DIY Network

Building a Basketball Court Michael Strahan helps a family of basketball fanatics build the backyard court of their dreams. From "Backyard Stadiums" episode DBYS-102

(Continued from page 4)

10. It's your choice if you wish to prime and paint the front of your scoreboard. For our scoreboard we primed, painted and spray a stencil on the plywood.

Note: Shelves will be attached to the 5/8" plywood which will hold the electronics. The shelving unit is a very basic build. You will need at least eight (8) feet of pre-primed pine. The cut list is:

2 pieces at 44-1/4" for the sides
2 pieces at 24" for the top and bottom
2 pieces at 22-1/2" for the middle shelves

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	Figure A
	Figure B

11. Cut all the pieces on the cut list, above. Make sure you have wood glue and a nail gun ready. (If you don't have a nail gun you can use a hammer and nails because the wood glue does most of the work, the nails are there just to hold the wood in place until the glue fully dries.)

12. Assemble the frame of the shelving unit. Take the two 44-1/4" pieces and place them parallel to one another and have them standing up on their sides. Then take the two 24" pieces and line them up on the top and bottom of the 44-1/4" pieces (figure A).

13. Use wood glue on the edges, and push the pieces together. The wood glue will hold the unit together after it dries but for now use a nail gun or a hammer and nails to hold the bottom of the frame in place.

14. Before attaching the shelves, mark the measurements on the inside of the frame. Measure from bottom to top and place a mark at 10" and then 31-1/2". Place a bead of wood glue on the marked lines. Take the 22-1/2" pieces and push them in place. If they jam lightly tap them with a hammer. Use the nail gun or hammer and nails to secure the shelves before the glue dries.

15. When the shelving unit is complete, it can be attached to the front. Simply place wood glue all around the frame and the shelves and attach it to the façade. Use the nail gun to secure it until the glue fully dries.

16. Once everything is attached its time to insert the electronics into the open holes. The PA speaker slides in easily and it's heavy enough to stay in place (figure B).

17. To hold the shot clock, attach two small angle brackets to the sides of the clock. Let the clock penetrate through the cut out hole until the brackets hit the plywood and secure with screws.

18. Push the scoreboard through the hole about an inch. The scoreboard that we used was delivered with two hook eyes for mounting. We nailed a piece of scrap wood to the plywood just above the opening for the board and hung it on two screws. You may have to modify this procedure, depending on the scoreboard you choose to use.

19. Once everything is completed, the last thing to do is make two braces to support the entire structure. Cut two 24" pieces of the 1 x 8 and nail and glue the wood to the sides of the frames so that the structure will not wobble or fall down.

Note: You can make these supports more decorative by tapering the top of the brace at an angle as we did. Find the mid-point of the board and measure a line from the top of the board to a point 3" up from each corner. Cut and paint to match you scoring center.

	Figure C
	Host Michael Strahan explains to two of the Schwartz sons how much fun utilizing the shooting mats and pads can be!

Building Shooting Mats and Pads

Sometimes playing Horse or Around the Clock can get boring, so the Backyard Stadiums crew created something simple, inexpensive and fun for playing shooting games. Using vinyl shelf liner, just cut out some circles, stick on some stickers and you're ready to play.

Materials:

vinyl shelf liner
5-gal. bucket
number stickers

Tools:

utility knife
pencil

1. Un-roll the vinyl on a piece of scrap wood and place either a five-gallon drum or a small round garbage can on the paper. Trace around the bucket or garbage can with a pencil (figure C).

2. Then remove the bucket or can and cut the traced circle out with a utility knife, razor blade or scissors.

3. Use 6" peel-off colored numbers available at most crafts stores to assign point values to your mats. You can place any number you like on the mats, it is your game! Dollar amounts are not suggested!

4. Once finished place them around your court and challenge your friends!

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RESOURCES :

Traffic Paint
Harco Chemical Coatings and/or Ennis Paints
Websites: www.harcocoatings.com and www.ennispaint.com

Scoreboard
Universal Scoreboard Co.
Website: www.gis.net/~vcampion/Index.html

PA System
Peavey Electronics
Model: Peavey Solo
Website: www.peavey.com

Shot Clock
Beat the Buzzer Shot Clock
Website: www.beattheshotclock.com