ESPN 30 For 30 - Unguarded

Paully D

Great watch this. It's about Chris Herren.

The story of Chris Herren, a high school basketball star and NBA player; his career-long struggles with drug abuse; and his ultimate discovery of redemption and personal fulfillment through the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea1a337jBq4

ButtersSuki

Excellent documentary, well worth watching for anyone with an interest in pro sports, let alone basketball.

buyer95

Great documentary.


I would also recommend No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson, its another in the 30 for 30 series. I don't have a link, but p.m if you would like a download source. Gives a great insight into the mans young life, while also exploring racial problems in his hometown Hampton, Virginia. A fascinating tale,it actually amazing A.I managed to go as far as he did, with the adversity he had to encounter. A man who divided opinions like no other, he remains in my eyes one of the most gifted guard to ever play the game, and belongs in the top 5 of any list of greatest shooting guards ever(whether Dublin Red Devil thinks so or not). The director Steve James is from Hampton also, which means he can offer further insight into the story. James also directed Hoop Dreams, another great film, well worth the watch.

ButtersSuki

You can add "Once Brothers" to the list too. Story of Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac and their relationship pre and post break-up of the old Yugoslavia.

WHIP IT!

That was a fantastic documentary, I love those ESPN films. I had never even heard of Chris Herren and was shocked to see the players he was mentioned alongside, Allen Iverson etc...

The Once Brothers doc has been posted here before and is indeed an unbelievable watch.

stuchyg

also look up Benji, another 30 for 30 doc. Half way through and its very good. Magic with a jump shot

NoelJ

stuchyg wrote: »

also look up Benji, another 30 for 30 doc. Half way through and its very good. Magic with a jump shot

Just about to post this, think this was my favorite sadly

stuchyg

^^^ no bias is also a good one

F.J.

Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs The New York Knicks is another good documentary in this series.

ESPN have another good documentary The Fab Five which isn't a part of the 30:30 for series. It is about the Michigan basketball team from 1991!

Mikeyt086

Newsflash: Every 30 for 30 is shockingly good.

Unguarded might be my favourite though. Such an incredibly crippling addiction for an outrageously talented player.

ButtersSuki

Just finished "Survive and Advance", story of Jimmy Valvano and the 1983 NC State Championship run to the NCAA Finals. Possibly the best 30 for 30 I've seen. Highly recommended.

I'm not going to spoil it for anyone but if you don't know the story of Jim Valvano and the team itself, it's a must see for any basketball fan. You also get to see a side of Mike Krzyzewski that's rarely, if ever seen. It's very moving in places.......you have been warned!


Also gives me an opportunity to post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

buyer95

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Just finished "Survive and Advance", story of Jimmy Valvano and the 1983 NC State Championship run to the NCAA Finals. Possibly the best 30 for 30 I've seen. Highly recommended.

I'm not going to spoil it for anyone but if you don't know the story of Jim Valvano and the team itself, it's a must see for any basketball fan. You also get to see a side of Mike Krzyzewski that's rarely, if ever seen. It's very moving in places.......you have been warned!


Also gives me an opportunity to post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

Thanks for the heads up, any link?

ButtersSuki

buyer95 wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up, any link?

Nope, sorry - it was on ESPN America last night on UPC so will likely come around again soon enough, it's just been released, the credits at the end were for January 2013!

WHIP IT!

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Nope, sorry - it was on ESPN America last night on UPC so will likely come around again soon enough, it's just been released, the credits at the end were for January 2013!

Cheers BS - if anyone sees it coming up on the Listings can they give us a heads up here? Sounds well worth a watch...

ButtersSuki

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Cheers BS - if anyone sees it coming up on the Listings can they give us a heads up here? Sounds well worth a watch...

It's so good on so many levels - Valvano was the first guy to foul to stop the clock and put the opposition on the foul line to earn their points or lose possession - which his team did brilliantly. This may sound daft to you younger players but this was in the days of NO shot clock in college ball and the 1st year of 3 point line in college ball (some of the courts didn't even have 3 point lines so you couldn't get 3!) and the old one and one free throw system on team fouls where you had to score your first to get your second. In one game they were down a couple of scores with around 3 minutes remaining and in the interview the opponent's coach said we planned to pass the ball for the last 3 minutes of the game without even looking to score!

Valvano's charisma, belief and motivational skills are infectious and this is an amazing story.

Voted Sports Illustrated's Best Moment of College Basketball History (or someone like that!) I'm not going to spoil the journey for anyone who doesn't know the story - WATCH IT!

ButtersSuki

ButtersSuki wrote: »

It's so good on so many levels - Valvano was the first guy to foul to stop the clock and put the opposition on the foul line to earn their points or lose possession - which his team did brilliantly. This may sound daft to you younger players but this was in the days of NO shot clock in college ball and the 1st year of 3 point line in college ball (some of the courts didn't even have 3 point lines so you couldn't get 3!) and the old one and one free throw system on team fouls where you had to score your first to get your second. In one game they were down a couple of scores with around 3 minutes remaining and in the interview the opponent's coach said we planned to pass the ball for the last 3 minutes of the game without even looking to score!

