This will make you feel like a kid again. (photo: Kirsty Escalante/YH)

So maybe you don’t have game. If the hoop has always seemed too small and the ball too large, you may be in luck. Artspace has something just for you: a basketball court with plus-sized rims and backboards.

On the corner of Chapel and Orange Streets is a small section of public land called The Lot, a former parking lot turned into a green space in 2005. The space is about 8,000 square feet, with some benches in the shade and a tasteful patch of gravel, and is ringed by a series of 25-foot rigging poles—nothing too interesting. Until Sat., Sept. 12, that is, when Artspace turned this quaint patch of land into the largest small basketball court New Haven has ever seen.

Two rigging poles in line with the gravel lot hold up two huge backboards and hoops 2.5 times regulation size. The project, dubbed “Long Shot,” was created by the Brooklyn-based artist William Lamson and commissioned by Artspace, a New Haven-based organization dedicated to promoting the arts. The wood used to make the backboards, the rebar in the rims, and the rope of the nets are all locally found materials—recycling in real time. The cartoon-like dimensions of the court make even the most serious men feel like kindergarteners shooting grown-up hoops. In both form and function, the project represents a personal, communal, and environmental rebirth.

You can play basketball on the court until January 2010. In fact, Artspace wholeheartedly encourages it: This is interactive street art. You can even go down to the Orange St. office of Artspace and borrow a ball if you don’t have your own. There are, however, a few things to note before you start hurling a ball at a hoop that’s two stories above your head (not an easy feat). One of the hoops is covered by the scaffolding of a nearby building—an unwanted, and unexpected obstacle—but do not dismay. Because of the size of the gravel court, one hoop is actually preferable. If you’ve ever played on the court in the Berkeley basement, you’ll know that two hoops aren’t necessary to have a good time. Additionally, when you start dribbling, you’ll notice that the gravel turns the dependable bounce of a basketball into the random hop of a football. Your ball-handling skills are sure to improve.

Why head downtown for some hoops? If the absurdly gigantic rims haven’t convinced you, then maybe the possibility of interacting with some local New Havenites will. Talk with some of the workers or some of the mothers on the nearby benches. Talk to some of the children and help them shoot the J as only a Yale student can. The cultural interaction is a much greater satisfaction than the swish of a three-pointer.

By Matthew  Dernbach