EMU v. BGSU 2/7 Game Thread

San Diego Falcon · Post by **San Diego Falcon** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:45 pm

I'd hate to see the comments if we had lost tonight - Good Lord!

kdog27 · Post by **kdog27** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:58 pm

hammb wrote:My only problem with the thought, "Look what we're doing with our talent level" is that in college the coaches are responsible for their teams' talent level. I know we've had a lot of transfers, etc, but there must be a reason so many people are transferring. While Dan does a good job getting his kids to give maximum effort, he seems to do a lot to create his own troubles, IMO.

1) These coaches know the academic status of the HS kids when they're recruiting them. It is nobody's fault but their own when kids don't qualify.

2) We're always in foul trouble at the end of the games, because our defensive style puts us in trouble. We also refuse to use our bench and leave the same 7-8 guys out there the whole game. They also fatigue as the game wears on.

3) We lose kids to transfer, in large part (IMO), because we don't let them play.

4) We are consistently among the least athletic teams in the MAC, because we don't bring in top quality athletes. When we do, we seem to prefer playing the unathletic white dudes. Thus leading to problem #3.

It seems to me these are usually the biggest problems with our program over the past few years, and I think you could make a case that these are directly on the coaching staff. Now, I do agree that Dan gets a lot out of what he has, but it seems to me that he creates a lot of his own troubles. I'm not real up to date on the coaching scene, so I don't know who we could get to do a better job, but it is certainly frustrating to have the same issues year in and year out.

well said

svillefalcon · Post by **svillefalcon** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:06 am

San Diego Falcon wrote:I'd hate to see the comments if we had lost tonight - Good Lord!

heh, aint that the truth

BGSU Crazy Fan 58 · Post by **BGSU Crazy Fan 58** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:34 am

Is anybody gonna talk about the actual game? Samarco is a guaranteed 15 points every game and Steve has been for about 10 to 15 lately. Moon played some great D. Floyd hit some big free throws towards the end, the rest of the team.....not so much. How bout Gino Smith was about to flat out attack Soler after the got dragged down and Smith was tackled by 3 of his teammates. Could've very easily been a T. Gino fell apart after that, got a 5 seconds on an inbounds, fouled out, and hit no shots down the stretch. Finally we get a home win and close out a game (barely). I really feel this team could be awessome next season. And as was discussed earlier about Martin Samarco, he should finish at least in the top 3 for MAC POY, if not win it.

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:42 am

BGSU Crazy Fan 58 wrote:Is anybody gonna talk about the actual game? Samarco is a guaranteed 15 points every game and Steve has been for about 10 to 15 lately. Moon played some great D. Floyd hit some big free throws towards the end, the rest of the team.....not so much. How bout Gino Smith was about to flat out attack Soler after the got dragged down and Smith was tackled by 3 of his teammates. Could've very easily been a T. Gino fell apart after that, got a 5 seconds on an inbounds, fouled out, and hit no shots down the stretch. Finally we get a home win and close out a game (barely). I really feel this team could be awessome next season. And as was discussed earlier about Martin Samarco, he should finish at least in the top 3 for MAC POY, if not win it.

I totally, completely agree with your assesment of next year's team! Hell, as negative as our own fans have been this season, I was in a conversation with an EMU fan in the chat room early on in the game, and even he recognized that we have the foundation laid for a great team next year. I guess this is what makes me even more mad about the BS being spewn-about on our own boards about our team - if even opposing fans are willing to recognize the talent and potential of our team, what is wrong with our fans? Seriously, though, we could be very, very good next year. And of course some asshat is going to come along and say "well, what about all of the transfers we'll have after this year!" Quite frankly, if you're expecting transfers after this year, you have no business supporting this team, because attitudes like yours only perpetuate the desire for players to transfer. Boy! I'm saying all kinds of stuff in this thread to get myself ripped to shreds! AND I DON'T CARE!!!! HAHAHA!!!!!

As an aside, huron4ever, if you happen upon this, I did enjoy your presence in the chat room tonight and so did several others. I'm sorry you took off so early after the game, but you are exactly the type of opposing fan that I would like to see post in these forums. Don't stop visiting!

