Quarter: Ugh.

How nice was it to see the Phoenix Suns jump all over a quality opponent right off the bat? That first quarter was beautiful.  Active hands were in full effect.  The Suns held the Dallas Mavericks to a miniscule 20% from the field. Meanwhile, the Suns were filling it up at the other end to the tune of 56.6% shooting.  Pretty awesome, right?

And yet... only a 9 point lead? Let that marinate for a moment.  The Suns held the Mavs to 5 (f-i-v-e, five) field goals in the first 12 minutes the game and could only walk away with a 9 point lead.  Was anyone else nervous about that? (This is called foreshadowing.)

The Suns built that first quarter cushion on the backs of Marcin Gortat's 12 points, Channing Frye's 6 rebounds and the ageless Steve Nash's 7 assists.  And a whole lot of terrible shooting from a discombobulated Dallas offense.

In the second quarter the bench held serve fairly well.  The Mavs threatened to tie on a couple of occasions, but the Suns had an answer at every turn, carrying a 5 point lead into the half. The 3rd quarter featured more of the same.  Dallas threatened, the Suns pushed back buuuuut... that lead dwindled from 5 to 2.

And then, well, do we even need to talk about Phoenix Suns' 4th quarters at this point in the season? SPOILER ALERT: They are not good, particularly if the first 3 quarters have been marked by any sort of lead or display of basketball excellence.  This time, their offense called it a season, packed their bags and headed to St. Bart's or Svenborgia or wherever rich millionaires (or at least, their offensive stylings) go to take money baths with supermodels.

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Take your chatter here, my babies.  Let's see some more of that first quarter mojo!

Regarding Arizona's complete dismantling of Duke last night: FLAWLESS VICTORY... FATALITY.

As for our Phoenix Suns, does anything more aptly describe their final 12 games than Mortal Kombat?  Literally, the Suns are fighting for their playoff lives. The "only" thing separating them from a trip to the postseason is a dozen games, including 8 against playoff bound teams and a brutal 8-day 5-game road trip that features games against the team with the best record in each conference.  Metaphorically speaking, they're trying to run the table on one quarter while playing with Johnny Cage (was he any good in the game? Because he's [spoiler alert] totally not in this awesome fake NSFW trailer for a MK movie.).  

After bouncing back from the triple OT monster against the Los Angeles Lakers with a nice victory over the Toronto Raptors a couple nights ago, there's little in the way of excuses for not going balls-out over the course of their do-or-die dozen.

The New Orleans Hornets currently sit at the 7 spot in the Western Conference and are 4 games ahead of the Suns in the conference standings.  This game looms huge for the Suns' playoff chances and the odds might actually be stacked in their favor for a change. The Hornets are coming off an overtime game versus the Jazz last night, which came at the high price of a potentially serious knee injury to forward David West who led the Hornets with 29 points in the game.

From At The Hive:

At the time of this writing, there's no additional news on the extent of David West's injury. An MRI is pending. It's being widely assumed around the web that he's done for the season, and with only 10 games left to play in the regular season, that seems likely. It's going to be tough for the Hornets to hang on to a playoff seed without West, but it could happen.

For Hornets fans, this is terrible news and I wish Mr. West a speedy recovery.  For Suns fans, this is blood in the water and we expect our team to feast.  Jump with me into the meaty center of our preview.

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Happy Holidays, y'all!  I had hoped to get this up sooner, but when management makes trades a couple of days before your deadline, all those awesome rhymes for "Turkoglu" you were so proud of are suddenly so much dust in the wind.  (Links to 2008 and 2009.)  As always, gigantic Santa's belly sized apologies to Henry Livingston for butchering his holiday classic.  Cheers.

Twas the night before Christmas in the house of the Suns

And everything was moving, from lockers to... Suns.

Players were traded, allegedly with care

While aging Steve Nash played with his hair.

The window was closing if not quite yet shut

Another mid-season change: a punch in the gut.

J-Rich went to Orlando with Hedo in tow

Along with Earl Clark, who developed so slow.

