A well-made sports documentary can be far more compelling than any scripted drama. Theres no guarantee of a happy ending, no way to know how things are going to pan out for the characters in your story. There are real people behind it, genuine dramas unfolding in real time. Netflix has had a runaway hit on its hands recently with the competitive cheerleading series Cheer, but theyve also produced another stellar sports documentary series that may have slid under your radar in the last year Basketball or Nothing. And today, the day when March Madness 2020 was supposed to have launched, you need it more than ever.

This six-episode series follows one full season of the Chinle Wildcats, a boys high school basketball team in remote Chinle, Arizona, located in the Navajo Nation. The team has seen success in the past despite some disadvantages, theyve won regional titles and even advanced to the state Final Four. This year, though, they hope to do something no Chinle team has ever done bring a state championship back to the rez. Leading their charge is veteran head coach Raul Mendoza, who brings 40 years of coaching experience to his first year at Chinle. He finds a team with the passion to compete, if not the discipline and focus required to become champions. Its a storyline straight out of Hoosiers or Friday Night Lights, but the drama is only heightened by the knowledge that its real and unfolding before the cameras.

Mendoza inherits a roster with genuine talent star point guard Cooper Burbank is a once-in-a-generation talent for a school like Chinle, a player with Division 1 college aspirations. He and his teammates play a style of basketball they refer to as rezball, a fast-paced, loose, run-and-gun style that makes up for players lack of size by trying to outrun opponents. This style and its lack of priority given to playing defense frustrates the old-school Mendoza, who knows theyll need to become a more well-rounded team in order to go all the way.

This isnt just a sports story, though. Were shown the stakes for the players, many of whom are hoping to use basketball as a means to leave the reservation hoping for college scholarships, good jobs, and the money to provide a better life for their families. Poverty is widespread in the town, and like many towns, drug and alcohol abuse are rampant. There are few options provided to these kids. The game offers a slim but real sense of hope.

Through on-screen interviews and extensive time spent on their home lives, we really develop a connection with the players in Basketball Or Nothing good kids who want to do right. The most compelling story might be that of senior Josiah Tsosie, an undersized player who succeeds on sheer determination. His father abandoned his family when he was young, and Tsosie wants nothing more than an ability to provide for his single mother and younger sister. He speaks often of his dream of attending Arizona State University to become an electrical engineer, but knows that an athletic scholarship is likely out of reach. We also meet senior Chance Harvey, a sweet, thoughtful player whose father passed away unexpectedly when he was young; senior Dewayne Tom, who balances his athletic and school activities with responsibilities on his familys cattle farm, and junior Angelo Lewis, a talented big man who doesnt see college in his future. Each player is given substantial off-court screentime, which only serves to make the basketball drama more compelling as it unfolds.

And it is dramatic. The Wildcats season is an up-and-down struggle, punctuated by early losses and a devastating upset loss to an archrival. They often find themselves digging out of deep holes early in games, only to rally in sports-fiction-worthy fashion for buzzer-beating finishes. Coach Mendoza rails at their lack of discipline and makes lineup changes, while still serving as a comforting father figure to the players. By the time Chinle makes the regional playoffs, theyve already lived well more than a seasons worth of drama.

The best sports stories are about more than the game. Theyre about human dramas, the struggle and strain behind the box score. Stories of Native life are badly underrepresented in our culture, and Basketball Or Nothing uses the story of the Chinle Wildcats season to teach us about the lives, values, challenges and dreams of people that might not otherwise have their story told. When senior Tsosie learns something critical about his college aspirations in the final episode, its a tear-jerking moment that has little to do with the season thats just completed. Its not just a sports story its a human story.

Scott Hines is an architect, blogger and internet user who lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife, two young children, and a small, loud dog.

Stream Basketball or Nothing on Netflix

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'Basketball Or Nothing' on Netflix Will Fill The March Madness-Sized Hole In Your Life - Decider