''The First Basket'' is a 2008 documentary film on professional basketball's influence on Jewish culture. It is narrated by

Peter Riegert Peter Riegert ( ;) (born April 11, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein in ''Animal House'' (1978), oil company executive "Mac" MacIntyre in '' Local Hero'' (1983), pickle store owner Sam Posner ...

. The film includes interviews and narratives provided by, and footage of, well known Jewish basketball personalities including

Ossie Schectman Oscar Benjamin "Ossie" Schectman (March 30, 1919 – July 30, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. He is credited with having scored the first basket in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which would later become the N ...

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

, Sidney Hertzberg, and

Edward Gottlieb Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

as well as other Jewish basketball players.

Structure

The movie is broken into four parts. The first part focuses on the 1946–47 New York Knickerbockers, and players such as Ossie Schectman, Sonny Hertzberg, Leo "Ace" Gotlieb, Ralph Kaplowitz, and Hank Rosenstein. The second part centers on how "Basketball Meant Being American," and the third part on professional basketball's development, including the start of the BAA and the NBA, the South Philadelphia Hebrew All Stars (SPHAs), basketball teams at City College of New York, Long Island University, and St. John's, and players including

Nat Holman Nat Holman (born Nathan Helmanowich; October 19, 1896 – February 12, 1995) was an American professional basketball player and college coach. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and is the only coach to lead his team ...

, Sammy Kaplan,

Barney Sedran Barney Sedran (born Sedransky; nicknamed "Mighty Mite"; January 28, 1891 – January 14, 1964) was an American professional basketball player in the 1910s and 1920s who is in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Career Nicknamed "Mighty Mite", the New ...

, Nat Krinsky,

Red Saracheck Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

Red Holzman William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1967 to ...

, and

. The last part centers on the beginning of the BAA and the NBA, Nat Holman, CCNY, and the 1951

CCNY point shaving scandal The CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1951 was a college basketball Point shaving, point-shaving match fixing, gambling scandal which revealed widespread bribery and match fixing involving major colleges and universities both in and around New York ...

and its impact on the NBA, and

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

Film festivals

It premiered at the FilmFest DC International Film Festival, and was shown at over 25 other film festivals.

Critical reception

''The First Basket'' received generally excellent reviews from critics. As of October 2010,

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported that 67% of nine professional critics had given the film a positive review. ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' reviewer

Ella Taylor Ella Taylor is a film critic who was a staff writer for the ''LA Weekly'' and Village Voice Media, writing film and book reviews, interviews, profiles, and cultural and political commentary from 1989 to 2009, when she and much of the staff were la ...

, said of ''The First Basket'':

''The First Basket'' is more than a triumphalist screw-you to those who think Jews don't play sports. . . David Vyorst's clear-eyed, jaunty documentary briskly walks us through the history of American Jews in basketball.

Film Journal International ''Film Journal International'' was a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It was a sister publication of '' Adweek'', '' Billboard'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and other periodical ...

'' reviewer Lewis Beale, said of ''The First Basket'':

An important historical document. . . engrossing and fun.

Music

Roberto Juan Rodriguez was the Musical Director and Composer on The First Basket: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. He is a musician who synthesizes Cuban music and Jewish music.

References

External links