The film mainly tells the story of white coach Dan Haskins leading an all-black college basketball team to win the college league championship.
part1.
In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. was running around for the rights of black people, and Wilt Chamberlain was killing everyone in the NBA.
But the NCAA is still shrouded in a dark cloud of racial discrimination. Most of the black players are treated as simple-minded monkeys, unable to play and in a difficult situation.
Don Huggins, a high school women's basketball coach, received an offer from the remote Texas Western University one day to become the school's men's basketball coach.
On the day he took office, Hudgens quickly got bad news: the budget for recruiting new players was simply not enough.
With a little budget and a few scholarships, Huggins headed to high school to recruit players.
The sidelines were filled with scouts from elite schools like Duke and the University of Kansas, and no star player was willing to play for a stinky fish like Texas Western University.
After hitting the nails again and again, Hudgens noticed Bobby Joe. He has excellent physical fitness and is full of energy on the court, but because he is black, he can only play a few minutes in garbage time.
Huggins approached him, offered him a full basketball scholarship and promised him a starting spot.
"I don't look at skin color, I just look at your speed and skill."
Fed up with racism in the basketball world, Bobby was disheartened and wanted to give up, but he was moved by Huggins' sincerity.
The successful recruitment of Bobby Joe inspired Hudgens. The scholarship offer that white players looked down on was a rare treasure in the eyes of black players. In the end, they successfully recruited 7 black players and completed the formation of the team.
No one would have thought that their names would be engraved in the sanctuary of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
part2. Run-in
After all the staff assembled, the long running-in process began.
Texas is the southernmost state in the United States. In that era of serious racial discrimination, there was very little communication between blacks and whites.
The new black players and the original white players disagreed with each other. When they first met, they played 3v3 with cabbage and trash cans in the restaurant.
Players do not know each other, and the more serious conflict has to be between coaches and players.
Huggins is a serious orthodox academy coach who sets the rules for his players:
You are not allowed to drink, you are not allowed to have girlfriends, you must take classes well, you must not do fancy moves on the court, you must be tough to the end.
Most of the black players come from the streets and are used to being free and loose. I have never seen this before.
Hudgens used sticks and lollipops to resolutely prevent players from hanging out on the court, and the training intensity was full.
The coach's concessions allowed the team to completely complete the run-in.
part3. The thorny road
This black-dominated college basketball team has won consecutive victories, which has attracted a lot of attention.
Their opponents were never just the opposing basketball team, but also the deep-rooted discrimination and disgust against black people in the southern United States at that time.
The team went to the restaurant, and the players who went to the toilet alone were beaten by the local ultra-white crowd and their heads were shoved in the toilet.
The coach's family would receive threatening letters warning him not to use black players.
Before entering each game, extreme white fans will be stuck in the exit and madly abusing black players.
In the hotel where the team was staying, extreme white fans would break into the room and write on the walls in blood, "Death to niggas."
Finally, under this heavy pressure, the players collapsed.
In the face of Seattle, the Miners fell apart and suffered their first loss of the season.
In the locker room after the game, there were dark clouds and a quarrel, and everyone told their grievances and grief.
Huggins came out:
In the face of those thugs, those injustices, are you going to shrink your neck and back down, or go ahead and punch them in the face?
The lads of the miners were back on their feet.
In the crucial semifinals, the opposing superstar, Jojo-White, who later played for the Celtics, stepped on the line and the lore was invalid. The Miners beat the University of Kansas in double overtime and advanced to the annual NCAA finals.
Now, they are one game away from that glorious peak.
part4. Glorious apex
In the final final, the Miners team's opponent is the University of Kentucky led by coach Rapp. The team's leading star is now the godfather of the Miami Heat, Pat Riley.
Before the final was seen as a real-life David-Goliath matchup, Texas Western University looked like it had no chance compared to four-time champion Kentucky.
Old-fashioned and iron-blooded, the old coach Rapp dismissed the black boys of the Miners in the pre-match interview.
Even if they only lost one game all season, they still won't earn respect.
"Black players can run, they can jump, but they don't have brains, they're not athletes, they're monkeys."
Fed up with these clichés, Huggins decided to declare war on racism in basketball once and for all:
In the final, he decided to use only his 7 black players.
The difficult and exciting game process is omitted. In the end, Texas Western University won the game 72-65 and won the NCAA championship.
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