Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story | |
---|---|
Genre | Biography Drama Sport |
Written by | Fred Johnson |
Screenplay by | Fred Johnson Don Enright Ed Fields |
Story by | Fred Johnson |
Directed by | Charles Braverman |
Starring | Victor Love [1] Duane Davis George Kennedy Nell Carter Sam Hennings |
Music by | Stanley Clarke |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Russell Vreeland |
Producers | Don Enright Les Alexander James P. McGillen [2] Joe Lunne (associate producer) |
Production locations | Los Angeles Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [3] Santa Monica, California |
Cinematography | Stephen Blake |
Running time | 92 minutes |
Production companies | McGillen Entertainment Alexander, Enright & Associates Tribune Entertainment [4] |
Budget | $3 million [5] |
Release | |
Original network | First-run syndication [6] [7] |
Original release | March 29, 1992 |
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story is an American 1992 sports drama biography television film [8] about the life of Loyola Marymount basketball player Eric "Hank" Gathers, written for Tribune Entertainment by Fred Johnson, Don Enright and Ed Fields, and directed by Charles Braverman. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
This film follows the life of basketball legend Eric "Hank" Gathers, from his growing up in the ghettos of Philadelphia to his freshman year at USC through his brief career playing basketball for Loyola Marymount University, where he collapsed during a game and died of a heart ailment. [10]
Casting began in late 1991, [14] with a television debut slated for March 1992. [15] The project was filmed in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; as well as in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, California. [11]
Entertainment Weekly wrote that the film "does a decent job of showing us the person inside the uniform," but felt that the film is overall "too sketchily told to be truly satisfying." [16]
Dallas Morning News felt that the film went beyond disappointing to become "an insult -- not for what it focuses on, but for what it leaves out." The reviewer felt that the film fell "in line with many TV projects based on real-life people by reducing its subject to sterotypes." [17]
Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that film suffered in its dwelling less on the formative events of Gathers' life to concentrate too much upon his basketball career. [13]
Conversely, San Diego Union-Tribune felt the film was a fitting tribute to Hank Gathers' memory. [18]
Variety wrote that while some of the scenes were awkward, the film "sets a fine example of what a youth under pressure in North Philly can accomplish." They wrote that it is the growing relation of Hank Gathers with his college teammate Bo Kimble as friends and players that holds the viewer's interest, while making note that Gathers' off-court life remains "shadowy and vague". [11]
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located in downtown Los Angeles.
The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ten member schools across the states of California, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
In the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Division III, the Elite Eight consists of the two teams in each of the four regional championship games. The winners advance to the Final Four. Since 1997, when the NCAA trademarked the phrase, in Division II, the Elite Eight consists of the eight winners of the eight Division II regions. Like the Division I Final Four, the Division II Elite Eight games are all held in one predetermined location.
William Couturié is a film director and producer, best known for his work in the field of documentary film.
Eric Wilson "Hank" Gathers Jr. was an American college basketball player for the Loyola Marymount Lions in the West Coast Conference (WCC). As a junior in 1989, he became the second player in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season. Gathers was a consensus second-team All-American as a senior in 1990. His No. 44 was retired by the Lions, who also placed a statue of him in his honor outside their home arena Gersten Pavilion.
Gregory Kevin "Bo" Kimble is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Loyola Marymount Lions. As a senior in the 1989–90 season, Kimble was named a consensus second-team All-American as well as the conference player of the year in the West Coast Conference (WCC). He led the 11th-seeded Lions to the regional finals of the NCAA tournament after the death of teammate Hank Gathers. Kimble was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft with the eighth overall pick. He played three seasons in the NBA with the Clippers and the New York Knicks.
The Gersten Pavilion is a 3,900-seat multi-purpose arena in Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the Loyola Marymount University Lions. It was built in 1981 and has been used for home games by the university's men's basketball, women's basketball, and volleyball teams since January 1982.
Paul William Westhead is an American retired basketball coach. He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), American Basketball Association (ABA), and Japan Basketball League (JBL). In his first year as an NBA head coach, he led a rookie Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1980 NBA Finals, which they won in six games for the team's first title in eight years. Westhead won titles in both the NBA and WNBA, and he is also remembered as the coach of the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) men's basketball team. Westhead is known for an unorthodox, run-and-gun style called "The System.” He was nicknamed "The Professor" due to his former career as an English teacher prior to coaching and his tendency to quote Shakespeare and other literary sources while coaching. He attended Saint Joseph's University.
The 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I men's college basketball. It began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in Denver, Colorado. A total of 63 games were played.
George Henry Raveling is an American former college basketball player and coach. He played at Villanova University, and was the head coach at Washington State University (1972–1983), the University of Iowa (1983–1986), and the University of Southern California (1986–1994).
The Loyola Marymount Lions are the athletic teams that represent Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit institution in Los Angeles, California. The school competes in NCAA Division I and the West Coast Conference.
The 1992–93 New York Knicks season was the 47th season for the Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Charles D. Smith, Doc Rivers and Bo Kimble from the Los Angeles Clippers, acquired All-Star guard Rolando Blackman from the Dallas Mavericks, and Tony Campbell from the Minnesota Timberwolves, and later signed free agent Herb Williams in November. For the season, the Knicks changed their primary logo, adding a silver triangle behind a redesigned text of the word "Knicks" and an orange basketball. The team slightly redesigned their uniforms, replacing the previous Knicks logo with the newer logo on the right leg of their shorts. The Knicks' new logo remained in use until 1995, when they added the city name "New York" above their logo, while the uniforms lasted until 1997.
The 1989–90 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team represented La Salle University during the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by fourth-year head coach Speedy Morris, the team established the single-season school record for wins with a 30-2 record, including a 22-game win streak. National Player of the Year Lionel "L-Train" Simmons finished his collegiate career third in NCAA scoring with 3,217 points, and also accumulated 1,429 rebounds. He was the first player in NCAA history to score more than 3,000 points and grab more than 1,100 rebounds.
The Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball team represents Loyola Marymount University in men’s college basketball. The team currently competes in the West Coast Conference. The team has played its home game at Gersten Pavilion since 1981.
Jay Hillock is an American former college basketball coach. He was the head coach for six seasons in the West Coast Conference, four at Gonzaga in Spokane and two at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. Hillock was an assistant on staff at both programs before the respective promotions to head coach. His career record as a head coach was 91–78 (.538), and an even 39–39 in league play.
Victor Love is an American actor, best known for the role of Bigger Thomas in the 1986 movie adaptation of the Richard Wright novel Native Son, for which he was nominated the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.
The 1989–90 Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball team represented Loyola Marymount University during the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lions were led by fifth-year head coach Paul Westhead. They played their home games at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles, California as members of the West Coast Conference.
The 1988–89 Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball team represented Loyola Marymount University during the 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lions were led by fourth-year head coach Paul Westhead. They played their home games at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles, California as members of the West Coast Conference.
The 1987–88 Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball team represented Loyola Marymount University during the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lions were led by third-year head coach Paul Westhead. They played their home games at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles, California as members of the West Coast Conference.