Six rewatchable scenes are offered, starting with the opening kids' game set to Candy Girl: the hat coming off, the boys' reaction, Quincy talking himself into playing, the foul and her touching the scar.
The soundtrack is praised (New Edition, Maxwell, Guy, Roger Troutman and more); Black-movie soundtracks of the era were often better than the movies and people rushed to buy the CDs.
The film opens with Al Green's Love and Happiness; Spotify playlists collect the soundtrack, including Simply Red's Holding Back the Years and the MTV Unplugged remake of This Woman's Work.
Monica getting the USC letter and going through the window to Quincy is the second pick; the championship game is mentioned as a possible rewatch too.
Monica taking the charge at USC to win the game and the locker-room and weightlifting scenes make the team feel real, compared to women's teams known at Holy Cross.
The response adds that the scenes show how competitive women can be, as A League of Their Own did, with the tension between Monica and Sidra, the senior whose job she is after, as a nice subplot.
The six-minute overseas stretch in Barcelona is a pick: it looks glamorous, but the underlying theme is that playing abroad with a coach yelling in Spanish was the only option for women's basketball; the other participant agrees it belongs.
Sidra's line that the Italians love Black women is described by the hosts as a common topic among Black women traveling in Europe, dubbed the Josephine Baker syndrome, both truism and stereotype.
The kitchen scene where Monica's mother slaps her is called probably the best-acted scene in the movie, paying off the mother character.
The mother-daughter tension is praised as real and making the turnaround rewarding; mothers and daughters are joked to be natural enemies.
The famous ending is the sixth pick: the one-on-one for his heart, Lathan's acting, Omar removing the brace, the You Make a Fool of Me song, the loss for Monica, and the jump to the WNBA game with her hyphenated jersey; called a great last 10 minutes.
The final game is judged solid though not Ray Allen versus Denzel in He Got Game; they pulled it off.
A beef on game point: Quincy shoves Monica down and dunks on her, called a microcosm of their relationship; the counterview is that he had hit rock bottom and needed a win, and in 2020 he would probably just shoot a three.
The second participant picks the argument over Quincy going pro, capturing the pressure on successful women to choose between a relationship and a career.
Monica being benched for showboating after the pull-up three is another pick, a teachable moment that starts her evolution as a teammate, along with her taking the charge, a selfless payoff.
The final stated choice is the last 10 minutes, from the basketball game to the WNBA ending; the packed Staples Center crowd raises doubts that early WNBA games drew like that.

Soundtrack; 11-year-old Quincy's 'you want to be my girl'; Dennis Haysbert; the casting; Black high school cheerleaders; the USC coach's haircut; Monica's life-you-want line; roommates watching the dorm drama; the college party scene; gender conversations; the ex-player's struggle; Zeke's meeting excuse

In the discussion (14)

Approx. transcript time · 00:53:58Read transcript

The soundtrack is epic.
Eleven-year-old Quincy asking 'you want to be my girl' is adorable; boys at the time usually asked 'will you go with me.'
Dennis Haysbert is one participant's what's-aged-best: Heat, Waiting to Exhale, Major League, then President David Palmer on 24, said to have paved the way for Obama, then the Allstate commercials.
Haysbert's roles often lean toward the no-good man, but here he is a caring father and bad husband, and Q's disillusion with his parents' marriage is a nuanced thread.
The casting overall aged well: Omar Epps reinventing himself every five years (House, ER), Lathan steady, Gabrielle Union, Monica Calhoun, and Kyla Pratt as young Monica.
The high school cheerleaders and their chants are saluted as the real Black high school cheerleader experience, compared with the sanitized All American version.
The film balances present-day themes with nostalgia, especially through the New Edition opening.
The USC coach's late-80s women's basketball coach haircut and shoulder pads are a perfect personification of coaches of the time.
Monica's line outside her house that as a kid you see the life you want and never think it will not turn out that way is called pointed, a good yearbook quote.
During the love triangle, the roommates playing video games and enjoying the drama, with a shout-out to Charles O'Bannon, is classic college.
The party scene where the relationship first explodes, with alcohol and an available girl, is a familiar college breakup.
The subtle conversations about gender, including the choice between personal and professional life and the lack of visibility for women, aged incredibly well in the hosts' view.
The complication of being an ex-player, shown through Haysbert's character trying to build a life after playing, aged extraordinarily well.
Zeke's 'tell mom I have a meeting, I'll be home later' affair excuse is offered for both best and worst: the worst excuse ever, from the worst cheater ever.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Hidden high school basketball cuts; Quincy's smirk before the love scene; the scar fall on the lawn; Quincy as a boyfriend

