In the tradition of his last two films, "Talladega Nights" and "Blades of Glory," comedian Will Ferrell looks to the world of sports for source material.

With "Semi-Pro," Ferrell's target is professional basketball in general, and the American Basketball Association in particular.

For those unfamiliar with the ABA, it was a league that promoted itself as an alternative to the NBA from 1967 until its demise in 1976. Known more for its sass and flash than for professional-level basketball, the ABA has become something of an amusing footnote to the basketball history of the 1970s.

So much so that many interesting stories could be generated from the teams, players and cities the ABA called home. Unfortunately, the tale that drives "Semi-Pro" is not one of them.

Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, a doofus who comes into a financial windfall when "Love Me Sexy," a song he purloined from his mother, becomes a big-time disco hit. Moon used the money he made from the song to purchase the Tropics, an ABA franchise in Flint, Mich.

Of course, since it's his team, Jackie installs himself as a player and the coach, which isn't as self-serving as it sounds because the ragtag collection of players that make up the Tropics are only slightly more athletic than Moon. Plus, Jackie isn't as concerned with fielding a winning team as he is with fronting promotional set pieces.

That changes when the league accepts an offer from the NBA to merge. The problem is that only the top four ABA teams in terms of record and fan attendance will be accepted.

Realizing an actual opportunity for legitimacy, Jackie trades for Ed Monix (Woody Harrelson), a former NBA point guard. The item traded for Monix is a washing machine, because with bad knees, a drinking problem and a surly attitude, Monix's best days are clearly behind him.

Here begins just one of the many problems that afflicts "Semi-Pro."

Ferrell is his usual off-the-wall self, while Harrelson is intensely serious, barely cracking a smile. In essence, audiences are presented with one actor who is a foul-mouthed court jester in search of a comedy, while the other is a brooding thespian looking for some deep character drama.

Similarly, director Kent Alterman is equally unsure of what kind of film he's helming. Parts of it play as satire, others as farce and still others as poor attempts at romantic comedy. Then there are segments that clearly are filmed improvisational scenes that, sadly, are amusing only to those scenes' participants.

Screenwriter Scot Armstrong doesn't offer up a coherent script as much as he outlines a plethora of sketches for Ferrell and his comedian buddies (Will Arnett, Andy Richter, Tim Meadows, Andrew Daly and Matt Walsh) to try to tie together.

What passes for comedy in "Semi-Pro" is tasteless locker-room humor, Ferrell looking for new and humiliating ways to debase himself and a cavalcade of outlandish fashion from the '70s.

If the film has anything going for it, it might be a fine soundtrack of music that reflects the auditory tastes of the '70s. But "Semi-Pro" is supposed to be a comedy, not a musical.

Yet, it isn't even really a good comedy, sports parody or farce.

It requires basketball terminology to best sum up what "Semi-Pro" is: It's the proverbial brick.