30 FOR 30: GURU OF GO (TV)
Summary
One in this series of sports documentaries presented by ESPN about important people and events from 1979 to 2009.
This documentary profiles college basketball coach Paul Westhead and his tenure as coach for the Loyola Marymount University Lions from 1985 to 1990. After a career as a Shakespeare teacher, Westhead comes into basketball coaching; he is said to have often quoted lines from Shakespeare’s plays as a means of motivating his players. He is the assistant coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979 when then-head coach Jack McKinney suffers an accident, forcing him to fill in. He proves to be quite adept at coaching the Lakers, leading them to the 1980 NBA Finals against Philadelphia. That series features an early starting position by a then-young Earvin “Magic” Johnson, proving to be a pivotal moment for the Lakers as they win the championship. Meanwhile, future LMU player Hank Gathers grows up in poverty in the Rosen Project of northern Philadelphia, hoping to one day escape and make a better life for himself.
On November 19th, 1981, Westhead is fired from the Lakers, and in 1982 he is hired by the Chicago Bulls. However, his season with them goes poorly and he is fired from them as well. At Dobbins Tech high school, Gathers achieves notoriety on the school basketball team, along with similarly dedicated player Gregory “Bo” Kimble, especially after they lead their school to victory in the 1985 City Championship. Gathers is determined to gain opportunities to relocate himself and his family out of the projects. In 1985, Westhead takes a position as the coach of the Loyola Marymount University college basketball team, at the time a virtual non-entity in the college basketball world. Meanwhile, Kimble and Gathers play on the USC Trojans across town when their head coach resigns, replacing him with an unusually stern coach with little regard for them. Their scholarships are denied renewal, and based on recommendations they meet with Westhead and join the LMU team, intrigued by his highly kinetic play style derived from their mutual home territory of Philadelphia.
Westhead’s methods pay off as he coaches his players in a “run-and-gun” style of play derived from Philadelphia “street ball.” His philosophy is for the players to be constantly in motion so as to wear down the opposing team and leave them no time to react. He refers to this method as “the System,” and despite its detractors it gains popularity amongst the fans. His players recount the rigorous practice sessions Westhead coached in order to perfect their offensive structure, including exercises involving running up and down large sand dunes in order to build up speed. Their efforts pay off in the form of sustained speed throughout an entire game, and opponents are unable to keep up the pace. By the 1987-1988 season, LMU averages 110 points per game, far in excess of their rivals, and the figures increase from there. Gathers becomes the leading NCAA player in both scoring and rebounds, earning acclaim for his efforts. He sets his sights on the NBA and constantly feels that he must outdo himself and strive to be better. The only notable weakness of his play style is his notoriously poor free-throw shooting, which he fixes via the unusual solution of shooting his free-throws left-handed.
On December 9th, 1989, LMU plays the University of California Santa Barbara and Gathers suddenly collapses in the middle of the game. He soon gets back to his feet, and the incident is dismissed as a side-effect of the arena being too warm. However, a doctor examines Gathers and concludes that he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy caused by his oversized heart. He soon returns to the court, determined to “overpower” his condition despite the fatiguing side-effects of his heart medication. On January 4th, 1990, LMU plays a game against St. Joseph’s in an area near Gathers’s hometown, bringing in a highly excited crowd. The medicine has a deleterious effect on Gathers’s play and he goes virtually scoreless for the entire game. Kimble is forced to pick up the slack and manages to lead the team to victory. Gathers is disappointed in himself for failing his team, and decides to mostly forego his medication against his doctor’s orders, feeling responsible to the people counting on him.
On March 4th, 1990, LMU plays against Portland and Gathers plays well despite showing signs of physical distress. Partway through the game, Gathers suddenly collapses in the middle of the court. He regains consciousness and attempts to stand up despite the advice of the team doctor and his teammates telling him to lie down. A few minutes later he stops breathing and soon thereafter dies at the age of 23, leaving the entire arena in shocked silence. A funeral is held for Gathers, and Westhead delivers a eulogy comparing him to the Shakespearian character of Falstaff, “full of joviality.” The death of Gathers proves to be emotionally devastating for the rest of the team, but they decide to continue playing the season as a means of honoring Gathers. Westhead recounts that basketball became the team’s only source of “relief” from the grief of Gathers’s death. In the first game after Gathers’s death, the first game of the 1990 NCAA Tournament against New Mexico, the team plays with unusual aggression, and Kimble is nearly fouled out. He shoots his free-throws left-handed in tribute to Gathers, inciting an emotional response from the crowd.
The next round of the tournament sees LMU go up against Michigan, the defending national champions. Both teams play well, and the LMU players take victory over Michigan, feeling re-energized. Five days later, LMU plays against Alabama and wins despite the opposing team’s strategy designed to counter the System. Their run in the NCAA Tournament is finally stopped by the University of Las Vegas, who eventually go on to win the tournament. After the season ends, accusations are leveled against Westhead and several other members of the LMU team staff, believing that they were complicit in Gathers’s death by way of misinformation. The Gathers family sues the school, motivated by lingering anger over his death. A confusing jumble of suits and counter-suits ensues as many seek to assign blame to someone over Gathers’s death. The Gathers family suit is dropped after two years and a settlement is reached.
Westhead, motivated in part by his guilt over Gathers’s death, resigns from LMU. Over the ensuing years he takes up a number of other coaching positions, including with Denver, George Mason University, and even in Japan, all with generally low levels of success. In 2005, Westhead gets a coaching position in the WNBA and, along with former LMU player Corey Gaines, utilizes the System with them. After some initial setbacks, Westhead’s System seems to find new successes in the WNBA, including leading the Phoenix Mercury to victory in the 2007 WNBA Championships. He becomes the only coach to win titles in both the NBA and the WNBA. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ESPN
- DATE: April 3, 2010
- RUNNING TIME: 0:54:33
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 114717
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries; Sports
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Sports; TV - Public affairs/documentaries; TV - Sports
- SERIES RUN: ESPN - TV series, 2009-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Keith Clinkscales … Executive Producer
- John Dahl … Executive Producer
- Joan Lynch … Executive Producer
- Connor Schell … Executive Producer
- Bill Simmons … Executive Producer
- John Skipper … Executive Producer
- John Walsh … Executive Producer
- Bill Couturié … Producer, Director
- Anne Sandkuhler … Producer
- Mark Durand … Producer
- Steve Delsohn … Co-Producer
- Alexis Ercoli … Associate Producer
- Libby Geist … Associate Producer
- Mike Tollin … Consulting Producer
- Barbara Gregson … Researcher
- APM Music … Music by
- Pump Audio … Music by
- Non-Stop Music … Music by
- Tobo Music … Music by
- Paul Westhead … Interviewee
- Gregory "Bo" Kimble … Interviewee
- Corey Gaines … Interviewee
- Jeff Fryer … Interviewee
- Tom Peabody … Interviewee
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar … Interviewee
- Derrick Gathers … Interviewee
- Dave Hagan … Interviewee
- David Spencer … Interviewee
- Chip Schaefer … Interviewee
- Daniel Hyslop … Interviewee
- Maryann Hudson Harvey … Interviewee
- Diana Taurasi … Interviewee
- Hank Gathers
- Earvin "Magic" Johnson
- Jack McKinney