Dakich to be fired?

[BGSU]

Hands down...we just lost our best player since Keith McLeod in Ronald Lewis. Ron walked in his Freshman year and produced and did so last year as well. What is it going to take for our Athletic Director to can Dan? We have lost Chris Wilson, Raheem Moss, Eric Crawford, and now Ronald Lewis to other schools because of something that is going on within the walls of that gymnasium. From what we see now, Dan Dakich is the only one to blame. You do not see other coaches around the country losing 2 of their best recruits in years i.e. (Crawford and Lewis) like Dakich has. He has had 4 kids transfer in less than 2 years. Something is seriously wrong. These kids are leaving our program and succeeding with another coach on another team. Dan isn't getting the job done. It's time for a new era. What has he done for our program????? Can anyone comment? I can...nothing. We haven't been to the NCAA tournament under him when we should have been there at least 2 or maybe even 3 x. Please offer up your opinions.

[MotorCityChamps]

i agree 100%, time for him to go and we need a fresh start just like our football program

[ZiggyZoomba]

Please offer up your opinions.

Well, we haven't been to the NCAA tournament in 36 years, 36 STINKING years...so it's hard to offer that up as an argument against Dan Dakich w/o also saying all the other coaches with talent should have been fired.

Personally, I don't think it's time to see Dan Dakich fired. I don't think that's the way things work at BGSU. He has a contract.

I think we run a clean program, kids become men if they want to stick with the system, but that system is tough; ask any player who's been through it! Recently it does look like some of the wrong kids were brought into the system. They have left. Those that remain though, they're the kind of kids we want. Gritty, hard-nosed, TEAM players.

I'm not saying I don't care about wins and losses, I do. Believe me... I've been regularly attending BGSU basketball games for 26 years. I have seen the Weinert, Larranaga and Dakich eras. Of the 3, I'll take the Dakich approach to basketball any day.

We lost our best scorer since Keith McLeod. I'm not sure Ron Lewis was our best player. Do you remember watching him play defense? No...you probably don't; because he couldn't. Ron could light it up, he could create his shots, get to the foul line and make 80% of his foul shots. He couldn't hit a jumper to save his life. If I'm choosing sides for a pick-up game and I've got the BGSU team to choose players from, I take John Reimold AND Josh Almanson before I take Ron Lewis.

I've been doing a LOT of soul searching regarding BGSU basketball the past week or two. Has Dan Dakich lost control of his program? No...I don't think he has. Has he brought in a few kids that he thought would fit who haven't? Yes...I think that's obvious.

Playing basketball at BG has got to be VERY difficult. A lot of kids coming out of high school probably hear the stories about how tough playing for coach D is and they figure they can handle it... They're 18 and basketball stars, they can handle ANYTHING. The coaching staff is VERY up front with the amount of work that it takes. When reality sets in though, some kids aren't up to it.

All of that being said...this is an important time in BGSU basketball. Another year or two of losing and we're in the cellar. I think we'll all be ready for a change. If we can overcome this adversity though, field a winning team and graduate players...I see no reason to talk about firing anyone.

If you think it's time for a change, by all means, say so. State the FACTS and state your OPINIONS. Paul Krebs also has a very public email address. I'm sure he'd welcome your opinions pro and con.

No matter who is at the helm though, I'll be at every game whether we're winning or losing. BGSU basketball is in my blood...it's a huge part of who I am and who I've been for the past 25+ years. I don't think things are all that bad right now...I did for a while, but stepping back and taking an objective look at what's happened, I think we're ok. I may run to BG, stop at DiBenedetto's for a sub and eat it in Anderson Arena for lunch today...it just feel like the right thing to do.

As always, under all circumstances...
GO BG!!!!

[orangeandbrown]

I understand Coach has two more years on his deal. He has earned, in my opinion, that time to show he can turn things around. If for no other reason than financial, I don't think we can afford to buy him out.

He runs a clean program. He has had past success. He deserves more than a quick trigger. Having said that, I don't think any extensions are warranted until progress is very clear. I am concerned about our direction, as I assume Dakich is, as well as Krebs.

I hope in March, 2006, we will have a stable of dynamic young players who are contributing already (this is basketball, not football) and who we can envision holding the MAC trophy over their head. Or who already are.

[MotorCityChamps]

as long as krebs is not like randy lerner and gives an extension to a coach before it is deserving i have no problem with coach d being here for 2 more years...bg cannot afford to fire a coach the only way that he would be gone before the contract ends is if he were to resign..so dan you have to years make it count and i ope you know what you're doing because it is a little cloudy to me.. "team" players means less skilled and less talented players to me..

[Lord_Byron]

Well, we haven't been to the NCAA tournament in 36 years, 36 STINKING years

Grant, I can't argue with most of what you said, and you said it well.

But the 36-years thing is really more like 26 years or 20 years.

Don't forget the tourney in the late-60s and early 70s was 16 and then 24 teams. Not the 65 team behemoth it is today. In fact they didn't go from 48 to 64 until sometime in the 1980s. So, while we haven't been there in 36 years, the tragedy really is not making it since the dance was expanded.

[ZiggyZoomba]

Well, we haven't been to the NCAA tournament in 36 years, 36 STINKING years

Grant, I can't argue with most of what you said, and you said it well.

But the 36-years thing is really more like 26 years or 20 years.

The Bowling Green State University Men's Basketball program last played in the NCAA Tournament in 1968. That was 36 years ago.

I'm 34 years old. That is why this fact stinks!!

