Captain Orr plans to go down with the ship

[HoopsFan]

http://www.toledoblade.com/BGSU/2013/04 ... tract.html

Just like Dakich's motion(less) offense, Orr plans to make "no changes" next year, his final contract year.

I love the "we'll have a more balanced attack" quote. yeah, 2 guys took 45% of the shots, whether they were good shots or bad. And, he might sign another "big man". Geeze, we need SCORING guards and he's gonna get a big man. Maybe Zeke Marshall will transfer to B.G.

HoopsFan

[guest44]

It makes me feel better knowing we have multiple guys that can score double figures, but he played Erger and Kraus last year over them. It also makes me feel better knowing that he is looking for yet another big guy. You can never have enough of those regardless of how awful your point guard play is. Let's just go ahead and have next years intro video music be Yakety Sax while we are at it.

[Globetrotter]

signing another player or two is a “possibility.”
Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/BGSU/2013/04 ... Fs2Txp1.99

This makes my head want to explode.

Imagine if you were the coach of this team, lameduck or not you would consider this your chance to get things going again and keep your job, even if you were delusional. I would go down with nothing in the chamber. Get me 2 jucos that can play tomorrow. Not using all of my scholarships would be an absurdity. If the AD told me I couldn't use them I would view that as a slap in the face and tell him to fire me if he won't let me coach.

[guest44]

BG has to be one of the only schools in the country who considers not using all of its' scholarships yearly almost as if it is a burden to recruit. No urgency, no attention to detail, no clue, and no Cleveland.

[BGSUFanatic7]

I could not believe the sentence where he said they may consider signing another big man. Trotter is right, how the heck is this guy not trying to do everything he can? I hope we don't sign anyone because they will more than likely be worthless. But no sense of urgency is, although not surprising, very disappointing.

We suck.

[mscarn]

BG has to be one of the only schools in the country who considers not using all of its' scholarships yearly almost as if it is a burden to recruit. No urgency, no attention to detail, no clue, and no Cleveland.

You nailed it. This casual, passive approach is the reason we can't field a winning team and was the reason he was dismissed from Seton Hall. I can't accept that there isn't a single JUCO player in the United States of America (or elsewhere if you're smart like Valpo) that could help this team.

We basically have to hope that career 3 ppg scorers stuck in a grotesquely ineffective offensive system can suddenly break out.

[mscarn]

Also, after reading the Falcon Fodder blog, it seems as if Wagner has become a full-fledged Orr apologist.

He says that refusing to change is actually a good thing because it means he won't be inclined to bring in talented but academically/behaviorally challenged players or load up on D-III teams in the schedule.

Um, they do know you can change things for the better, too!?

The gap between us and the Akron/Ohio/Kent's of the world is growing larger by the day. Heck, at least we finally heard something. You'd think after a season like this there would be some formal media event to recap the season and preview what's to come for the fans. Many programs use tools like video blogs and live chats to connect with their supporters and drum up interest, but if we were smart enough to do things like that we might also be smart enough to win first round home games and score more than 52 points.

[Falconfreak90]

I'm at the point where I just want to get the 13-14 season done so we get a new coach. NOTHING is gonna change until Orr is replaced. It's embarrassing to see my alma mater settle for less than average. Effin embarrassing...

[BleedOrange]

I'm at the point where I just want to get the 13-14 season done so we get a new coach. NOTHING is gonna change until Orr is replaced. It's embarrassing to see my alma mater settle for less than average. Effin embarrassing...

13-14 is optimistic for this upcoming team. It may have some talent, but it's inexperienced and being coached by a passive milquetoast who is content with "god's willingness".

Mr. Freak, for me, the disappointment is more broad. We don't have just basketball problem. The whole problem includes a university problem and a community problem. The university seems decidedly less interested in fielding a formidable basketball program than other MAC level schools. Similarly, residents of BG and the area simply do not care and have not cared for a long time. The students could not possibly be more apathetic.

