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3 GENERATION BASKETBALL
Friday, July 25, 2008
Two days short of one month before my 57th birthday what was I doing? Playing basketball with 3 very special guys, all of whom were at least 20 years my junior, and one was nearly 47 years younger. Am I crazy or what?
The Players
Day Game
Grandpa (that's me) - Glenn Alvin Coon I
Dad (our 36 year old son) - Glenn Alvin Coon II
Uncle LeRoy (our 31 year old son) - LeRoy William Coon II
Grandson (our 10 year old grandson) - Kai Anthony Coon
Late game
Grandma (my lovely wife) - Dotti Coon
Our Grandson Kai once more - unbelievable energy!
I was a bit worried going out for this game. I had played "H-O-R-S-E" with Glenn and Kai the day before and that had made my elbow sore enough to warrant my wrapping it with an ACE bandage.
Also, we had done our shooting the day before in the cool of the evening, after I set up some flood lights as it got dark. I don't tolerate heat very well, and here we were out in the direct hot sun, with it being 82 degrees in the shade. I am out of shape, and haven't played any serious basketball in years. I wasn't sure how well I would hold up for one game, and we ended up playing 3 of them!
I was pretty tired by the end, and I wasn't moving well at all during the games. But I didn't care! I was so happy to be playing basketball with my sons again, for the first time in many years! It was an activity that was especially nice, because we used to play a lot together.
I was also playing on the same court with my grandson and that was so incredibly wonderful that I can't describe it. (My dad died when Glenn was only 1 year old, and had only seen him once. LeRoy wasn't born for 4 more years after that. So, Dad never got do anything like this with his grandsons. I am truly lucky!) So, the old man didn't drive to the hoop like he used to, and both my sons have passed me up in ability. That is as it should be. I couldn't be prouder of them both!
In the Navy, Glenn plays basketball almost daily he told me. He also coaches Kai's basketball team, and works with him a lot. So, the two of them were at the top of their games. For the last few years, LeRoy and I have been playing almost no basketball, and are both frankly quite rusty. He tolerates the heat much better than I do, and is in better running shape than I as well. He has a height advantage on Glenn but Glenn is quick and knows his way around the court. It is fun when we can get them on the court together, and I only wish we could do that more often!
The reason that we have all of these pictures to look at is because Dotti had her little shutter finger going like crazy during the game. The pictures here are just a sample of all the pictures she actually took!
In the evening, the brothers Coon headed for a movie and Grandma took her turn playing against Kai. I took charge of the camera (I was way too tired to even think about playing again) and let them play. It was a great time that we all had that day and one I will long remember!
In case you are wondering, the basket is not set at the regulation 10 feet for these games. Glenn suggested that we set it down to 8.5 feet for Kai, because that is where he is used to playing for his age group. Over the days we got on the court, that did lead to some slam dunks, which never were a part of our games before.  Even when I was in high school and at my leaping prime, I could only get an inch or so of my fingers up over the rim. There was no way that I would ever be doing any slam dunking, without using a ladder or a mini-tramp.
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Where possible I have grouped the pictures together, as I have done in this case. Dotti had her camera set on burst mode and took many series shots where the stills almost form a moving picture.
Glenn and LeRoy are playing against Kai and Grandpa in the first game, and Dad is telling son about what he is about to do to Grandpa. He then proceeds to set a pick on his dear old Dad, to give his brother a clear shot at the hoop. And LeRoy takes full advantage of it as as he gets things started off right by burying an outside shot—swish.
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Next Grandpa gives it a try, letting an outside shot go. Alas, mine was off the mark.
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Glenn took it up for an outside jump shot over Kai, and buried it!
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Okay, I did take one drive to the hoop, for a hook shot. Once again, it missed.
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Glenn is making break for the basket as Kai defends and LeRoy is ready to send off a pass.
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Kai setting up for shot. He looks focused and ready to drop it in.
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Kai was hustling after a ball to save it from going out of bounds over where Grandma was taking pictures.
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Glenn was guarding the throw in, and I was getting in position to take the pass.
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Kai was making a break for the hoop, while Dad guarded him, and Uncle LeRoy kept an eye on Grandpa.
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Glenn picks up a loose ball and pumps it in from outside.
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Brothers fighting over the rebound.
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LeRoy starts from all the way outside, and gets set to move towards the hoop. Glenn is set and intent on stopping him.
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I should have been looking at the focus in LeRoy's eyes in the first picture, and might have seen what was coming in the second one. He was very seriously set to go for the ball and when I went up with it, he slapped it away cleanly!
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Kai drives to the hoop, AND SCORES! Man, I wish I could have played like that when I was 10!!!
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Father and son, and you can tell they have been in this situation before. Kai is looking for a passing opportunity and Dad is looking to steal it.
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Kai to LeRoy for the score! Guess who wasn't minding the store? (Hint: it's the guy who wasn't in the picture.)
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Glenn made a couple of very pretty drives to the hoop and this is one of them, ending with a left hand lay up. (When the boys were young, I used to emphasize the importance of being able to dribble and shoot with the left hand, and now Glenn is passing that on down to Kai.)
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The brothers doing a little one on one play on the outside.
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This was another really sweet looking drive by Glenn to the hoop. This time he used the right hand, but he did a reverse under the hoop! In the last frame Kai is looking up at the ball dropping through the hoop with a look on his face that says, "Yep, that's my Dad!"
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LeRoy powers one in from underneath!
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Finally Grandpa gets to close things out by hitting an outside jump shot. (Yes, I used to actually jump with my jump shot, but I only made it up to my tippy toes on this one.)
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The evening game was underway, and Grandma took a shot from the corner.
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Uncle LeRoy took a detour from walking out to the van and chased Kai who was running towards the basket.
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This defense has never failed to keep the opposition from scoring. Of course you don't see it used much in the NBA. 
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There isn't much basketball going on in this picture, but it did capture how much fun we were having, and so I included it here. Both Kai and Grandma are really enjoying themselves.
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Grandma is setting up for another shot at the basket, while Kai looks on.
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"Pa, can I borrow the keys to the car?" Our sons were heading off in the van to see a movie together as Grandma sets up a stout defense for Kai to try and work around.
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Grandma looks determined, and Kai is about to shoot.
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Kai takes his shot! Was it good? Looks good to me!
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Dotti shoots over the top from behind the backboard, AND MAKES IT! She did a couple of those right together. That's my girl! Kai likes to play H-O-R-S-E and these out of the ordinary shots come in really handy for that game.
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That ends our basketball section. We had a lot of fun playing the games and we hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures.
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