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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(SB Nation Arizona, Ronald Clark) At 38 years old, Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash will eventually have to move on from playing the game of basketball, and it looks like he's already lining up future gigs to keep him busy once that time comes.

Nash was named general manager of Canada Basketball's senior men's team on Tuesday, according to Sportsnet. Already the biggest basketball star to come out of Canada, Nash will now take his knowledge of the game to the front office to try to put together the best team possible.

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(SB Nation Arizona, Seth Pollack) The San Antonio Spurs are clearly the class of the 2012 NBA Playoffs. They breezed through the Utah Jazz and swept their first round series in one of the two games on the schedule Monday night. The Spurs are showing a potent combination of veteran execution with an infusion of young athletes. We can't wait to see them face the Thunder (if OKC can get by the Lakers).

In the other game on Monday's schedule, the Los Angeles Clippers took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Memphis Grizzlies. Overall, Memphis is the better team but they don't play well enough as a unit to overcome the star power of Chris Paul. The series heads back to Tennessee for Game 5 on Wednesday.

Here's a look at the four games on Tuesday's 2012 NBA Playoff schedule. All four games feature a team with a 3-1 lead trying to close out their series:

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Although NBA free agency doesn't start until July 10, 2012...it's apparently not too soon to start speculating about free agents and future acquisitions. A couple of interesting (or not) rumors surfaced involving the Phoenix Suns today--one involving arguably the greatest player to ever don a Suns jersey, and another about some guy in Cleveland.

Apparently, at least according to one writer, the Phoenix Suns are "in the lead" to eventually sign 6'6" Cleveland Cavaliers guard Alonzo Gee to a multi-year deal worth approximately $4 million per year. How credible is this information? Who knows...but even though there's another couple of months until free agency officially kicks off, it would make sense that the Suns' front office is at least exploring all their options.

In other news, as was also reported at SB Nation Arizona, Sam Smith of NBA.com wrote in his article that:

All indications in Phoenix are the Suns will make Steve Nash a limited offer and he’ll move on. It makes sense as the Suns will have $23 million in salary cap room and they’ve gone as far as they can go. The Suns were always a player destination, and this will test whether they still are under the frugal Robert Sarver management. Many believe Nash instead of chasing a title with a contender for a lesser salary will go back to Canada and the Raptors for a three-year deal and help bring their young players along.

Again, who knows how much, if any, of this has any substance to it. I personally can't imagine Steve Nash leaving Phoenix to go and NOT chase a title in Toronto. I understand the whole home-town thing, but let's not forget that Nash has already spent the majority of his professional career in Phoenix and is probably more committed to this city than he would be to Toronto.

I could understand Nash leaving Phoenix for Miami or New York to give himself a better chance of winning a championship before he eventually retires...but Toronto? I just don't see it. Phoenix is probably just as much of a home town to Steve as any place in Canada would be at this point. Not to mention, while he grew up in Victoria, B.C., he was actually born in Johannesburg, South Africa for what it's worth.

The boys at SB are talking mock draft even as the NBA playoffs are still happening, which, I suppose is what Mr. Babby should be doing as well. Tom Z has the Phoenix Suns taking Austin Rivers at #13. His logic?:

Part of Robert Sarver's campaign to begin trolling various members of the Boston Celtics franchise.

What do we know about Rivers? Well, if you are like me, you may not have paid attention to those smug Duke Blue Devils throughout the season. So here is what Draft Express had to say:

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The 2012 NBA Playoff schedule was full this weekend. We had our first series end in a sweep and surprisingly, it was the Dallas Mavericks getting the early boot at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The New York Knicks dug deep and avoided the same fate by beating the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets extended their series with the Lakers with a home win.

In both cases, however, the favorite (Heat and Lakers) lead their series 3-1 so it's only a matter of time. The same 3-1 situation goes for the Boston Celtics who beat up the Atlanta Hawks and the Indiana Pacers who survived overtime with the Orlando Magic. The San Antonio Spurs lead the Utah Jazz 3-0 and will go for the sweep Monday night.

The only surprise series is the 3-1 lead the Philadelphia 76ers hold over the severely banged up Chicago Bulls. Credit the 76ers Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes for providing much-needed scoring. Oh, and the Grizzlies are finding the Clippers to be much stiffer competition than expected.

Here's what's on the NBA Playoff schedule for Monday:

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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 Suns Season in Review, 2011-12.

Up for discussion today is Jared Dudley.

There weren't many sure things going into this season for the Suns. Although the entire starting five returned from the end of last season, Marcin Gortat, Channing Frye and Jared Dudley hadn't proven themselves as legitimate starters in the NBA, and the two proven starters, Steve Nash and Grant Hill, were creeping dangerously close to age 40.

Overall, that starting five proved to be quite effective, and Dudley was one of the team's most dependable players, finishing the season second in scoring, 3-point %, 3-pointers made and minutes played, and third in win shares/48 minutes. Along with Gortat, Dudley was somewhat of an iron man, missing only one game and playing big minutes in this sprint of a lockout-shortened season.

One could look at Dudley's 12.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and conclude that he under-produced and is in need of replacement. For a team that went 33-33 and missed the playoffs for the third time in four seasons, that's a perfectly reasonable assessment. If an upgrade is available, a pure go-to scorer who can lift this team to a higher place in the Western Conference's pecking order, I'm all for it.

But finding a clear upgrade from Dudley won't be so easy and, unless a star shooting guard is acquired, Dudley has no intention of relinquishing that starting spot.

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Four games on the slate for today, as the Bulls find themselves in an unexpected predicament, down 2-1 to the 76ers and now missing Joakim Noah after having already lost Derrick Rose for the rest of the playoffs. Game four is today in Philadelphia.

The Heat have the Knicks on the ropes 3-0, and a first round sweep out of the playoffs looks like a foregone conclusion for the Knicks as superstar Carmelo Anthony is shooting only 34% from the field and Amar'e Stoudemire has done more damage to fire hydrant casings than he has to the Heat. Stoudemire will be a game-time decision, so maybe he'll pull a Willis Reed with his self-inflicted mangled hand and help the Knicks to their first playoff win since 2001.

There's a lot of piling on of Amar'e right now, but AZ Central's Paola Boivin puts things in perspective.

When I reflect on Stoudemire, I will think not of the punch but of the person he has become since being drafted by the Suns a decade ago, of the man many expected to fizzle in the high school-to-NBA experiment who last season was treated to MVP chants in New York.

Tonight, the Nuggets have a chance to even their series at home against the Lakers, and the Celtics and Hawks battle it out in what is probably the least entertaining remaining series.

More on today's games after the jump, and a recap of yesterday's action, which featured the completion of a first round sweep of the defending champion Mavericks.

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