Give Dakich a break!

[CrazyFan]

I guess I'll throw my two cents in. I think Dakich is a very, very good game coach. He is a great coach to represent the university and the community. What concerns me, at this point, is that the program is not getting any better. It seems the program has been stuck in a rut the last couple years....finish in the middle of the pack in the regular season, win a MAC tournament game and then lose at the Gund. I don't see that there is much promise for the future the way things have gone. With that being said, I don't think Dakich should be fired. I think he has the ability to bring the program back to the top of the MAC. Every program will have down years, so I think DD should be given the opportunity to win again and get this program to the NCAA tournament for the first time in forever. If he doesn't do it within 3-4 years, then I think Mr. Krebs or whoever is leading the athletic department, should look elsewhere for a coach. I also think DD would be crazy not to jump at another opportunity if it arises, even if it is at another mid-major. There would likely be more money, more conference tournament bids and much larger crowds to play in front of! I just hope that if he is looking at other jobs he is not telling us, the fans, that he is committed to BG and is not interested in leaving (see Urban Meyer).

I was never a big fan of Jim L. I thought he was a terrible game coach and he was not well liked within the community. He brought in some great players and the '97 team with AD, Jay L, Stacey and others was the best team in the MAC (and probably one of the best in BG history) and they couldn't even get to the MAC title game. It was Coach L's time to go.

Well said. The fact that they don't seem to be improving and the lack of talented players in the program is why I think a change is needed. The past few seasons I am just not seeing the talent that a mid-major D1 school should have.

And the fact that they graduate players is great, however, isn't that expected? Kind of like when Chris Rock did a stand-up routine about men who say they "take care of their kids!" "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR KIDS!"

I think the program has talented players; Somarco, Wright, Marschall. I think the whole demise comes down to one problem: we don't have that big inside presence to compliment Lefeld. We don't have a Matela/Klassen or a Netter/Almanson combo like we have had in previous seasons which in part is due to transfer's, which happens. We just have to weather the storm people. We will be good again. Give it time. If you look at the records before this year, every since our monster year in 02 (and losing all those starting seniors) we have gradually progressed in the win column. This year we got killed by transfers and our record won't show the progression.

And these days I don't think it's expected. That's why everyone is constantly comparing graduation percentages in certain sports because were comparing each other. If it was expected their would be no reason to compare because everyone would strive to do it. But then you look at programs like Cincy. What happened to those expectations? There not that great of an emphasis on academics in a lot of sports programs anymore. It's more of a win first study second atmosphere, in my opinion, and I may be way off. And to have a coach that puts academics #1 and still competes on the court or on the field, but maybe doesn't produce "great" teams, is still a keeper of a coach to me.

[hammb]

Well said. The fact that they don't seem to be improving and the lack of talented players in the program is why I think a change is needed. The past few seasons I am just not seeing the talent that a mid-major D1 school should have.

This is my biggest Dakich peeve. Over the past 4 years we've only brought in so many guys that are above average athletically for this level of competition. Most of those guys are no longer with the team.

It's not just the pure number of transfer's that's so disconcerting, it's the type of players that we're consistently losing. For some reason he seems to have a problem recently getting the top line athletes to buy into his system. They then leave. It's very frustrating to lose players to transfer. It's even more frustrating when so many of those players fit the same bill: Hobson, Rosefelt, Lewis, Moss, Crawford, and Vandermeer. They may have all left for different reasons, and all had differing levels of success before leaving here, but still they are similar players in that they all had above average athleticism for the MAC.

Then you look at the players that have stuck it out and a great deal of them are of the opposite ilk: Eyink, Reimold, Almanson, Klassen, even Matela.

There are obviously some exceptions with McLeod & Netter, superior athletes, sticking it out, but in general it seems to be a pretty disturbing trend. I could be way off base and there is nothing to this, but it is a scary trend to me. Most of the guys who end up sticking around here are the ones who can bust their tails and give 110%, (cliche, cliche) and they are still only average or slightly above average. While the guys with the natural talent to become stars in the MAC are leaving...


