Noah Cruise, a naturally talented basketball player, is determined to become a doctor using his basketball scholarship to UCLA pre-med, rather than succumbing to the lure of a former sports agent Vaughn, and his push for Noah to go for the NBA. Noah's best friend, Tech, the buddy that covered for him and did time for an assault charge, is also an outstanding basketball player, but has less lofty ambitions -- he wants to get his GED and win an underground street ball game against an arrogant rival, Jewelz. Noah and Tech's lives drastically change when they both fall in love with two local girls, Vanessa Lilly and Eboni Jackson, and take a fateful trip out to L.A. together.
(20 votes)
2.
It’s a game about ego and attitude and show. It’s where street cred and cash money meet each other head on. It’s streetball, the anything goes cousin to basketball where the only thing that’s not allowed is the flagrant foul. The streetball player’s moves include the killer crossover along with high-flying, death-defying slam dunks. They are gladiators in a new arena where the combatants have named themselves “Hot Sauce,” “The Professional,” and “The Violator.”
It happens underground and under the cover of night, but shines a light on dreams of crossing over to a better life, a dream that could die on the basketball court after every loss. Streetball: it attracts the big-money and the small time gambler, people invested in backing the winner who takes it all. All the money, all the ladies, and all the bragging rights.
This is the arena where Tech (Anthony Mackie) and his team “Enemy of the State” express their love of the game while making ends meet. Not a natural talent, Tech has worked hard at making a name for himself at the Train Station, the decrepit, abandoned structure that was once the glory of Detroit and now the site of big money games.
On the night of the game against Jewelz (Hot Sauce, aka Phillip Champion) and his team “Platinum,” Tech and Up (Lil’ JJ) loosen up and shoot hoops through a chain link net as Up quizzes him about basketball trivia.
A former NBA agent, Vaughn (Wayne Brady) is the defacto ruler of streetball in Detroit. For those in the know about the game, Jewelz hasn’t lost in three years, so the match between Platinum and Enemy of the State is not to be missed. Vaughn is maximizing the hype behind this game, prowling Seven Mile Road in his gangster black Chrysler 300 to pick up bets.
Over at the mall, Eboni (Alecia Fears) and Vanessa (Eva Pigford) pack up their make-up kits at the nail salon where they work, hustling to get to the game on time.
Noah Cruise’s (Wesley Jonathan) cell phone goes off in the middle of his lab class. A high school basketball standout with a gift for the game, Cruise is banking on a basketball scholarship to college so he can study medicine. It’s Tech on the phone, making sure that Cruise will show up at the Train Station. Tech makes it clear to Cruise: he owes him. It’s risky for Cruise to play underground ball even if he’s not accepting money, but out of loyalty to Tech, Cruise agrees to play.
The train station is alive with activity. The DJ spins loud, bass-heavy rap that thunders through the cavernous station. Cheerleaders demonstrate their best fly girl moves, thrusting and popping as Vanessa and Eboni take their seats along with the rest of the crowd. Vaughn’s girlfriend Nikki (Kristen Wilson), slips in and takes a spot along the sideline. Cruise pulls up in front of the train station on his Ducati, as Tech and the crew admire his ride. Tech and Cruise are the best players for Enemy of the State and they’re ready to take on Platinum and Jewelz.
It’s a tough game and Enemy of the State loses, 21-19. But Cruise’s performance, even on the losing end against Jewelz, catches Vaughn’s eye. Vaughn wants Cruise on his roster, because there’s a lot of money to be made behind a player with Cruise’s talent. But Cruise has other plans. Will the promise of money and fame be tempting enough to make Cruise abandon his goals? And what is the big secret that makes him so endebted to his best friend Tech?
(4 votes)
3.
Director and screenwriter Preston A. Whitmore II (THE WALKING DEAD) captures the phenomenon of streetball and brings it to the big screen in this tale about two old friends whose lives seem very different. Tech’s (Anthony Mackie) dream is to play basketball, but he isn’t quite right for the NBA and he can’t play college ball since he served time in his senior year and is studying for the GED. Instead, he plays the occasional game in an abandoned Detroit train station and hustles players all around the city with his friend Up (Lil J.J.) for quick cash. Meanwhile, his best buddy, Cruise (Wesley Jonathan), is a talented player who has been sweet-talked by agents and left with nothing--except the realization that education is everything. He’s counting on a basketball scholarship to a California university and a career in medicine--rather than his ball-playing ability--as the key to his future.
Life becomes more complicated when Cruise repays a favor to Tech and puts his scholarship at risk by playing streetball on his pal’s team in a game arranged by Vaughn (Wayne Brady), a former sports agent. Amazed by what he sees on the court, Vaughn is soon trying to woo Cruise with NBA promises, much to the delight of his new girlfriend, Vanessa (Eva Pigford, winner of AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL), who can only see dollar signs. When the unthinkable happens, Cruise and Tech learn that they are not that different after all, and that their friendship can withstand anything. Real streetball players, including Phillip "Hot Sauce" Champion, who plays the greedy and arrogant local streetball champ, Jewelz, are used throughout the film, which features plenty of riveting action. Alecia Fears also stars as Tech’s girlfriend, Eboni.
(2 votes)
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