In the discussion (7)

Approx. transcript time · 01:03:50Read transcript

The cuts hiding Lathan's high school basketball jump out as a nitpick.
A participant's wife is upset that Quincy seems to laugh at Monica's body before the Maxwell-scored love scene; the other participant had not noticed but concedes he smirks.
Monica getting the scar by landing on the lawn after a shove seems implausible.
The rant about Q as a boyfriend: his unreasonable reaction to her curfew, immediately hooking up with someone else, and keeping her in the friend box until she sleeps with him.
The rant concludes it is less believable now than 20 years ago that they should end up together, noting he called her when Magic retired.
In defense: he is a bad boyfriend who probably cheats and repeats his dad, but realistic for a hyped NBA player's son.
The reply is that Monica spent much of the movie capitulating to his ego, and his claim she would never have to choose is doubted; rewatching left disappointment that she ended up with him.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Debbi Morgan as Quincy's mom

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:10:54Read transcript

Q's mom is played by Debbie Morgan, recognizable from soaps and from The White Shadow, where her character gave Thorpe VD.
The other participant grew up watching her on All My Children, sees that in this dramatic, flashy athlete's-wife role, says she nailed it and agrees with the pick.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Coach Davis

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:11:56Read transcript

Coach Davis could have dialed it back about 15 percent in a couple of scenes, including her 'when I'm riding you, that means I like you' speech.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Monica's USC teammates

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:12:27Read transcript

Candidates in a fertile category include Gabrielle Union early and a Chick Hearn cameo; Alfre Woodard is probably ineligible with too many scenes.
The first nominee is Sidra, strong in about four scenes and perhaps also worthy of That Guy.
Gabrielle Union's first-scene line about licking the sweat off Q is recalled as a running tease between friends.
Charles O'Bannon and Terry Cummings as the bartender are noted as sneaked-in cameos.
The counter-pick is the teammates, who sold the team bond visually with few lines; a Tar Heels friend was supposedly slated to be in the movie.
The award goes to the entire team, hailed as possibly history's first team Dion Waiters Award.

Apex Mountain

Sanaa Lathan; Barcelona professional women's basketball; early WNBA optimism

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 01:21:54Read transcript

Sanaa Lathan is a yes, with a big stock buy after this movie leading to good roles.
Asked about Oscar potential, the 2000 Best Actress nominees are listed (Julia Roberts winning, Joan Allen, Laura Linney and others); the year is called loaded and Linney is said to have deserved it.
A possible original screenplay nomination is raised, joked about as ignored by the Oscars committee; the five nominees are listed and Billy Elliot is said not to have aged well.
Omar Epps is called a no; the other participant makes the yes case from his longevity, escape from typecasting, and TV resurgence, saying he could put up a fight.
USC basketball is a no.
Barcelona professional women's basketball is a yes, and the other participant agrees.
The early WNBA seeming optimistic about the league's future is an emphatic yes; the film explained why the league was pushed: the players had nowhere to play.
Dick Vitale is later floated as a possible Apex candidate that should have been brought in.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Keep it as is

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:33:35Read transcript

The answer is probably, but don't; the movie is timeless.
The director has reportedly refused requests for a sequel picking up with their kids, which is welcomed.
A 2020 series about their high-school-age kid, with Monica perhaps a WNBA star, is floated and could work; it would earn a first-episode look if the director wrote it.
A 2015 quote has Lathan open to a sequel given a good script, as with The Best Man Holiday; an Epps quote says he and the director discussed it and you don't touch a classic.

Who Won the Movie?

Sanaa Lathan

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:39:34Read transcript

Sanaa Lathan won the movie, and the other participant agrees.
Beyond the performance, the reasoning is that she showed the nuances of being a woman, a female athlete and a Black female athlete, and spoke to women with an unconventional passion, such as a girl in Detroit wanting to be a sports journalist.
The second voter calls the character timeless and a role model for a daughter, and says she won the movie.

Podcast choices

Speaker not identified: Sanaa Lathan
Speaker not identified: Sanaa Lathan