Fab 5 Documentary. March 13th on ESPN 8pm CST

[FirstTimer]

Saw a preview for it last night.

Two hours long.

Looking forward to it.


Anyone else?

 

[ralaw]

Oh yes.....when I was a kid I loved the Fab 5......I even read the book (and still own it) by Mitch Album. I had Michigan clothes, jerseys, hats, shorts, etc. I just knew I was Jalen Rose....left handed and all. Their influence went far beyond basketball and brought up a lot of social and cultural discussions.... I'll certainly be watching.

 

[mgoblue2290]

Is this part of the 30 for 30 presents I read somewhere ESPN was going to do?

 

[FedEx227]

This isn't apart of 30 for 30, I think it's a separate doc.

 

[FirstTimer]

This isn't apart of 30 for 30, I think it's a separate doc.

It is and it isn't. Simmons said 30 for 30 would keep making docs for the foreseeable future but they won't be part of the "the series". 30 for 30 will end up being an umbrella label for a lot of these documentaries ESPN will be coming out with.

 

[Herm]

I hadnt heard about this. Thanks for putting me onto it. I still remember watching those guys beat up Mashburn and company in the tourney. I remember what i was wearing and what i was eating

 

[Herm]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms_Dk3mndEQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms_Dk3mndEQ[/ame]


This was one of the best final fours to watch, 3 one seeds and a 2 seed Kansas. I know everyone loves the upsets in the first couple rounds but in the final four i want the beastly teams.

 

[Woy]

Can't wait!*



* = Trademarked by Bart Scott.

 

[Juggernaut]

Saw the preview and was totally excited, but then I forgot about it.

Thanks for the reminder.

 

[FirstTimer]

Oh yes.....when I was a kid I loved the Fab 5......I even read the book (and still own it) by Mitch Album. I had Michigan clothes, jerseys, hats, shorts, etc. I just knew I was Jalen Rose....left handed and all. Their influence went far beyond basketball and brought up a lot of social and cultural discussions.... I'll certainly be watching.

To this day I still root for Michigan basketball because of the Fab 5. I still wear black shoes with black socks for basketball.

I loved watching them when I was growing up and they were entertaining as hell. Still kind of shocking/interesting that they never won a Big 10 Championship...but that's a real credit to how stacked the Big 10 was at the time.

 

[Chrispy]

weird, as i was viewing this thread i saw the commercial for it :shifty:

 

[Senser81]

Oh yes.....when I was a kid I loved the Fab 5......I even read the book (and still own it) by Mitch Album.

The book was really good. Even though they didn't win a national title, it was pretty remarkable that they were so good right away. They probably should have won the title their second year against a pretty unremarkable UNC squad, but Webber was terrible in big games. Webber is one of the few players who had the height of a center and the coordination of a guard, yet he never could put it all together.

 

[NAHSTE]

I'm pretty excited for it. I'm a sucker for late 80s-early 90s sports docs.

 

[ralaw]

The book was really good. Even though they didn't win a national title, it was pretty remarkable that they were so good right away. They probably should have won the title their second year against a pretty unremarkable UNC squad, but Webber was terrible in big games. Webber is one of the few players who had the height of a center and the coordination of a guard, yet he never could put it all together.

Yeah, growing up I never really liked to read, but my cousin had it, so I got my dad to get it for me. It did a good job of not only talking about the Fab5, but also how the upperclassmen handled it. There certainly was some problems....I specifically remember mention of Rob Pelinka who played in the team and who is now a successful agent.

Webber was probably one of the more talented PF's the game has seen....he was very smart and skilled. Its crazy that he has career averages of 20ppg/9rpb/4apg, but most agree that he never really fullfilled all of his potential. IMO his biggest problems were he was often injured and that the game really seemed to come easy to him, so he didn't always have the greatest work ethic.

 

[IamMedellin]

coolio

 

[ralaw]

Jalen Rose criticizes Duke in upcoming Fab Five documentary

Jalen Rose criticizes Duke in upcoming Fab Five documentary

Almost two decades after they last suited up for a game together in their trademark black socks, black shoes and baggy yellow shorts, Michigan's Fab Five still has the ability to command headlines.

Sunday's debut of ESPN's all-inclusive documentary "The Fab Five" has generated buzz from coast-to-coast, especially after the network aired a clip from the movie on Tuesday featuring some inflammatory comments about Duke.

Reflecting on how they felt before the 1992 national title game against the Blue Devils, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson each said they wanted to beat Duke more than any other opponent.

"For me, Duke was personal. I hated Duke and I hated everything I felt Duke stood for," Rose said in the film. "Schools like Duke didn't recruit players like me. I felt like they only recruited black players that were Uncle Toms."

"The faces of Duke, I didn't like them," King said.

