So much hoopla: Ted Cruz’s ‘basketball ring’ gaffe irks Hoosiers Posted Apr 27, 2016 Republican Ted Cruz tried to reach out to Hoosier voters Tuesday by invoking the movie “Hoosiers,” but what he said certainly had a strange ring to it. Cruz attempted to recreate the iconic scene from the movie where Coach Norman Dale (played by Gene Hackman) tells players to measure the distance between the rim and the gym floor with a tape measure. (FOX 59)