Pickup basketball in L.A., choreo-graphed by writer-director Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) from the first dunk shot to the last hissed "muthafucka," inspires a series of comic riffs between Sidney (Wesley Snipes), the black hoop master, and Billy (Woody Harrelson), the nerdy white boy who cons him. Snipes and Harrelson are natural athletes as well as actors, and their raunchy byplay has a muscular poetry.

Shelton also provides parts for two feisty actresses -- Tyra Ferrell, as Sidney's no-bull wife,…