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The Phoenix Suns lost the game, but the bigger story was the Phoenix Suns lost Steve Nash.  With 7:28 left in the first quarter, the Nash collided with Tyson Chandler on a scramble for a loose ball and suffered a stinger in his neck, losing feeling in his arm and leg.  Paul Coro reports that the Suns believe Nash will be available to play in Oklahoma City.

Once the Suns lost Nash, the game was effectively over.  They hung tight for the remainder of the first quarter, taking a 25-22 lead into the 2nd stanza.  After that... oof.

The Suns were aggressive early in taking the ball to the rim.  That aggression paid off with frequent trips to the line, helping them survive some shaky shooting.  Goran Dragic and Hakim Warrick especially went hard to the hole in their first few minutes of action.

And then, well... one of my game notes reads "Are there worse defensive rotations anywhere in the NBA than on the Suns?"  While it's true the Suns "held" the Mavericks to 45.3% from the field, it was the rare Maverick that had a hand in his face while attacking the Suns basket.  The Mavs' took a 12 point lead into the half and never really looked back.

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Few things warm the cockles of my heart like a Suns - Mavs tilt.  These franchises are mirror images of one another; their consistency of excellence marred only by their inability to get over the top.  Probably fueled by the friendship between Steve Nash and alpha Mav Dirk Nowitzki, there seems to be a mutual respect between the teams that ends up translating into fierce and entertaining basketball contests.  Would that that was the case this season...

The Mavs sit at 20-5, trailing only the Spurs (and their ridiculous 22-3 record) in the West.  They've won 13 of their last 14 games, including a 12-game streak that ensures they will be NBA champions.  They are, as the deportes crowd would say, en fuego.

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The beating will continue until morale improves.  Might be a while.

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THANK YOU ON BEHALF OF EVERYONE'S EYEBALLS.

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Similarities between my Movember crusade and the Suns' winning streak:

• After only 4 days of fundraising, the 'Stache has garnered $310 in donations, putting me 60% of the way toward my original goal of $500.  
• After 4 days of 'stache, the Suns have won 2 games, putting them 66% of the way to a .500 record.
• The Suns go into Memphis with the daunting task of winning an away game on the back end of a back-to-back.
• The 'Stache goes into Movember with the daunting task of raising $500 on the back end of a severe recession.
• The Suns aren't satisfied with .500 ball and won't be for the rest of the season.
• The 'Stache isn't satisfied with a $500 goal and won't be for the rest of the month.

Thanks to the generosity of friends, family, co-workers and Bright Siders, I've been inspired to raise bar.  The Suns might not be able to play 1.000 ball for the rest of the month, but I'm hoping I can raise $1000 for the excellent cause of prostate and testicular cancer research by the end of November.

Thank you all who have donated so far!  Your generosity has been overwhelming!  If you would like to donate (and there's no amount too small... or large!), please click on the following link: http://us.movember.com/mospace/658192/

Hey BSOTSers!

It's November, which means I'm growing a moustache!  I'm participating in Movember, a fundraiser/awareness project for prostate and testicular cancer.  Movember participation requires 2 things:

1) Grow a moustache for the month of November.

2) Attempt to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LiveStrong.

Below you'll find photographic evidence of part 1 and here's a link where you can help with part 2 (my MoSpace page).  You can either donate to me individually or to our totally awesomely named team: Glengarry Glenn Quagmire.

And in the spirit of keeping this Suns-related, post your favorite Suns 'staches in the comments!  It's been a while since we had a good picture thread going.

Thanks for your help!

1-3? 1-3.  The Phoenix Suns are 1 and freaking 3!!!  Guys, this team is just not cutting it.  I don't know what the difference between this team's roster and last year's is, but there's no way we go 1-3 last year.  Anyway, we have problems, and I have solutions.  I have come up with several ideas for how to make this team better than the sucky squad they have been.

Here are some trades and other suggestions that would make us better.  

1. Trade Hedo Turkoglu and Channing Frye to Miami for Chris Bosh.  This trade is the reason the word "obvious" was invented.  It's win-win.  The Suns get a starting power forward with a reputation as a hard inside presence and the Heat get a "starting power forward" and get to keep Lebron James and Dwyane Wade.