HoustonFalcon · Post by **HoustonFalcon** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:33 am

I don't think some of you guys understand how tough it is to get young players to go in for the kill. The fact of the matter is that when a young team is up big, they usually let down, and the end result is a lot closer than the final score should be. That is in no way the coaches fault. The coach can't go out there and play, he can only get frustrated on the sideline. Trust me, I know better than anyone how that is. I am really amused how some of you can't get over what has happened in the past and just wait and see if these kids stay around or not. The kids that coach has aren't the ones that decided to leave the last few years. Really, give me one kid that you think is going to leave after this year, and we'll track that at the end of the year. Do we have someone with a crystal ball on here that knows what's going to happen? This team just won a game, leave the coaches and kids alone. Some of you guys need a reality check. It's easy to sit there on the sideline as a fan and criticize. Actually get a coaching job, and see how hard it really is to get kids to play at there full potential all the time. It doesn't happen. And as far as the transfering goes, that is totally out of coaches control. We have had kids that come in on their visit, and you think that they are going to be good for the program. You can't tell how a kid is going to react to the coaching technique, or if they are going to get homesick and want to leave.

Please leave the "Let's hope coach leaves one way or another talk" out of this. I'm sure most of you really don't like it when someone that has no idea what the whole job entails criticizes your performance. So why do you do it to Coach Dakich? If another college coach criticizes him, then fine, they are actually in the profession. He is getting alot out of these young players, and they are only going to get better, just wait and see.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:43 am

If we can avoid the transfer bug I could definitely see us being a much improved team next season. We return everybody, except for Soler, and we get a whole lot more athletic with the addition of Sullivan and Nate Miller. While I'm on the subject Nate Miller looks like he could be a horse. Dude is definitely built pretty well for a freshman.

As for who is gonna leave this year? I don't know, but I have 3 names that I would put at the top of my list. One is Sullivan, wouldn't surprise me at all if he pulled a Reggie Harwell on us. Hopefully he's different, but it wouldn't shock me. The second is Darryl Clements. Right now he looks almost identical to Raheem Moss. He's a decent athlete who got a lot of PT early in the season. It looks as though he did something to get into Dan's doghouse as he hardly ever plays any more. The third would be Moten. He was a higher profile recruit than most of our other guys and he's gotta be upset at how little PT he's getting. I have no knowledge of any of these guys, but they all seem to fit the profile of players we've lost in the past. Hopefully they're all different and they'll stick around, but you asked for names, and there are my guesses.

If we can keep all of our guys in the program and add the new guys we should definitely be better next season. However, at this point you cannot blame anyone for thinking about how players might leave us. We've gone through it so much the last few years that it's almost expected now.

As for last night's game I think the reason there is so much negativity following the game is that it felt like a loss. I know a win is a win, no matter what, but when you were leaving the arena the discussion from everyone was, "How'd we let them back in it" and "We blew a huge lead, but got held on," etc. There's not too much to celebrate when you almost blow a 16 point lead with 6:00 to go against one of the worst teams in the MAC. Those that weren't at the game don't realize how really bad EMU is. They're awful, and we had no business allowing them to get back into it.

We cannot beat a press/trap to save our lives, and I know Dakich was pissed about it too. He said that he kept telling them not to run into the corners, but that's exactly where they went without fail. IF you listened to the postgame you'd know that the tone of the interview was pretty similar to the tone on here. Todd asked how it felt to be the team that made the plays to end the game this time and Dan basically said, "I guess we did..." It was an UGLY win, after playing a pretty darn good first half.

Hopefully the guys learned something from last night's experience, but really it was just more of the same from throughout our season. We've played really only one or two complete games all season long. In most games we have a couple good stretches and a couple really bad ones. Usually it's been a bad first half with a big comeback, last night it was the opposite.