Valvano's charisma, belief and motivational skills are infectious and this is an amazing story.

Voted Sports Illustrated's Best Moment of College Basketball History (or someone like that!) I'm not going to spoil the journey for anyone who doesn't know the story - WATCH IT!

It's being shown again next Monday night (fittingly as it's NCAA Championship game night) at 10pm on ESPN America on UPC. If you have any interest in basketball, please watch this - you will not regret it!

buyer95

Just saw this, what an amazing story. I would recommend it to both basketball and non basketball lovers. Valvano was before my time, and I didn't know his our his teams story, thank you ButtersSuki for recommending. I rarely get emotional watching something, but I'm not ashamed to say that this brought me to tears. Valvano, I salute you.

stretchdoe

Haven't seen the Valvano one yet; looking forward to seeing it.

Had seen that speech at the ESPY's a good few-times.
He was some charismatic fella..

Have seen a good few of the other 30 for 30's.

'Once Brothers' really stood out for me: amazing stuff.

Regarding 'Unguarded', as mentioned by the OP, which is also excellent, it's well worth getting a book called 'Fall River Dreams' by Bill Reynolds, where he followed Chris Herren's high-school team, if you can still get it.

Read it a good few years ago and it's a great read; about much more than just basketball.

Made seeing that documentary all the more interesting, for me.

stuchyg

Its not a 30 for 30 feature but I recommend watching More Than A Game about LBJ during High School. To see the hype surrounding him is unreal. High School games being played at College Arenas for NBA prices just to see a 17 year old, unreal

buyer95

stuchyg wrote: »

Its not a 30 for 30 feature but I recommend watching More Than A Game about LBJ during High School. To see the hype surrounding him is unreal. High School games being played at College Arenas for NBA prices just to see a 17 year old, unreal

I haven't seen it but will check it out.I think LBJ deserves credit for fullfilling the hype which surrounded him. I mean he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 17, with the cover line being " The Chosen One ." That has to go to a kids head, but, unlike so many other massively hyped players, he delivered when he got to the NBA. Remember Darius Miles, drafted directly out of High School and taken 3rd by the Clippers. He had a semi decent career, averaged 10 points a game, but never came close to delivering on all the hype. And LBJ's hype was 100 times bigger than Miles(which was big) he handled it brilliantly, and deserves credit for that imo.

stuchyg

Comes across v well in the flick as do the majority of his teammates.

WHIP IT!

ButtersSuki wrote: »

It's being shown again next Monday night (fittingly as it's NCAA Championship game night) at 10pm on ESPN America on UPC. If you have any interest in basketball, please watch this - you will not regret it!

Have it Sky-plussed and am so looking forward to it. Thanks again, BS...

stuba

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Have it Sky-plussed and am so looking forward to it. Thanks again, BS...

An hour into it now, what a great watch. It's really hard to beat these 30 for 30 docs

WHIP IT!

Watched it this morning. Absolutely fantastic. I can't believe I had never even heard of anybody involved, nevermind knew the story!

ButtersSuki

The Iverson 30 for 30 is on Thursday night/Friday morning if anyone hasn't seen it yet and is interested. Worth a look IMO.

Paully D

Can't see it lasting long guys, enjoy:

Part 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJUgz_87OAU

Part 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-hDfMyMlU

WHIP IT!

As close as they seemed as a team, I did notice that, at the reunion dinner, all the white lads sat together and all the black lads sat together

Thought Gannon's story about taking the charge from Drexler in the Houston tie then meeting him years later at the All Star game was brilliant.

Paully D

Awesome documentary, absolutely awesome.

Very tough to watch near the end when Coach Valvano came back for the 10 year anniversary of the championship win and everyone knew that would be the last time they would see him.

On a side note are many of you old enough to remember watching college basketball back then? The games seemed fantastic, players like Drexler and Hakeem playing together, MJ etc and with the players staying for the full college period too it seems there were some great battles back then over a period of years. Much more so than nowadays where players generally leave after a couple of years and that sort of rivalry isn't built up like it was in the 80's.

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Thought Gannon's story about taking the charge from Drexler in the Houston tie then meeting him years later at the All Star game was brilliant.

Really enjoyed that part too.

I also enjoyed how Whittenburg spoke about the fundamentals he was taught in DeMatha High School making him put his two hands up to get the ball for the final shot in the final ahead of the Houston player who went up with one.

F.J.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9179015/the-forgotten-player-bill-parcells-first-draft-giants-stars-latest-30-30-documentary-series?ex_cid=grantland33

This is one of the short movies ESPN make, it os about the last pick of the 1983 NFL draft.

padraig_f

Wow, that was the Cinderella story of Cinderella stories. Good one to watch on the eve of the playoffs, gives hope to us all.

NufcNavan

Anyone know a decent website that streams/available for download the 30 for 30 episodes?