Full Court Miracle
Encyclopedia
Full-Court Miracle is a 2003 Disney Channel Original Movie. It premiered on November 23, 2003. Inspired by the true story of University of Virginia
basketball
star Lamont Carr. The main character Alex Schlotsky is inspired by the true story of Alex Barbag and Chad Korpeck.
at Philadelphia Hebrew Academy, where he and his friends are on the school's struggling basketball team, the Lions. Without a good coach and with a dream of winning the Liberty Tournament and defeating their school's rivals, the Warriors, Alex and his friends are determined to find their own Judah Macabee to coach their team. During one day of practice at a local park, Alex finds what he believes is their coach—Lamont Carr, an African-American college basketball
star whose knee injury forced him to quit. After interrupting his practice, Alex and Lamont don't get off to a good start. The next day, however, Alex offers to pay Lamont to coach their team for a while; Lamont reluctantly agrees.
During the boys' first days of practice under Lamont's coaching, they become exhausted and frustrated with his coaching style, but an intervention by Alex inspires Lamont to help the team love the game of basketball. During the days leading up to the tournament, there are many hurdles Alex and Lamont must overcome—throughout the movie, Lamont is homeless after leaving his wife and son in Virginia
with the hopes of being signed by the Philadelphia 76ers
; Alex must balance his mother's desire for him to become a doctor as opposed to a basketball star. Also, among the challenges they must face is the school's principal, Mrs. Klein, who tries to see if Lamont is safe to be with the players. This leads to her one day trying to inconspicuously follow Lamont to where he goes in his van after practicing. With Alex knowing this and also knowing that Lamont is homeless, he tells him to go to a modern apartment complex where his dad is trying to get a tenant for a room he owns. While Alex opens the door for Lamont, Mrs. Klein is outside the complex. Lamont and Alex's dad compromise to an agreement where Lamont can live there for free until Alex's dad can find a tenant. Later, with the final game against the Warriors the players are looking forward to, Lamont tells the team that he received an offer for a 10-day contract from the Philadelphia 76ers and he was going to accept it.This means the Lions must try to win the tournament without their coach. The day of the final game, Alex finally confronts his mother and breaks through to her about his love for the game and she ends up convincing Julie to forgive him. However, the Lions have been successful, winning every game in the tournament. While the game is going on, Alex's mother drives Julie to the game, then goes to the stadium where Lamont is playing a game to try to convince Lamont to go to the who's van has broken down before he can leave for the airport. Once she arrives, she speaks to one of Lamont's opponents about Alex's dreams and understands him even more afterwards. After she finds Lamont, his car works again and she finally seems to start to understand.
The final game in the Liberty Tournament takes place on a stormy night, which eventually knocks out the power in the school's gymnasium. Resorting to the use of an emergency generator for the remainder of the game, the Lions and the Warriors play the duration of the game on the agreement that whenever the fuel in the generator runs out, the game will end and the team with the most points will win. The Warriors devise a plan to make sure it is them—when they are ahead in the game and it becomes clear that the fuel in the generator is moments away from running out, the Warriors call a timeout that lasts for the remaining time. The Lions are outraged and discouraged, until Lamont appears in the gym and encourages them to not lose faith. The power then once again goes out in the gym, and the Warriors celebrate what they believe is their victory—until the power comes back on soon after with the generator restarting even though it is out of gas. The final moments of the game consists of the Lions catching up to the Warriors, and with the final seconds on the clock ticking down, Alex passes the ball (as opposed to his usual selfish ways), allowing them to score the winning basket.
The entire school celebrates, and Lamont's wife and son enter the gym and plan to stay with Lamont, who reveals to the Lions that he plans to become their full-time coach. Alex's mother is finally convinced by him to let him play basketball and in fact only showed up at the end of the game so she could go get Lamont's family for him while he went to help the team. The final scene of the movie consists of Alex's and Lamont's families (with Alex's mother proving to be a good player) along with Alex's best friend Julie playing a game of basketball, while Rabbi Lewis' story of Hanukkah
and its relation to the basketball game plays over the scene.
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
star Lamont Carr. The main character Alex Schlotsky is inspired by the true story of Alex Barbag and Chad Korpeck.
Plot
Alex Schlotsky is a freshmanFreshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...
at Philadelphia Hebrew Academy, where he and his friends are on the school's struggling basketball team, the Lions. Without a good coach and with a dream of winning the Liberty Tournament and defeating their school's rivals, the Warriors, Alex and his friends are determined to find their own Judah Macabee to coach their team. During one day of practice at a local park, Alex finds what he believes is their coach—Lamont Carr, an African-American college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
star whose knee injury forced him to quit. After interrupting his practice, Alex and Lamont don't get off to a good start. The next day, however, Alex offers to pay Lamont to coach their team for a while; Lamont reluctantly agrees.