[BGorDeath]

I personally wish people would quit bringing up that Dakich is the reason Kris Wilson left the program. Everyone knows why he left. Leave it at that and leave Dakich out of your reasoning.

[MotorCityChamps]

why did he leave?

[hammb]

why did he leave?

It's been rehashed on here and other places. Out of respect for Kris we have decided to not discuss it. Suffice to say there was a tragedy in his family and it had nothing to do with Bowling Green or Coach Dakich. He could've been on scholarship at Duke and he still would've left.

As for firing Dakich, I don't feel that he deserves to be fired. I'm not big on firing coaches, especially at the BG level where we can hardly afford to pay the buyouts. I do think that Dakich owes us some explanations. I also think that he needs to show some improvement on the court in order to earn an extension. I don't, however, believe that he deserves to lose his job.

[kamman]

The reason why people are leaving the program is simple, they can't take Dakich's hard style of coaching. It's been well known that Dakich is especially hard on his players, coming from his days with Bob Knight. As far as not getting to the NCAA tournament, it is almost virtually impossible to make it there in the MAC unless you win the actual MAC tournament for an automatic bid. For example 3 years ago I believe when we beat Michigain and a number of other teams we still didn't make it to the tournament. So I say we allow Dakich to finish out his term, and if by then we still are playing bad then fire him.

[factman]

Grant and hamm.......I think you guys state my opinion perfectly! I would be curious how many players have left other similar D-1 programs. I would bet, that our figures are NOT significantly different from most. We haven't had anyone "flunk out" that I can remember, one went to play with his brother because his father demanded he do it, one had a family tragedy as mentioned above, three decided to concentrate on their primary sport (thank goodness), a couple have gone on to greener pastures (ie playing time), and two good (not great) players have left for unknown or selfish reasons. I probably misssed someone, but I really don't think that is bad over thenumber of years DD has been here.
Now, let's go win the MAC!!!

[OptionQB]

By my count 10 have left since Coach Dakich came in. Of those, six, possibly 7 have at some level been contributors or key recruits. I think it stands out b/c of the recent rash of kids walking away and to what? Junior Colleges, etc . . .

As I have discussed with some of you in the last few days, there are many elements to becoming and staying a D-1 basketball player. For those of you who follow the game, you'll get this. If it was all about talent, Lenny Cooke and possibly Lenny Bias (a bit older now) would be representing the US Olympic team in Athens on Sunday. Unfortunately to them, there's a difference in becoming a basketball star on the court and living the life as a basketball star.

How does that translate to BG? Simply. We don't get a lot of star recruits. Plain and simple. However, we get kids like Lewis, Wright, Rosefelt, Harwell, Lefeld, VanderMeer, etc . . . that are very well thought of by different recruiting services coming out of high school. What those services don't measure is do they have what it takes to stick MENTALLY at D-1. All of a sudden, you have to go to class and WORK to get that B or C to stay eligible. All of a sudden, you're not the number 1 option and you're waving a towel for 25-30 minutes a night. All of a sudden, you have all kinds of friends that want to hang around and bring you down, b/c you're a basketball/football/whatever player. That's something that Dakich can try to assess, but something that Roy Williams and Coach K struggle at as well. That's not something that you can blame on Dakich or anyone else on the staff.

Did things happen that we don't and possibly never will find out about? Sure, but that's ok. Did the Lewis', Hobsons', Rosefelts', Harwells' have what it takes mentally to make themselves stick at D-1 . . . In a year or two those questions will be answered, but there are many more factors to keep in mind when these things happen than to say . . . "Oh they don't like Dakich, screw him"

Lastly, I agree with much of what has been said. Until we are in Paul Krebs shoes, all we can do is voice displeasure and suggestions. It's your option which you choose. Do I think he should be fired? No. I don't feel it is financially impossible to do so, like many of you, but I agree with Grant in that look at what Gary Blackney got away with for the better part of 5 years. We haven't sunk that low yet and I doubt, despite my occassional displeasure we ever will. I think that the relationship that Krebs and Dakich has dictates that he will be here as long as his contract is or he wishes, possibly.

That said, though, we all need to be a little more supportive of the 10 or 11 guys here and I can be a bit more supportive as well.

[ZiggyZoomba]

That said, though, we all need to be a little more supportive of the 10 or 11 guys here and I can be a bit more supportive as well.

Fantastic point, Option! Let's not forget we DO have a team, we DO have returning veteran players and we DO have talent left in the locker room!! Hobson and Lewis are gone. That's over. The rest of the team is still here, they are OUR Falcons. They're the ones who WANT to be here and who have worked their ASSES off in order to be here. They deserve every ounce of support we can muster!

I really need a basketball fix...unfortunately, I don't think the Olympics is what I need. October 15 seems SO far off.....

[hammb]

That said, though, we all need to be a little more supportive of the 10 or 11 guys here and I can be a bit more supportive as well.

Fantastic point, Option! Let's not forget we DO have a team, we DO have returning veteran players and we DO have talent left in the locker room!! Hobson and Lewis are gone. That's over. The rest of the team is still here, they are OUR Falcons. They're the ones who WANT to be here and who have worked their ASSES off in order to be here. They deserve every ounce of support we can muster!

I really need a basketball fix...unfortunately, I don't think the Olympics is what I need. October 15 seems SO far off.....

I'm with ya guys. I'll be there cheering them on from my usual spot as well. I got a feeling that this Robinson kid will become my new favorite player. Since I've been short my entire life, I gotta root for the little guys!