Still not ready to call for his firing...just trying to make conversation

[orangeandbrown]

At one point I was one of the biggest Dan Dakich fans in the world.

It is as plain as day to me that the Dan Dakich coaching our team the past 3 years is not the same Dan Dakich that coached our team in his first four years here. At one time he was the young fiery coach who did everything to get his kids to buy into his philosophies and they all laid it on the line to win for/with him.

Now he seems like an almost tired man with no answers to what our problems are. He tries to push kids and they just transfer and he remains baffled. I don't know what has changed in the past 4 years, but it's obvious something is different. Either he's changed, the climate of college basketball has changed, or something. I don't know, but I don't like what we've been forced to watch the past 3-4 years...

This is what I think most of the people with concerns about our program fear most.

I have heard all these comments about what a good coach he is, and note that many of them come from coaches who have just beaten us, or from an amazing lovefest from Mike Reghi during last night's game. I want them to be right, but what I see makes me worry for the future. Plain as that.

As I have said on other threads, I like Dan Dakich a lot. Our program needs to turn around. I hope Dan Dakich is the one who does it.

That Antonio Daniels thing was a scream.

[clevelandfalcon]

Well said. The fact that they don't seem to be improving and the lack of talented players in the program is why I think a change is needed. The past few seasons I am just not seeing the talent that a mid-major D1 school should have.

This is my biggest Dakich peeve. Over the past 4 years we've only brought in so many guys that are above average athletically for this level of competition. Most of those guys are no longer with the team.

It's not just the pure number of transfer's that's so disconcerting, it's the type of players that we're consistently losing. For some reason he seems to have a problem recently getting the top line athletes to buy into his system. They then leave. It's very frustrating to lose players to transfer. It's even more frustrating when so many of those players fit the same bill: Hobson, Rosefelt, Lewis, Moss, Crawford, and Vandermeer. They may have all left for different reasons, and all had differing levels of success before leaving here, but still they are similar players in that they all had above average athleticism for the MAC.

Then you look at the players that have stuck it out and a great deal of them are of the opposite ilk: Eyink, Reimold, Almanson, Klassen, even Matela.

There are obviously some exceptions with McLeod & Netter, superior athletes, sticking it out, but in general it seems to be a pretty disturbing trend. I could be way off base and there is nothing to this, but it is a scary trend to me. Most of the guys who end up sticking around here are the ones who can bust their tails and give 110%, (cliche, cliche) and they are still only average or slightly above average. While the guys with the natural talent to become stars in the MAC are leaving...


Still not ready to call for his firing...just trying to make conversation

I just see teams like Kent State, a team that was supposed to be battling BG for last place in the East this year, consistently doing well with not a lot of talent but enough to do well in the MAC. Other than 2000 when they choked in the quarters, when has BG had a legit chance at winning the MAC? And I'm not just talking about "getting" to Cleveland (and it may sound crazy, but as far as I'm concerned, 2002 was not one of them. even though they went to the finals, Kent was way superior to BG. If BG had won it would have been a HUGE upset). This is what is frustrating to me.

[guest44]

When comparing DD to Larranaga, keep in mind the talent in the MAC during each one's time. Larranage left at the right time for both him and BG. He could never get his teams over the hump, but watching games were sure fun. (Joe Moore dunks were as good as it got). He made a semi-lateral move, maybe even a downward move and got a considerable raise. Plus he has/had an East Coast style. But those mid 90's MAC Teams were solid. The MAC the last 3 years has been as weak as I have seen it in 20 years of following MAC Basketball (this year being the worst I've seen). Also, keep in mind that the odds of going to the dance in a 12 or 13 team, one bid conference, carries fairly poor odds.

[Flipper]

Kent was better that year, but they weren't THAT much better. They won a squeaker at AA and then took a couple of ten pointish wins after that.

Three wins in three shots proves they were better, but McLeod and company were close that year....certainly good enough to warrant an NCAA at large bid.

