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I have followed Falcon basketball closely during the last 40 years through the tenures of Coaches Weinert, Larranaga, and Dakich. Of course, the comments that follow are personal opinions.

1-I believe that as a teacher, game preparation, and bench coach that Dakich is head and shoulders above Weinert and Larranaga.

2-"Work Harder!"--This is Coach Dakich's mantra, both for himself and his players, especially when things are going bad. I can see how this might eventually erode the commitment of some players.

3-And to follow up on #2, I do not believe that any BG coach I have witnessed has been more dedicated, worked harder, and taken losses to heart more than Coach Dakich. I have heard post game interviews after losses where I wondered if Coach D was going to make it through the night.

4-I recall an e-mail on Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba a few months ago from Lenny Matela. He was playing in Europe and making some comments about Coach Dakich and his BG program. He said we would be surprised how many college programs gave money to their players, including some MAC programs. He said that Dakich, not only in that respect but others as well, ran a completely clean program.

5-The basketball facilities at BG have surely hurt Dakich in his ability to recruit and otherwise build and maintain a good program. He hasn't complained about this. Let's hope this problem for whomever is the coach will soon disappear.

6-Some of Dakich's problems stem from being in the MAC conference. Let's hope this also improves soon. Look at the premier players in the MAC over the last decade or so. Harper, Daniels, Szerbiak, Kamen, and McLeod to name a few. None of them were highly recruited.

7-Inconsistent fan support has hurt--I recall during the 60s and 70s how Anderson Arena would fill up for almost any MAC game. I'm not sure what the reason is, but this hardly happens anymore. This is true not only at BG but at most other MAC schools as well.

Now I'm not saying that Coach Dakich is free of blame for the problems affecting the BG program.

I am saying, though, and very strongly, that I fully support him now and will continue to do so until some of qualities I mentioned above no longer exist.

Exactly. Perfectly put.

Salsa wrote:I have followed Falcon basketball closely during the last 40 years through the tenures of Coaches Weinert, Larranaga, and Dakich. Of course, the comments that follow are personal opinions.

1-I believe that as a teacher, game preparation, and bench coach that Dakich is head and shoulders above Weinert and Larranaga.

I never saw Weinert & only vaguely remember Larranaga as I didn't follow the problem as closely back then. Dan may be better in these aspects than those guys, I don't know, but he's below average in the MAC. Especially in game preparation & in situational coaching. How many times have we come out this season and found ourself down by 20, oftentimes in the first half? Doesn't sound like a well prepared team to me. As for situational, I think we might be the worst team in the history of basketball coming off a timeout. Our only inbounds play is to toss the ball deep into the backcourt, and we wind up turning the ball over out of timeouts a LOT. As for teaching in Dan's tenure we've been among the most foul prone, worst rebounding teams in the MAC. We don't box out worth a darn, and we haven't for years. We play man defense and we still cannot teach our team how to man up and bring occasional help without fouling constantly. On offense our fundamentals are equally bad where we get called for approximately 5 moving screens a game.

Salsa wrote: 2-"Work Harder!"--This is Coach Dakich's mantra, both for himself and his players, especially when things are going bad. I can see how this might eventually erode the commitment of some players.

3-And to follow up on #2, I do not believe that any BG coach I have witnessed has been more dedicated, worked harder, and taken losses to heart more than Coach Dakich. I have heard post game interviews after losses where I wondered if Coach D was going to make it through the night.

I do agree that Coach works his butt off and I do think he takes the losses as hard as anyone...much harder than most of us. I also agree that he preaches working harder to his team. I don't fault our teams ability to outwork the other. We do work harder. Unfortunately we have to bust our tails just to compete. If we could keep top notch athletes in the program, and teach all our kids fundamentals they wouldn't have to work quite so hard. Our kids work their butts off, but they aren't learning the right way to play basketball. As a result they're working like mad and still losing...perhaps all this hard work that's getting them nowhere is why kids are leaving?

Salsa wrote:4-I recall an e-mail on Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba a few months ago from Lenny Matela. He was playing in Europe and making some comments about Coach Dakich and his BG program. He said we would be surprised how many college programs gave money to their players, including some MAC programs. He said that Dakich, not only in that respect but others as well, ran a completely clean program.

Lenny was one of those rare kids that is exactly the type that Dan can turn into a star. I don't doubt that Lenny loves Dan, and Dan probably feels the same about him. Dan does run a clean program, I'm sure of it, and he is a father figure to many of his players. I wouldn't deny those facts.

Salsa wrote:5-The basketball facilities at BG have surely hurt Dakich in his ability to recruit and otherwise build and maintain a good program. He hasn't complained about this. Let's hope this problem for whomever is the coach will soon disappear.

Our inability to win has done more to hurt his recruiting than anything. Anderson isn't the nicest place, but when it's full (which it will be if we were any good) it has got to be one of the best places to play in the country. That place can rock. I'm not convinced it's really hurting his recruiting anyways, as we've had plenty of good players come here...it's keeping them that is the problem. I cannot imagine that kids come here, then realize the facilities suck, and that's why they leave.

Salsa wrote:6-Some of Dakich's problems stem from being in the MAC conference. Let's hope this also improves soon. Look at the premier players in the MAC over the last decade or so. Harper, Daniels, Szerbiak, Kamen, and McLeod to name a few. None of them were highly recruited.

I don't get this comment. We've always been in the MAC, and likely always will be. Yes, the best players in the MAC are often not highly recruited...none of the players in the MAC are highly recruited. We have had plenty of top tier talent enter BG in the last few years. Unfortunately most of it has left before developing.

Salsa wrote:7-Inconsistent fan support has hurt--I recall during the 60s and 70s how Anderson Arena would fill up for almost any MAC game. I'm not sure what the reason is, but this hardly happens anymore. This is true not only at BG but at most other MAC schools as well.

The reason is simple...how many NCAA tournies did we play in during that time period? How many MAC titles? Or at least in contention for the MAC titles? I graduated in 2002, and in my time here I saw 2 twenty win seasons and 2 MAC POY award winners. The place was packed and rocking for almost every single game. They weren't all sellouts, but we were still averaging 3200-3500 a game with a few sellouts thrown in. If we win the fans will come, if we don't they will not. BG fans have proven to be very fairweather with supporting our university teams...it sucks, but it's the truth.

Salsa wrote: Now I'm not saying that Coach Dakich is free of blame for the problems affecting the BG program.

I am saying, though, and very strongly, that I fully support him now and will continue to do so until some of qualities I mentioned above no longer exist.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion. Personally I will continue to support him as long as he's the BG coach as well. If/When he's no longer the BG coach I will still wish him the best of luck where ever he may go. He's a great man, and a decent coach. I'm just not convinced he's the best fit for this program any longer. Sometimes a change of scenery does everyone some good.