punctuation wrote:
We're looking for a good but inexpensive basketball hoop/system for
our
two kids. They're mildly interested in basketball, though not
particularly good, and would probably use the thing just a few hours
per
week.

http://tinyurl.com/d97dm is a Target ad for a $65 Huffy system.
Can't
beat the price. But...

$65 is less than half what I've seen asked for any other portable
hoop
system. Is this thing a piece of junk? And I don't understand the
physics. You have a ten-foot pole sticking into the air, and a tiny
base on the ground. I can't figure out how it could ever be stable,
unless it comes with an elephant to sit on the base. And reading the

amazon.com reviews of a different (and more expensive) Huffy portable

hoop system, there were lots of references to it being hard to
assemble,
rife with missing or misfitting parts, often with comments like
"typical
for Huffy."

You got me curious, so I read a bit on the Huffy site. You provide
your own elephant -- or more specifically, you fill the base with sand
or water so that it (supposedly) won't move. The Huffy site discusses
200 pounds as the minimum required to hold these things, so I'm
guessing that's what this thing will hold.

I have no more information, but I do have a young basketball player, so
my thoughts ... Even weighted down to 200 pounds, I don't think I'd
trust this with older (heavier) kids, or in windy areas. And remember
that it won't just be your kids playing with it -- its sure to attract
their friends from around the neighborhood.

Barbara