[clevelandfalcon]

Kent was better that year, but they weren't THAT much better. They won a squeaker at AA and then took a couple of ten pointish wins after that.

Three wins in three shots proves they were better, but McLeod and company were close that year....certainly good enough to warrant an NCAA at large bid.

I think BG had a very good team that year, however, when I watched Kent play they were just at a different level. That's just my opinion. Going to the Elite Eight should have proved that though.

I think I'm just really mad because this year I plan to go to the entire MAC tournament (got free tickets to the entire thing) and will only have the local schools (Akron and Kent) to cheer for. God knows I will never cheer for Miami, OU, UT, or the directional Michigan schools!

[DrDesert]

It's truly amazing that so many people are still buying the Dakich storyline. He is not only good at making excuses, he has manipulated others to make them for him. I'm not talking about wins and losses with Coach Dakich. Some of his players who lasted the entire 4-5 years may have graduated, but how many players originally signed in those classes have completed their term at BG and graduated?

I also disagree with those who say he is a credit to the university and community. Unfortunately, the MAC office (not BG administration) had to take control of Dakich's coat-throwing antics at the start of each game a year ago. They finally got that attention-seeking fit stopped.

What would Mr. Krebs say to Gregg Brandon if he had been flagged four times for unsportsmanlike conduct from the sideline in the first 8 games of the season? Our basketball coach was hit with four technical fouls before the winter solstice and I believe has now accumulated five on the year. Does anyone know of any HS or college coach in the nation that has accumulated that many?

Benching a player like Samarco is strictly a mind game that he plays....there is no other explanation. Are you telling me Samarco doesn't try hard on defense? People brag about how hard we play, yet Dakich doesn't think he's playing hard enough? I can appreciate him getting Samarco's attention if needed, but the punishment doesn't fit the crime. Twelve minutes on the bench wasn't necessary to get the message across.

McLeod has been his only exceptional recruit in 9 years.....well, maybe Ron Lewis too. Nobody wants to play for the guy, so we're not going to be getting better players any time soon.

[CrazyFan]

It just amazes me the attitude of typical fans. Love the guy when he's up and then kick, spit, stomp, and then body slam the guy while rubbing sand in his face for good measure when he's down. And it goes for all sports, collegiate and professional. It means nothing here that Dan Dakich has his players performing in the classroom. It means nothing that out of his 8 seasons, 5 have been winning seasons. It means nothing that after he lost virtually all his starters after the 2002 season he gradually built his winning percentage each year until this one, which you can argue has been injury and transfer riddled. Like I said before people, be happy were not a EMU or a CMU and we can put a competitive team on the floor, a team that you know will play their a**es off, year in and year out. Wait till next year. Then you'll all be loving him again.

[It's the Journey...]

Dakich needs to go, period. I have felt that way since he left and came back from West Virginia. We had a program that was knocking on the door before he left. After he returned, only days later, the damage had been done and we have been paying the price ever since. Is he a nice guy? I don't know him personally. Is he a good coach? I wouldn't say he is a bad coach. Is he the coach to take BG to the next level? The evidence thus far has loudly said no. Let him go when his contract is up. No hard feelings, just time to move in a different direction.

[BGDrew]

Shall I assume you'll start the fund to fire him then It's The Journey?

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Shall I assume you'll start the fund to fire him then It's The Journey?

I think I caught a "let him go when his contract is up" in there somewhere. I don't think we need a fund for that.

[BGDrew]

I think everyone gets my point.

[San Diego Falcon]

Given our schedule the rest of the way, this discussion is going to last a LONG time.....

[Flipper]

Yeah sure DrDesert...Ron Lewis was an exceptional recruit but Reimold, Almanson, Matela, Pardon, Wright, Samrco...they're just a bunch of stiffs.
Taht you would list Ron Lewis and omit a guy like Reimold tells me a lot

And your football analogy doesn't really hold. Sideline penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct are pretty rare in football. Coaches getting t'd up on the siodeline really isn't all that rare in college hoops