Bad Sport (TV Series) Hoop Schemes (2021) User Reviews

The Magic Number Six.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 11 October 2021]

What a fascinating watch this was, I don't know a huge amount about basketball, but I do understand gambling. This documentary looks into the who, what and how of fixed matches, the motivating factor of course being money.

First off, I can't believe what these guys were living on, this was the 90's, not the 50's, I'm not justifying what they did, because of course it was wrong, but you can understand the temptation.

It really is a great watch, it's factual and informative, the insights ate great, as is for footage.

I'm not sure the guys involved used any sense, they could have got away with this, but again it's temptation.

Great watch, 9/10.

Ingesting story

[Calicodreamin · 8/10 · 8 October 2021]

A very interesting story about point shaving in college basketball that really highlights the discrepancy between players and those with money. The documentary was well made and the parties interviewed were relevant.

Sports is such a disappointing venture

[Agent10 · 8/10 · 18 October 2021]

I grew up in ArIzona and was a fan and eventual alumni of ArIzona St.'s rival the University of ArIzona. I remember laughing about this because ASU was the under achieving little brother to my Wildcats. ArIzona fans complained for years that our top rivals were getting at least one easy win on the ArIzona Road Trip.

Anyway, hindsight really brings to light how stupid and sad this story was. First of all, it was ASU. Someone was eventually gonna find out due to the relative anonymity of the university on the college basketball landscape. Second, it was ASU. I mean seriously, couldn't they have chosen a bigger named school? Plus the quote that ASU's basketball program was a sleeping giant was pretty laughable. ASU was a football and baseball school, never a basketball school.

Anyway, this was a pretty solid documentary that described the ins and outs of how this scandal came to be. I was rather shocked by the scheme, for running money into multiple casinos is pretty insane to me. I was even more amazed that one man made five million on this nonsense.

The only thing I didn't like was the fact they did not get any perspective from Bill Freider. I always liked him and felt the program was moving in the right direction with him. The players he recruited did help the program until the mid-90s, but the school fell into another abyss shortly after. With a massive distrust toward the school it was a miracle if he could recruit at all. He never coached again after he left in '97, and he might be the one most affected by the story. I also felt bad for Stevin Smith. For those that watched him up close, he was a more physical version of Stephen Curry, and had no issue with launching (and routinely making) long range shots. It was a shame his vices got the best of him. As for perpetrators that marked him and Isaac Burton, I just wish they had gotten more jail time.

Anyway, I knew most of the details of the story due to seeing unfold in real time, but it was a nice trip down memory lane. A few more participants and this would have been an extremely riveting documentary.

Sad schemes, great story

[JustHavingALook · 8/10 · 20 October 2022]

When they say Netflix documentaries all look the same... well this looks great!

Really good job in moving the story forward even though we already know the outcome.

Mind you: don't really know much about basketball or gambling, "fixing" games and so on..

Editing is especially on point: tight when needed and with the right amount of breathing room, funny moments and reaction shots. Love when the tension is rising... those kids...

The story itself... well it's always a bit mind-blowing to listen to the main characters narrating what they did (bad, very bad stuff) on camera.

Footage from the 90s' looks neat! And the reenactment... I have to say they did a fairly good job.

Recommended!