This is one of those posts about a personal theory that I have. Now a lot of people will rage about this because that is generally happens when I write one of these. So read it, see what you think and then tell me to eff off and move along.
The Hoosier myth comes from something Spike Lee said about the movie Hoosiers. The idea is that though hard work five white guys can defeat vastly more talented black guys. Now, I think there is something too this, like the idea of the great white hope in boxing back when you know, people cared about boxing. But like Spike Lee does too often, he overstates his case, like saying if Larry Bird was black he’d be considered average, allowing people to dismiss everything he says.
I started thinking about this when people on message boards starting saying, Jim Boylen should recruit more, “high IQ Utah kids.” Despite their protestations the phrasing is obvious, they mean white kids. Then I started thinking about how much basketball is a part of Utah culture. Every kid in Utah spends a great deal of time playing some kind of basketball. Every LDS church has a gym. The Junior Jazz program is so big, I think every male Utahn is required to coach it at some point in their life.
All this being around hoops makes people think they know basketball. And the idea of the Hoosier myth plays right into this. Because Utah has a great deal of unathletic white guys, it appeals to a great deal of them that if they practice fundamentals just enough, they could hang at Rucker Park.
The other thing about Utahns is they are very provincial for lack of a better word. They seem to take time to warm up to or trust outsiders and there are also some quirks. Between the two, Utah is a odd place to try and coach basketball. In fact, Jack Gardner, Jerry Pimm, Lynn Archibald, Rick Majerus, Ray Giacolletti and Jim Boylen all left on bad terms in some manner, despite a great deal of success among them.
So what does all this mean?
It means that there is a very short leash for Utah hoops coaches until they can win a great deal and prove they are, “of the people.”
First there is the case of Ray Giacolletti. Ray’s great sin was being the poor bastard who was willing to take the job after the Majerus debacle. Ray in his first year made sure Andrew Bogut came back, won the MWC and the tourney and went to the Sweet 16. And no one even smiled at him for doing it, this broke Ray.
Next comes Jim Boylen, brought in with a broken team and a horrid APR meaning he couldn’t dismiss 10 guys. He makes them champions in two years. He makes a recruiting mistake in year three and gets no real chance to correct it. Jim’s quote on the way out the door, something to the effect of, “it takes a lot of time to figure out how things work around here,” is pretty telling.
So what does this mean for Ute hoops. Well Ute hoops needs stability (and talent) badly. Since 2000, six guys have spent serious time as head coach, Majerus, Hunsaker, Rupp, Giacolletti, Boylen, Krystokowiak. No program can survive that no matter how good all of those coaches are.
The other thing I’ve noticed is that people are vastly more welcoming to Coach Larry than they were to Giac or Boylen. Its almost that between being from the Montana and having played for the Jazz almost makes him “of Utah.” Plus all those unathletic white guys can see themselves in Larry. Larry is the personification of the Hoosier Myth for flabby white guys all over the Salt Lake Valley.
I think this is shown in the vitriolic way in which this Larry hire is defended even though its really indefensible. He was a college head coach for two years. A NBA one for two minutes and not much else. He was known as a bad to indifferent recruiter and no one else was seeking him out. Yet Ute fans are ready to fight that he is the right guy, and its based on nothing. Or is it.
I think its based entirely on the way the Hoosier Myth is embraced by the Ute fandom. When they defend Larry with all their might despite no real evidence he should have been the hire, they are defending all that they believe about themselves, that fundamentals and well drawn inbound plays will conquer Rucker Park.