"I hated Duke. I hated Duke," Ray Jackson added.

In an interview with ESPN's "First Take" on Tuesday, Rose clarified that his comments were how he felt as an 18-year-old, but he didn't back off them entirely.

"Certain schools recruit a typical kind of player whether the world admits it or not. And Duke is one of those schools," he said. "They recruit black players from polished families, accomplished families. And that's fine. That's OK. But when you're an inner-city kid playing in a public school league, you know that certain schools aren't going to recruit you. That's one. And I'm OK with it. That's how I felt as an 18-year-old kid."
A phone call to Duke on Wednesday afternoon seeking a response to Rose's criticism was not immediately returned.

The jabs at Duke are just one of the intriguing elements of what's being billed as the most candid and thorough look at the Fab Five that has ever been produced. The 100-minute documentary also touches on everything from the Ed Martin scandal, to Ray Jackson talking about being "the fifth wheel," to the cultural impact of one of college basketball's most famous teams.

Since Rose helped produce the documentary for ESPN, it features nearly every principal and periphery figure in the Fab Five's rise except one: Chris Webber. Rose told the Detroit Free Press that he and his former teammates tried several times to persuade Webber to sit for an interview with no success.

"It was more than one swing at him [participating], it was the whole Detroit Tigers' up-and-down-the-lineup worth of swings," Rose said.

Even without Webber's presence, however, the documentary should be gripping TV.

Rose has hyped the project as the "bible" of the Fab Five. We'll find out Sunday if it lives up to that billing.

Jalen Rose criticizes Duke in upcoming Fab Five documentary - The Dagger - NCAAB - Yahoo! Sports

I don't know about others, but this is how I felt growing up about Duke.

 

[FirstTimer]

Sucks Webber won't be in it.

 

[Senser81]

I don't know about others, but this is how I felt growing up about Duke.

I don't disagree with what Rose said, but its not only true of Duke, its also true of pretty much every Big10 school (with the possible exception of Minnesota). They all have academic standards, and none of them really recruit inner-city kids. Michigan especially had high academic standards. I think they made an exception with Rumeal Robinson, but for the most part they recruited kids from 'polished families'. Steve Fisher broke the mold because he was corrupt and didn't care.

 

[DJ Rhude]

Looking forward to it, but I wonder why Webber didn't want to participate.....just about every kid rooted for those guys whether you were a Michigan fan or not......

 

[ralaw]

Looking forward to it, but I wonder why Webber didn't want to participate.....just about every kid rooted for those guys whether you were a Michigan fan or not......

The link below provides some insight into why. Its my understanding that Webber is still a little bitter about how UM handled the situation and how he feels people around UM see him as the reason why the school was issues sanctions.

DETROIT (AP) -- The two-year Fab Five era that featured teen-age swagger, promise, failure and eventually the taint of scandal at Michigan has been chronicled in a two-hour documentary to be aired on ESPN.

The project, produced by Detroit native Jalen Rose, a member of that heralded 1991 freshman class, will be aired Sunday night.

"The story of the Fab Five really has never been told," Rose said. "This is almost like the Bible of the Fab 5 story."

Rose approached ESPN Films about the project, and brought Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King into the effort. The documentary will include home video, photos and interviews with coaches and players.

Great things were expected when the five All-Americans stepped onto the school's Ann Arbor campus. Along with wins, the group brought an attitude not yet seen in college basketball. They wore long, baggy shorts, black socks and played with a flair more closely resembling playground basketball than the structured college game.

Rose said the film is not just about what happened on the court during the group's two brief years together in Ann Arbor before Chris Webber entered the NBA in 1993, and then was followed in 1994 by Howard and Rose.

Missing from the project is Webber, the team's superstar and part of a federal probe into money laundering. That investigation led to NCAA penalties and sanctions on the basketball program.

"At this point in Chris' life, he's not ready to talk about what happened at that time. It's still a sore spot for him," Rose said Tuesday during a media conference call. "Him not being a part of it in 2011 does not affect the integrity of it at all. The story still was going to be documented and it's still going to be told in a truthful manner. We felt it was something the fans have been clamoring for."

The Fab Five's legacy, including their consecutive runs to the NCAA title game, have been overshadowed over much of the past decade by the scandal. Prosecutors said now-deceased booster Ed Martin gave Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock more than $600,000 while they were student-athletes.

As part of self-imposed sanctions, Michigan took down banners -- including those for the 1992 and 1993 Final Fours -- and tucked them away in the basement of a library on campus. The school has largely avoided touting the Fab Five's legacy to boost its basketball program.Rose, Webber and Howard went on to long, successful careers in the NBA. The Associated Press left an e-mail message Tuesday seeking comment from Webber.

Ex-Wolverine Jalen Rose discusses film about Fab 5