I want to say you could leave the arena optimistic that maybe they've learned how to close out close games, but I don't know how you could. Essentially it felt as though we got lucky that EMU started their comeback efforts too late.

factman · Post by **factman** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:47 am

Very well said, HF. I talked to Steve Watson last night, who is EMU's asst. AD and played basketball at BG and he had very similar comments. He thinks DD does a heck of a job, likes our style, the work ethic of the coaches and players, etc. I think Steve is also in a much better qualified and in a position to judge our program than some of the negative people on this site, that probably didn't even play HS basketball!

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:54 am

HoustonFalcon wrote: He is getting alot out of these young players, and they are only going to get better, just wait and see.

What is he getting out of any of the young players, really? We only played 8 guys last night, EIGHT! The rest of the bench may as well wear orange jump suits and throw cheerleaders in the air.

Of that 8 let's see:

Soler: Senior, certainly wouldn't qualify as a young player
Samarco: Junior, he's carrying the team, but he's an upper classman.
Wright: Senior/Junior. Playing pretty well, but not a young player either.
Floyd: Junior. Playing better since he's not handled the ball as much, still an upper classman.
Phillips: Junior. Plays his butt off, but is nothing special. Upperclassman.
LeFeld: Junior. Again playing his butt off and in obvious pain. But he's not a young guy either.
Robinson: Sophomore. Great defensive player, but an offensive liability. He would qualify as a young guy you expect some improvement from.
Marschall: Freshman. Looks good at times on offense, but gets tossed around on defense. Definitely a young guy you expect to improve.

So looking at the players that we actually let play on a consistent basis the only two that I would say are young guys are Marschall & Robinson. And we aren't getting a ton from either of them. Moon gives good defense, but still hasn't improved his offense one iota. Marschall is too small to play the post in the MAC but does so because we've got nobody else. He fouls constantly because he's not strong enough to play post defense without fouling.

I'm sorry, but we cannot say we're a terribly young team, when we never let most of our young guys off the bench. Unfortunately I also don't know how you can really expect any dramatic improvement in their game if they never play. I'm sorry, but it's patently obvious that we are not a great team this year. Conventional wisdom tells me that we should involve some of the young guys and maybe they will get better and improve. Going into the season I expected us to be lousy at the beginning of the year, but to grow as the year went on. That's not happening, however, because none of our young guys with potential are really getting any experience to improve themselves.

Dakich is getting the guys that he does put on the floor to give their all, which is why I do enjoy watching the team. I just wish he'd try to actaully involve guys like Moten & Clements, because they look like they have some of the athleticism we sorely lack. I wouldn't expect either to light the world on fire, but at this point I don't see how the team is that hurt by giving them 5-10 minutes a night.

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:58 am

Good post Hammb. The myth that we're getting something out of a young lineup is rampant, and just not accurate.

As to those who say that you would have hated to see this thread if we lost, I'll say this:

"Yes, you would have."

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 9:27 am

hammb, I agree wholeheartedly. We are a young team in terms of experience only. We are playing a lot of upper classmen, but they haven't played much before this season. In terms of actually age, all our young guys just sit and watch.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 9:31 am

I'm just happy we got a much needed win last night. Everyone is entitled to their opinion around here and I'll leave it at that.

Would be great to beat Stan and Co. again Saturday and sweep the season series. UT looked pretty good last night against Kent...so I hope we come ready to play and take it to 'em!

GO BG!

cowboyjoe · Post by **cowboyjoe** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:44 am

I know we had injuries at the beginning of the year but Clements played 17 minutes against Radford, 25 minutes against Virginia Tech, and 18 minutes agianst Oakland. He had 7, 6, and 7 points in those games. How does he not even sniff the floor any more? That's what makes you wonder if he will be back next year. There has to be a good reason but on a team as short of talent as we are you would think he could get some more minutes in place of someone.

The Niz · Post by **The Niz** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:19 am

Gino actually threatened a friend of mine down on the sidelin last night. They wanted to have a meeting in the parking lot afterwards, LMAO!

OSUFALCON · Post by **OSUFALCON** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:37 am

The Niz wrote:Gino actually threatened a friend of mine down on the sidelin last night. They wanted to have a meeting in the parking lot afterwards, LMAO!

What was the meeting going to be about? Which pizza place has the best sauce? Get your head in the game Gino!