2. Move Earl Clark ahead of Turkoglu and Frye in the rotation.  This one is just plain as day.  The Suns have already lost 75% of their games and need a spark.  Earl is IT!  It'll be just like when Max Hall started playing quarterback instead of Derek Anderson.  The Suns need to try anything and everything! In related news, let the Skelton Era begin!

3. Sign Karl Malone or Charles Barkley.  Like I said, I don't know what the difference between this year's team and last year's team is, but the Suns need a true power forward.  Chuck just lost like 97 pounds on P90X or something and Karl Malone has been wearing Skechers shape-ups.  And I think this gives them both the best chance to win a ring instead of shelling out 2 bucks for a raffle ticket to win Ron Artest's.  

After the jump, 5 more sure-fire ways the Suns can become a better team!

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No details yet, but The Suns just issued an announcement via their text messaging alerts that they have signed forward Jared Dudley to contract extension.  No details yet that I'm aware of.  I'm sure we'll have numbers soon.  

I have to say, I'm fairly surprised.  With a new collective bargaining agreement on the horizon, I expected the front office to play the "wait and see" game since JD was going to end up a restricted free agent anyway.  That would have been the "cheap" thing to do anyway.

So, breath easy, JD fans (I'm looking at you, Beavis), your boy's got paper.  Until they decide to package him with the Turk or J-Rich for another big man, that is.

[Note by Mike Lisboa, 11/01/10 9:28 PM PDT ]

This is what I get for not checking Twitter.  There are totally details: 5 years, 22.5 million dollars according to Paul Coro and NBA Fanhouse.  I think everyone will agree this is win-win-win.  The Suns get to keep an integral rotation player at a relative bargain, Jared Dudley gets some job security, and Suns fans can rest easy knowing their favorite player not named Steve Nash is locked up for the foreseeable future.

And while I'd like to simply leave it at that and go to bed thinking happy thoughts about an eventual Ring of Honor spot for Jared Dudley when he retires after 10+ years of dutiful service for the Suns... well, that's a very movable deal.  As the Suns have no shortage of wings, and a dearth of big men, it's entirely possible Dudley could still be packaged in a potential deal should a big man the Suns covet become available.

But let's cross that bridge if/when it happens, shall we?  For now, JMZ looks to reporting from the Suns' locker room for quite some time and for that, there should be much rejoicing.

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Ed Note: This is the second of our five-part season preview series. Part 1 can be found here. We are thrilled that Mike Lisboa made a return to Bright Side of the Sun to share these thoughts. We hope to see more of him again this season. 

True story: as soon as the Suns lost to the Lakers in game 6 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals last season, I canceled my cable.  I have cable for one reason and reason only: NBA League Pass so I can watch the Suns year-round in LA. 

As a result, I did not have to deal with the round-the-clock madness on ESPN regarding the NBA's off-season.  You may have heard it was rather dramatic in certain cities in the mid-west and southern Florida. 

However, outside of those two locales, I feel confident in saying the Phoenix Suns had the most tumultuous off-season in the Association.  Let's break it down.

Bearing Down and Out

The Suns' first big loss of the off-season came in June when Steve Kerr departed as general manager.  This was rightfully met with much wailing and gnashing of teeth on Planet Orange. 

After, how shall we say... a rough start, Kerr seemed to have found his footing as GM.  With the additions of Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley, Lou Amundson and Goran Dragic, he proved himself a capable scout of both talent and chemistry, cobbling together the pieces around Steve Nash and A'mare Stoudemire that would lead to last season's deep playoff run. 

An extension seemed all but assured, providing the organization with some continuity into the post-A'mare (and probably post- Nash) Era.

Alas, whether it was the lack of money from owner Robert Sarver or the lure of money (and family time) from his old friends at TNT, it was not to be.  In June, the front office got blown up in a manner more befitting of a perennial lottery team than a perennial Western Conference contender. Both Steve Kerr and Suns Senior VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin were out the door as the crack of A'mare Stoudemire's free agency dawned with no successors in sight.

Oh, yes, and the NBA Draft was right around the corner as well...

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