Believe in Me

I just saw a screening of this independent film at the Santa Barbara film festival. The screenplay is an adaptation of a novel written for juveniles, Brief Garland, by Harold Keith, which was first published in 1974.

The film focuses on the character of the coach of a girls' basketball team in a small town in western Oklahoma during his first years at the school in 1964-66. He arrives to coach the boys team, but is maneuvered into the coaching job for the girls. Over the course of the film, he learns how to coach the girls, and helps develop a competitive team at a school where girls' basketball had never been supported before.

I watched the film with particular interest because I played high school basketball in 1964-68 in Tennessee, where, as in Oklahoma, we played the six-on-six half-court game that most girls played until after Title IX was passed in 1972. I was disappointed to see that the girls in the film played the full-court five-on-five game, which is slower, messier, and lower-scoring than the half-court game we played. By playing with fewer players, the court was less crowded, and girls had more freedom to drive to the basket. Since defenders made long passes to move the ball upcourt to the offensive team, the speed from end to end was actually faster than the boys' game!!

Had the film's auteur truly appreciated the game that the heroines of the film actually played in the sixties, he may have created an even more exciting film, with less forced editing to simulate speed and grace.

I know, I know, you don't believe me. Oh well . . . .

When I first heard about this movie what intrigued me most was that it was about a legendary basketball coach from Oklahoma...my home state. At first I thought it might be a Hoosier's formula movie, but after watching it for the first time, I realized that it stood on its own merits as a great story about dedication, trust, and how believing in yourself and having someone else believe in you can transform lives to inspirational levels. It is a moving story where a rag-tag group of small-town girls basketball players begin to believe in themselves because their coach believed in them. It is one of those "stand up and cheer" movies that will leave you feeling inspired...you will find yourself cheering for those girls.

I really enjoyed seeing this movie about a man I am acquainted with. It is an uplifting kind of movie that makes one feel good and helps restore one's faith in people. Jim (Coach) Keith is such a fine man it really made my day to see a portion of his life, that I was unaware of, brought to the screen for others to appreciate. I cannot claim to know the Coach well, but I worked several years where he coached in the late 70's and he was and is quite a good natured gentleman and a pleasure to be around. I hope in time this movie will get a lot of play on TV so others can appreciate the character of this fine man. It is a great family movie and if you are needing a lift then watch this movie. You will be glad you did!

met young actress Anne in Knoxville where she was attending a LadyVols practice after going to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame with her family- such a gorgeous young woman and so down to earth, AND a special actress~ This is an interesting story especially as it is true. Was interested to talk to young people after the movie who had no idea that "girls couldn't play" not so long ago. We have definitely come a long long way!

As far as the acting, they were pretty good but young actress Anne stood out- perhaps because of the deep personal meaning this movie had for her (she is a former player- coached by her dad- sis also former player coached by dad- AND mom and grammama both played!!)

It is clear to see the whole family is special. We all had to run down and see the movie and it is great! excellent time spent~ highly recommend it esp if you are into women's bb or sports herstory~

This is an excellent book/video that should be seen by every athlete, girl or boy, and those who coach them. The movie is full of action, yet tasteful enough that you can show it to young people. I visited with the actual coach of this team and he unsuccessfully fought to keep the six-on-six style of play in the movie. He requested to keep the book name and the movie name the same but that was nixed, also. I agree that for those of us who played this way, it was disappointing to watch the girls play five on five. I graduated in 1977 from a school about 30 miles from Sayre, where Coach wrote the story about. The movie is full of action, yet tasteful enough that you can show it to young people. Basketball ROCKS in southwest OKLAHOMA!!!!!