I just saw the previews for this movie and it looks pretty good. Its about the first all black basketball team to make it to the NCAA tournament. Josh Lucas plays the coach and he looks just like JVG with hair...anybody agree? Here is the trailer
Incorrect. It's about the first team to use an all-black starting five in the NCAA finals, Texas Western's (now UTEP) 1966 squad. There were in fact several white players on the team, and most of them got a good deal of playing time during the season. However none of them got into the championship game against Kentucky. And yes, I can't wait for this film to be released.
I thought the same thing. I guess they're going for more heart-warming/comedy than they are dramatic though.
I think it's a great story to be told, and could make a tremendous movie. However....I absolutely CRINGE every time I see all the dunks, alley oops, reverse jams, etc. in the previews. Now, I don't know for SURE that those things weren't happening, but come on! I don't recall seeing lots of highlights of slam dunk competitions and all that from 50 years ago. It just irks me about the realism of the movie....But maybe that stuff was going on years and years ago, and I just missed it. Don't get me wrong, I love the highlight material and athletic ability of the current players, I just don't think a bunch of that was going on back then, and it makes me think the movie is cheezed up to try to gather in viewers or something.
I remember reading a very good SI story on this game. Haskins told one of the guys to go in strong on at the start of the championship game and he supposedly laid a vicious dunk on Kentucky that set the tone for the game. the game is significant because it was the first all black champion but Kentucky's coach was a well known racist who refused to have blacks on his team until right before he retired. I think the SI article pointed out that Rupp was more of a racist while his contemporary Bear Bryant more or less had his hands tied in trying to integrate Alabama's football team. I believe Pat Riley was on that Kentucky team also.
If the game back then was played above the rim, then cool. It just felt like they were trying to "modernize" the action sequences, if that makes sense. But if it really was a dunkfest like the movie portrays, then I apologize for assuming it was just the typical Hollywood effect taking hold of a movie. Regardless, it's an intriguing story to be told. I've heard bits and pieces over the year, but never heard the entire story. It might be interesting to see how it's all represented- I agree that it seems to have a Remember the Titans feel to it, but I found that movie enjoyable since I didn't go into it with astronomical expectations.
David "Big Daddy" Lattin loved to dunk the ball, and he was the one that Haskins told to dunk as early as possible to set the tone for the game. I'm not sure how often they dunked in real life (the game was 11 years before I was born and probably 20 years before I started watching hoops) but I know from what I've read that they had some very big and athletic guys on the team. Lattin, Harry Flourney, and Nevil Shed were all big guys who could throw it down...
I was watching ESPN Classic when they were showing the game and were talking about it. I saw some facials and putback dunks.
Just wondering. Does anyone consider Darrell Royal to be racist? UT had the last all white national championship team in football in 1970. How much of that was the times? I assume UT integrated in 1971. When did Alabama integrate?
Pat Riley actually assisted in the making of this movie. Jerry Bruckheimer was on Rome the other day and mentioned that he helped with the game scenes to make it more authentic.
I hope it's better than that, since the movie ads are plugging it by citing Stuart Scott saying it may be the best movie he's ever seen. LOL ... uh Stu, you work for Disney.
