In the state tournament, Milan High beat an even smaller school in the sweet 16 and then beat one of the greatest players in the history of the sport in Oscar Robertson. Robertson would get them there the next two years. The final four saw Milan beat two teams that were from much bigger cities and then finally you have the welcome home from 40, people in a town where just 1, lived.
To me, there is no doubt which is the better story. Powered by:. Meet our experts. Contains commercial content. Beating the Spread: College Football week Fire Zimmer?
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Top 10 Providers. Publish Date:. Growing up in Indiana I grew up in Aurora, Indiana, in the s and 80s when Hoosier Hysteria was still running wild through the state. The movie Hoosiers I loved Hoosiers and still do; the movie did show the world exactly what Hoosier Hysteria was like, but I think the original story of Milan would have stood on its own without the Hollywood embellishments.
So really maybe the white team with the asshole coach should have been the villain…? Why the Milan Indians were a better story Instead of a player showing up mid-season to save the day, maybe a better story would be a group of small-town Indiana boys who started playing basketball together as third graders, stay friends and as teammates win a state title. The real Hoosiers: The pitch The Milan story was of small-town high schoolers realizing a dream they had basically worked their entire lives for.
Previous article. Next article. Read Also. In Real Life Marvin Wood did face an uphill struggle, because he replaced Snort and changed both his offense and defense. In Real Life Clarence Kelly and Mark Combs were the assistant coaches, however neither were alcoholics and they did not have sons on the team.
In Reel Life Coach Dale is an outspoken and sometimes abrasive man. In Real Life Coach Wood was softspoken. In Reel Life Hickory is the ultimate Cinderella team, a classic underdog coming out of nowhere. In Real Life Milan High had made it to the semifinals of the state tourney in the season, and the key players returned the next season.
In Reel Life Coach Dale is a taskmaster during practices, running the players through drills. He does so wearing shirt and tie.
In Real Life Coach Wood often suited up and played with the team during practices. In Real Life Bobby Plump played the entire season. Similar to the fictional Hickory High in the film, it's true that there were only students enrolled at the real school Milan High.
However, unlike in the movie, 58 of the 73 boys at the school tried out for the basketball team. There were 10 players on the Milan team in , not six. Did the real-life Coach practice the philosophy of four passes before a shot? Did the team's manager really hit two free throws to win a game in the semi-finals?
The movie shows the team's manager, "Ollie," coming on to the court to hit two free throws to win a semi-final game. Milan's manager, Oliver Jones, stayed on the sidelines and never shot any game winning baskets. The only real similarity with the movie's character is the name.
Did Milan really win every game in the tournament with a final second shot? In the movie, Hickory barely squeaks by its opponents in the state tournament, winning each game with a last second shot. In real life, Milan won seven of its first eight tournament games by double-digit margins. Milan's tournament record is posted below. They were in the regular season. Coach Marvin Wood measured the height of the hoop at Butler University's enormous Hinkle Field House, where the state finals were played and where Wood himself played in college.
Coach Wood did this to "cast out their fear" by illustrating to his players that although the field house was much larger than their hometown gymnasium, everything about playing basketball was the same. Daniel Motto spoke of this moment at Wood's funeral in October of , saying that when he saw this scene in the movie Hoosiers , it was then that he realized the film was truly inspired by Wood.
Were the final game scenes in the movie shot at the actual field house? The scenes for the final game in the movie were shot at Butler University's Hinkle Field House, which was where the real life events behind the Hoosiers true story unfolded. The filmmakers could not find enough extras to fill the field house. Therefore, in order to give the large arena the appearance it was full, 1, extras had to be moved around the arena.
Filling Hinkle Field House was not a problem for the actual game. The arena was filled to the rafters, and tickets were being scalped outside for as much as fifty dollars. Is the announcer at the final game in the movie the real announcer? The announcer at the championship game in the movie, Hillard Gates, is the real life announcer who did the championship game. Did the team really win the championship in , coming out of nowhere?
In the movie Hoosiers, the Hickory Huskers emerge from nowhere to win the title. In real life, the Milan Indians won the title in not , with a regular season record. The Indians had made it to the semi-finals of the state tournament the year before, after the regular season. They were however, often considered underdogs because of their small school size of students.
Was the championship game won against the South Bend Central Bears? The real championship game was won against the Muncie Central Bearcats. Like South Bend from the movie, the Muncie Central Bearcats were a powerhouse team from a much bigger school. How much of the championship game played in the movie is accurate? Not much. In real life, Coach Wood ordered a stall twice during the final quarter.
Milan's star player, Bobby Plump, literally held on to the ball, without moving, for 4 minutes, 13 seconds, before taking a shot and missing with a few minutes still left on the clock. On Milan's next possession, Plump again stood stationary with the ball as the clock ticked down from to From the time the ball was in bounds after the final timeout, the movie was accurate.
Did the star player really convince the Coach that he should take the final shot? During the final timeout, with the score tied near the end of the movie, Hickory's star player, Jimmy Chitwood Maris Valainis , is told by the Coach that he'll be a decoy while the team runs its "picket fence" play, where a fellow teammate will take the last shot.
The teammate, who is uncertain of himself, looks to Jimmy, prompting Jimmy to say with confidence to his Coach, "I'll make it. What is a Hoosier exactly?
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