Talk:Hoop Dreams

Can you make heads or tails of this paragraph?
Does this make any sense to anyone? Who is doing or saying what? "Freida Lee Mock, the director of the winning film Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, was accused by the press (which she recalled was unpleasant, exhausting and stressful) of cronyism who said that the award should've belong to the popular Hoop Dreams and having served several terms as Chairman on the screening committee while praising the film. Ebert apologized to the director after seeing the film.[41]"

Making of the film?
There ought to be some information here about the making of the film. Watching some of the intense personal moments captured in Hoop Dreams, I'm always aware that there must be a camera in the room, and I ask myself how all the participants agreed to be filmed in such circumstances. How can you expect a family to behave normally when they're being filmed for a PBS documentary - and how can anybody talk realistically with a coach or guidance counselor while on film? Are all of the scenes genuine, or were some of them reenacted for the cameras? I still wonder exactly how these two kids were recruited, not just for a high school scholarship, but for a long term documentary project. What did they hope to gain from it? What sort of contract or agreement did they make with the producers? This part of the story is untold in the movie, and I haven't found any detailed sources on the web either. Mtford 22:11, 18 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I finally watched the movie for the first time, and I came here to find out more about the making of it as well. My feelings are the same as Mtford - it would be nice to find out more about all of this was accomplished. Some things I wondered about: how did the writers/director decide on who to follow, how often did they check in with the boys to film them, how receptive were the schools/families to having cameras follow them, etc. Dlsimon (talk) 06:32, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Plot summary
Any suggestions for ways to include a plot summary? The only portion of the current article that seems, to me, to be a plot summary would be the paragraph that begins "The film follows...", and even that is very limited. A plot summary for this film would almost be a sort of biographical summary of the two boys as they progress through schools. GCD1 13:31, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Removal of "needs infobox" tag
This article has had its infobox tag removed by a cleanup using AWB. Any concerns please leave me a message at my talk page. RWardy 20:09, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Hoop Dreams.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 22:51, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Questionable Aftermath paragraphs
This paragraph seems suspect, since it is a recent addition with no attribution and a direct contradiction of information 2 paragraphs up (that neither young man made the NBA). Still, if he was even drafted/courted, it is an interesting bit of additional news or information and exactly the sort of thing I came to this article seeking:

When William Gates was older, he received a telephone call from Michael Jordan. Jordan was in the process of getting in shape to return to the NBA and play for the Washington Wizards. Gates was invited to a pickup game with Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and others. Gates was able to keep up with Jordan and had an impressive showing. He finally made the NBA after proving himself in that game before injuring himself before the first game of the season. William retired afterwards. But he proved he was good enough for the NBA.

Similarly, much of the aftermath text is unattributed and Aftermath paragraph 2 (the one immediately above this paragraph) was also not a very old insert (doesn't appear 30-50 revisions back... I rarely edit wikipedia so forgive my vagueness here; I lack any expertise on how to easily detec when changes happened beyond clicking a couple radio-buttons and viewing compare screens).

134.20.11.88 (talk) 21:53, 1 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I removed the paragraph in question. Gates never played in the NBA, and without a reference to support the Jordan story, we shouldn't include it. Anson2995 (talk) 23:06, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

There is plagiarized text in the Aftermath paragraph. The following sentences are copied directly from the 2004 chicagoist article linked here:

Gates has also risen above his earlier circumstances while giving back to the community as senior pastor at Living Faith Community Center in Cabrini-Green, where he works at the Kids' Club. On Thanksgiving morning 1994, Agee's older half-brother, DeAntonio, was gunned down at Cabrini-Green. In September 2001, Gates' older brother, Curtis, 36, was shot to death in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.

Several of the preceding sentences are also paraphrased in the same order and with very few changes from the article.--Mossinator (talk) 02:36, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Most of the removed paragraph ("When William Gates was older, he received a telephone call from Michael Jordan....") is true. I'm putting it back with a citation and some editing to improve it. Ian m (talk) 20:53, 29 August 2017 (UTC)

What Academy?
A paragraph starts out:" According to Roger Ebert, reliable sources said members of the Academy's documentary nomination committee had a system in which one would wave a flashlight on screen when they gave up on the film. When a majority of the lights flashed, the film was turned off. Hoop Dreams didn’t even make it to 20 minutes." This is the first use of the word "academy" in the article. This is very poor writing. The academy (presumably the one that gives out Academy Awards) should be clearly identified. 202.179.16.72 (talk) 08:59, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

Possible plagiarism
The whole "20th anniversary restoration" seems to be copied verbatim from this copyrighted article. Should it be considered plagiarism? --Danielba894 (talk) 19:39, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141224205400/http://chicagoist.com/2004/12/17/hoop_dreams_father_slain.php to http://www.chicagoist.com/2004/12/17/hoop_dreams_father_slain.php

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Spotchecks
, I realized after I promoted this that I should have been doing spotchecks. I checked several citations and just found one problem: -- Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:14, 21 September 2022 (UTC)
 * FN 3 cites "Its appearance at Sundance helped it secure a distribution deal with Fine Line Features, and the film opened nationwide on October 21, 1994." The source doesn't mention Sundance or how the distribution deal was secured.


 * Good catch, I cited the first half of the sentence to the oral history article. The second half is still supported by the NYT article. Ruбlov (talk • contribs) 03:42, 21 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Looks good. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 10:20, 21 September 2022 (UTC)