Product Details

• Actors: Pete Maravich
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: The Mendelson Entertainment Group
• Run Time: 65 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000P1516M
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,427 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Pistol Pete Basketball Diaries features rare footage, photos, and fascinating interviews, as it explores the life and college career of a spectacular basketball player known for his dazzling ballhandling, incredible shooting abilities, and creative passing. A star at Louisiana State University from 1968-70, Maravich holds nearly every major NCAA scoring record, including most career points (3,667), highest career scoring average (44.2 ppg), most field goals made (1,387) and attempted (3,166), and most career 50-point games (28). And he accomplished all this without the benefit of the three-point basket, which had not yet been introduced into the college game. Maravich played with style and flair, featuring playground moves and hotdog passes in his repertoire, introducing fans to an early version of 'showtime' basketball more than a decade before Magic and Larry. His shaggy hair and floppy socks helped cement his iconic image as the consummate gym rat who was never more comfortable than on the basketball court. 65 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS BASICALLY AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR A BOOK, May 2, 2007

By 

Gale M. Green "GG" (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Pistol Pete's (Maravich) Basketball Diaries (DVD)

While this DVD does have some B&W footage of Pistol Pete, it is limited. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised
when it clocks in at 65 min. A good deal of the disc is the author talking to another guy about Pete. The footage
they have obtained isn't the most flattering, though on occasion you do see glimpses of his star power. I hope
one day we can really have a decent video of the Pistol.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pistol Pete in College, May 28, 2007

By 

A Guy in Aiken (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pistol Pete's (Maravich) Basketball Diaries (DVD)

This appears to be a one hour television special with an interview of Mark Kriegel, who wrote a biography of Pete Maravich. Interspersed throughout the interview is B&W footage of his LSU games, including a few shots of his freshman year that I haven't seen anywhere else. The "bonus" feature is the second half of the Kentucky at LSU game of his senior year. It is disappointing in that the camera shots are long-range and there is no sound. Without commentary, it's sometimes hard to tell Pete from his teammates. Since the game was televised by CBS, I wish they had included that telecast with commentary. Maybe somebody will someday. If you're looking for your first "Pistol" DVD, I recommend "The Night of Pistol Pete" which covers his best game as a pro.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Low quality, May 24, 2007

By 

MT57 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pistol Pete's (Maravich) Basketball Diaries (DVD)

The first part of this DVD consists of an interview by the producer of the author of the recent book, Pistol. It is shot on a very low budget and, while the author has interesting points to make, the book probably has better production values than this DVD. Interspersed with that interview are a couple of conversations between some players who played with or against Pistol at LSU and they are unilluminating to be kind.

There is some b&w footage of Pistol and it makes for a good historical document but also of very low quality. Most of it is shot from a single point and with no sound.

Finally, this dvd does not cover his pro career except for brief discussion of the first year.

Having nothing to do with the DVD, I'm going to use this space to summarize my one and only chance to see Pistol play in his prime for posterity. In November 1970, his rookie year, Pistol came to Philadelphia (Spectrum) for the first time. It was one of his first games in the league. Back then, hardly anyone went to NBA games and my mom got 4 seats just a couple of rows off the floor for me to see my hero live. The powers that be set up the player intros so that the Hawks ran out of their tunnel one at a time - they were the visitors, mind you - mainly to milk the excitement over Pistol being in town for the first time. He was the last one to be intro'd, of course, and when he came jogging out, there were about a half dozen young women who leapt out of the stands and jumped all over him such that he had to slow down and run an obstacle course to get to his teammates. That was the phenomenon of Pistol Pete, and, at the end of this DVD, the author touches on the jealousy and racial tension that it triggered among older NBA players. You also learn from this DVD, and I am sure the book, that one reason for Pete's astonishing success in college was that many of the teams he played against were all or heavily white, and you can understand why he was not able to match that in the more racially balanced NBA of the 1970's, although he did ultimately wind up with a 24+ per game scoring average on 44% shooting (plus 4 boards and 5 assists per game) in an era without a 3-pt line (which only came in his last NBA year).

Anyway, it's wonderful that someone took the trouble to put this out but it isn't very good. Hopefully there will be a better video product on Pete someday.