During the boys' first days of practice under Lamont's coaching, they become exhausted and frustrated with his coaching style, but an intervention by Alex inspires Lamont to help the team love the game of basketball. During the days leading up to the tournament, there are many hurdles Alex and Lamont must overcome—throughout the movie, Lamont is homeless after leaving his wife and son in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
with the hopes of being signed by the Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
; Alex must balance his mother's desire for him to become a doctor as opposed to a basketball star. Also, among the challenges they must face is the school's principal, Mrs. Klein, who tries to see if Lamont is safe to be with the players. This leads to her one day trying to inconspicuously follow Lamont to where he goes in his van after practicing. With Alex knowing this and also knowing that Lamont is homeless, he tells him to go to a modern apartment complex where his dad is trying to get a tenant for a room he owns. While Alex opens the door for Lamont, Mrs. Klein is outside the complex. Lamont and Alex's dad compromise to an agreement where Lamont can live there for free until Alex's dad can find a tenant. Later, with the final game against the Warriors the players are looking forward to, Lamont tells the team that he received an offer for a 10-day contract from the Philadelphia 76ers and he was going to accept it.This means the Lions must try to win the tournament without their coach. The day of the final game, Alex finally confronts his mother and breaks through to her about his love for the game and she ends up convincing Julie to forgive him. However, the Lions have been successful, winning every game in the tournament. While the game is going on, Alex's mother drives Julie to the game, then goes to the stadium where Lamont is playing a game to try to convince Lamont to go to the who's van has broken down before he can leave for the airport. Once she arrives, she speaks to one of Lamont's opponents about Alex's dreams and understands him even more afterwards. After she finds Lamont, his car works again and she finally seems to start to understand.
The final game in the Liberty Tournament takes place on a stormy night, which eventually knocks out the power in the school's gymnasium. Resorting to the use of an emergency generator for the remainder of the game, the Lions and the Warriors play the duration of the game on the agreement that whenever the fuel in the generator runs out, the game will end and the team with the most points will win. The Warriors devise a plan to make sure it is them—when they are ahead in the game and it becomes clear that the fuel in the generator is moments away from running out, the Warriors call a timeout that lasts for the remaining time. The Lions are outraged and discouraged, until Lamont appears in the gym and encourages them to not lose faith. The power then once again goes out in the gym, and the Warriors celebrate what they believe is their victory—until the power comes back on soon after with the generator restarting even though it is out of gas. The final moments of the game consists of the Lions catching up to the Warriors, and with the final seconds on the clock ticking down, Alex passes the ball (as opposed to his usual selfish ways), allowing them to score the winning basket.
The entire school celebrates, and Lamont's wife and son enter the gym and plan to stay with Lamont, who reveals to the Lions that he plans to become their full-time coach. Alex's mother is finally convinced by him to let him play basketball and in fact only showed up at the end of the game so she could go get Lamont's family for him while he went to help the team. The final scene of the movie consists of Alex's and Lamont's families (with Alex's mother proving to be a good player) along with Alex's best friend Julie playing a game of basketball, while Rabbi Lewis' story of Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
and its relation to the basketball game plays over the scene.
Cast
- Alex D. LinzAlex D. LinzAlexander David Linz is an American actor who starred in several late 1990s and early 2000s films and television programs as a child actor. His notable film roles include Home Alone 3 and Max Keeble's Big Move ....
- Alex Schlotsky - Richard T. JonesRichard T. JonesRichard Timothy Jones is an American film and television actor.Jones was born in Kobe, Japan and raised in Carson, California. He is the son of Lorene, a computer analyst, and Clarence Jones, a professional baseball player and the hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians. He also has an older...
- Lamont Carr - R.H. Thomson - Rabbi Lewis
- Sean MarquetteSean MarquetteSean Anthony Marquette is an American actor and voice actor.-Life and career:Marquette was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of Patricia Helen "Tisha" and Jorge Luis "George" Rodriguez, a nuclear engineer...
- Big Ben Swartz - Erik KnudsenErik KnudsenErik Kenneth William Knudsen is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Daniel Matthews in Saw II and Robbie Mercer in Scream 4 and played Dale Turner in the CBS series Jericho.-Life and career:...
- TJ Murphy - David Sazant - Joker Levy
- Sheila McCarthySheila McCarthySheila McCarthy is a Canadian film, stage, television actress, and singer. She is one of the most honoured actors in Canada, having won two Genie Awards , two Gemini Awards , and two Dora Awards among multiple nominations. As of 2007, she can be seen on the Canadian television series Little...
- Mrs. Klein - Linda KashLinda KashLinda Kash is a Canadian actress.An alumna of Second City, she played Trudy Weissman in the 1998 Jean Smart sit-com, Style & Substance...
- Cynthia Schlotsky - Jason BlickerJason BlickerJason Blicker is a Canadian film and television actor. He has had several small roles in television series including recurring roles on Robocop, F/X: The Series, State of Grace, NYPD Blue, Boston Legal as well as roles films such as Half Baked , The Day After Tomorrow and Hidden 3D .-External links:...
- Marshall Schlotsky - Cassie SteeleCassie SteeleCassandra Rae "Cassie" Steele is a Canadian actress and singer-songwriter best known for portraying Manny Santos on Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Life and career:...
- Julie - Jack Manchester - Tyler
- Ron Gabriel - Coach Simowitz
- Stan Coles - Larry
- Shawn Loucks - Referee Bob
- Gina Kash - Sarah Lewis
- Dan Willmott - Tow Truck Driver
- Elle Downes - Charmaine
- Malik Jardine - Kemper Todd