HOOP LOOPSThe splendid "Hoop Dreams" and less-than-splendid "Basketball Diaries" are only the most recent films to attempt to translate the thrill of basketball to the big screen. In time for March Madness, here are some other three-pointers, slam dunks and foul-outs:
Hoosiers (1986): From chumps to champions. A spellbinding story starring Gene Hackman as the desperate high school coach who finally puts the past out of bounds. Co-stars Dennis Hopper as the town drunk.
One on One (1977): College jock Robby Benson learns to be a team player and a good student. Underrated cheerer with Annette O'Toole as Benson's sexy tutor. (Surprise cameo: a baby-faced -- but not baby-bodied -- Melanie Griffith.)
The Harlem Globetrotters (1951): "Wide World of Sports" ain't what it used to be, so if you want to see these phenoms in their prime, here's the place to go. Of course, if you're in the mood to suffer, you can always try 1981's "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island." No joke.
The Great Santini (1979): B-ball as power-play metaphor, with Marine Robert Duvall teaching son Michael O'Keefe the meaning of guts -- and sadistic parenting. Wife Blythe Danner keeps score.
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979): Jonathan Winters is the coach, Kareem and Dr. J. are on the team and Stockard Channing is the astrologer who saves the day by aligning everyone's auras. Somehow overlooked at Oscar time.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975): Not exactly a basketball flick, but who can forget the great patients-versus-orderlies matchup, with Chief Bromden as the lumbering eight-foot-tall goaltender?
Fast Break (1979): College coach beefs up his team with inner-city ringers in Gabe "Kotter" Kaplan's big-screen debut. We must have missed it.