I am very interested.
There are three things I know for sure - Derrick Rose is going to win the MVP, Michael Jordan is the Greatest of All Time and the Chicago Bulls have a real chance at winning this years championship.
I am shocked that the Bulls won 50 already! I was a HUGE fan of them in the 90's!
But Pippin was my man. (I hate MJ so much that I cannot be objective about him)
It's very late, but I will give you some info on Hoosiers and more tomorro.
The Jimmy Chitwood character was based on their 6th man, not on a superstar player. And yes, it's true that they trotted only 6 men on the court...it simply electrified the fans and reporters to witness their entrance and then go on to score 100 POINTS vs. good teams! 100 ponts in a high school game??! That's like 200 in the pro's!
The Dennis Hopper character was based on the big brother of the teams TWIN superstar brothers. He was not a drunk Daddy, but an alumni of the 1940 team that went to the state finals. He sat on the bench as an unofficial coach and would go ballistic when the refs blew a call. Far from being a drunken reprobate he was Major league pitcher with the White Sox.
His name was Judson. He was 11 years older than his twin sibs. He was 5'6" and a great player. The twins blew up to 6'3" between 8th grade and H.S. seniors, and lost NO SPEED or agility in the spurt. They were a fucking nightmare to defend. Like Pippin and Jordan they were awsome defenders as well as scorers. One of the kids had the knack of pinning the ball to the floor on a steal instead of swatting at it. He would then scoop it to his brother where ever he was on the court, they always knew where the other one was. They were the kings of the "no look" pass.
The other twin was a scary rebounder in the Rodman vein, out rebounding taller men. His vertical leap was amazing....but they were only 2 of the players. The other 3 were shooters with no mercy. The teams feild goal ave. was .53!!! The team average! And bear in mind that most of the shots in those days were from the outside!
They had a little guard that inspired the manager/6th man in the movie. (You know, the kid that played bad) He was born with a birth defect....the right side of his face sagged, his right ear was the size of a quarter. As a result he all he cared about was practicing B ball. No social life at all. For years all he would do was come home, do his chores and shoot baskets at the rim hanging from the barn.
The team was known as the Green Giants. They were BIG. The center was 6'10". And he was a lefty that confounded with his shots near the basket. He had never even touched a basketball 'till the day the new coach litterally bumped into him in the hallway on his first day as the new B ball coach, teacher, athletic director and Principal at the school.
He looked at the then 6 foot 6 kid: "Do you play?" No sir was the answer. "I wish I had met you when you were a freshman...."I AM a freshman"....by the time the kid became a senior he was ready to play vs. any center in the state.
The Chitwood charactor quit the team for football when when he was not made a starter. He was good enough to start on ANY team. But somebody had to be the bench. But when the team started the '51 season 19 and 0, blowing out even the top rated teams he had to come back! He was a long range shooter. His pct. from past the key was better than most from around the foul line. Think of Steve Kerr, but a top notch defender as well.
There is more to tell...manyana.
