A Great Turn Out and Success at the Jr. Suns Open Practice Pre-Party!

By Allison Leach, Jrsuns.com
Posted: October 7th, 2008

The Phoenix Suns’ opening game is getting closer and closer, but on Sunday night, October 5th, you could already feel the excitement in the air for the upcoming season when the Suns had their first open practice at the U.S. Airways Center. Jr. Suns/ Jr. Mercury members and Summer Camp members were granted special access to pre-practice festivities and were the first to be able to enter the arena before the main doors opened to the general public.

Over 1,000 Jr. Suns and Jr. Mercury participants and their parents stood in line patiently to get into the U.S. Airways Center Paseo to be a part of the Pre-Party and the All-Star Shootout to kick off not only the Phoenix Suns season, but the upcoming Jr. NBA/ Jr. WNBA season and 2009 All-Star Games being held in Downtown Phoenix in February 2009.

The Jr. NBA/ Jr. WNBA All-Star Shootout was a great opportunity for Jr. Suns/ Jr. Mercury members to get a chance to participate in the Free Throw Shootout Finals at the 2009 NBA Jam Session presented by adidas in February during the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend and be recognized on court before Open Practice began! In order to actually get the chance to participate and be recognized, members had to compete in the free-throw contest. Each participant had to make three consecutive baskets or they were eliminated. The Centennial High School Boys Basketball Team was also there to help out and keep track of the participants.

Along with the Jr. NBA/ Jr. WNBA Shootout, the pre-party also included the Phoenix Suns Tundra and sport court that held clinics with a clinician and Suns Alumni and Jr. Suns/ Jr. Mercury members were invited to participate in throughout the afternoon. The Suns Alumni in attendance for the Pre-Party were Ced Ceballos, Mark West, John Shumate, Phoenix Mercury Assistant Coach Bridget Pettis, and NBA Legend, Bob Lanier. All of these Suns’ and NBA personalities took part in the clinics, shooting stations, and even signed autographs for the big crowd of Jr. Suns/ Jr. Mercury members. Bob Lanier was there to keep tabs on the participants and give them shooting advice as well as take part in one of the clinics.

DJ Koko, from the Verve Sol Patrol, kept the pre-party going with music, dance contests, and giveaways along with the Phoenix Suns dancers, the Verve Sol Patrol, and an unforgettable appearance by none other than the best mascot in the NBA – the Phoenix Suns Gorilla. The Gorilla handed out the raffle giveaways which included three autographed pictures by Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, and Grant Hill, an autographed Grant Hill jersey, and an autographed Amare Stoudemire basketball. Everyone’s favorite mascot also took time to take pictures and hang out with his favorite fans; the Jr. Suns and Jr. Mercury members before he kicked off the Open Practice on the court.

All of the Jr. Suns/ Jr. Mercury members and their parents waited patiently to get early access into the Open Practice. They were excited not only to see the Phoenix Suns take the court, but also to watch the two Jr. Suns scrimmages that took place on the main court before the Suns started their practice. The lucky two Jr. Suns teams were from the Scottsdale and Glendale YMCA and were ecstatic about the chance to be on the court and play in front of their peers, parents, and other fans in attendance. The crowd was not only full of Phoenix Suns fans, but Jr. Suns/ Jr. Mercury members proudly wearing their jerseys and cheering loudly for the other members on the court.

After the two Jr. Suns games took place, the Suns’ Ced Ceballos kicked off a skills challenge between Jr. Suns and Jr. Mercury members. The members did a great job of not only showing off their dribbling skills, but also their shooting skills. The Phoenix Suns Dancers also made their first appearance on the Suns court and showed off their dance moves for the crowd. The Verve Sol Patrol and the Phoenix Suns Gorilla then took the stage and did their amazing dunks off the trampoline. They even got the crowd involved and jumped over some Jr. Suns/ Jr. Mercury members!

Once the Phoenix Suns took the court and made their first public appearance for the 2008-09 season, the fans cheered loudly and everyone was excited to take a sneak peek at this year’s team. Rookie Robin Lopez was chosen to sing happy birthday to Grant Hill and was presented with a cake by DJ Koko and the Gorilla. After that Open Practice officially began with a Suns scrimmage. It was good to see Shaquille O’Neal in great shape and to see the new rookies for the first time. The rookies included Robin Lopez, Goran Dragic, and Sean Singletary. Amare Stoudemire watched from the sidelines with his sunglasses after suffering an eye injury, but should be back on the court within the next couple of weeks. The Suns were happy to see such a great turn-out to their Open Practice. The crowd was definitely excited to be back at the arena and ready to kick off the season with new coach Terry Porter and the new, rejuvenated team!

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