I recognize that this is not a "great" movie per se but, man, I love this flick. Nick Nolte plays a virtual clone of Bobby Knight - ironic, since Knight has an extended cameo as himself - as a once-super-successful college basketball coach whose program has fallen down a bit. He's always been a paragon of integrity but gives into temptation and buys off players in order to get back to the top. The result is a terrific, fast-paced movie that, while exaggerated a bit for Hollywood, rings very true as an indictment of big-time NCAA basketball. Lots of real basketball players and coaches in this one - Shaq & Penny Hardaway star, along with former Indiana starter Matt Stover, and there's cameos from Rick Pitino, Bobby Hurley, Calbert Cheaney, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, and more - and they all do a great job. It's fun to see Shaq all young and athletic again, destroying guys on a 9-1/2 foot rim. Nolte is fantastic as well. I dunno, I just love this movie. Side note: Man, were the early/mid-90s a great time for basketball movies or what? All-time classic White Men Can't Jump, Above the Rim, The Basketball Diaries, this one... and probably a few others I'm forgetting (or intentionally ignoring - like Space Jam). Anyway... 7/10.
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