Basically, the problem is holistic.

Soooo, we'll hire a new coach a year from now. Because the overall coaching situation at BGSU, relatively speaking, sucks, we will not contend for top notch contenders (I imagine some candidates would pass on a BG offer and wait another year for something else). Because the university prioritizes basketball low, our new AD will have poor funding, appropriations, and overall support. So, the basketball program faces adverse selection that the university itself has spawned. We'll hire a 2nd or 3rd tier candidate and pay him at the low end of the MAC scale, so if he's good, he leave immediately, and if he's not good, we've made no progress and just traded one mediocre situation for another and remain stuck for another 5 years.

Given this overall situation, my question to you (and myself) is this: Why do you still care? If nobody else cares (relatively speaking), why should you in particular care? That is, until BGSU decides to crap or get off the pot.

[MarkL]

Bringing in a new coach who is energetic, gets the fans and students involved, gets the community engaged in the program would do wonders. We've got a fantastic facility. We have a large university. We have a student section that certainly can be rowdy (see hockey) and has a great org in the Falcon Fanatics. We have a community that has folks who love a good BG basketball team as seen by the big donations. We have a history with some good basketball tradition. That is all ripe for things to be way ... way better than now. The right coach who taps into all of that can turn the program and the interest in the program around in no time.

[falconfan1]

Good post MarkL. You are right.

Go Falcons!

[BGWriter]

All it takes is the right hire and all of this GARBAGE can be turned around. The excitement can be re-ignited; the students will come back if the team wins; and the community will rally around a successful program.

DO YOU HEAR THAT DR. MAZEY???????????

Or you can let part of your legacy be a sports program that was mostly a failure, headed by a basketball program that played to the shadows in a nearly new, multi-million dollar facility.

[mscarn]

All it takes is the right hire and all of this GARBAGE can be turned around. The excitement can be re-ignited; the students will come back if the team wins; and the community will rally around a successful program.

DO YOU HEAR THAT DR. MAZEY???????????

Or you can let part of your legacy be a sports program that was mostly a failure, headed by a basketball program that played to the shadows in a nearly new, multi-million dollar facility.

Exactly.

Contrast her approach with Dr. Jo Ann Gora, the president of Ball State. They bought out a coach with a year left because he clearly wasn't getting the job done. Here's what she had to say at their press conference about the role of athletics and the vital need for success in men's basketball.

"Ball State has won 93 league and division championships since joining the MAC in 1973 and 14 of those have been in men's and women's basketball....But we've been waiting a long time for our men's team to give us a performance that brings us into (the NCAA's)...We believe that this is the beginning of a new era of greatness in men's basketball."

These are our competitors. They are doing what it takes to win while we sit back and treat this program like a rec league outfit in spite of a $30 million dollar facility waiting to be capitalized upon. falconfan1 and whomever else knows sports and has the ear of the president, please do what you can to help us.

[MarkL]

Just FWIW .. Ball State's AD didn't announce his resignation for a new job ... I think that was a huge factor for this year. Next year that will not be the case.

[BGFalconfromCincy]

"Ball State has won 93 league and division championships since joining the MAC in 1973 and 14 of those have been in men's and women's basketball....But we've been waiting a long time for our men's team to give us a performance that brings us into (the NCAA's)...We believe that this is the beginning of a new era of greatness in men's basketball."

While that is nice and all, its still just talk, and talk doesn't mean anything. This could have been the exact same thing Ball State's president said after they hired Billy Taylor, or what any president says when hiring a new coach, you could easily tweak the years and conference and it could work for many other schools. All presidents and ADs have to have a quote like at the intro press conference because you have to "win the press conference" nowadays. When we do hire a new men's basketball coach I expect Mazey to say something smiliar to this. Everyone may laugh at it and say its not true, but again its about winning the press conference

It was a really nice thing the Ball State president said, and as a fan its what I want to hear, but it doesn't mean that James Whitford is going to bring greatness to the court and Ball State is gonna dominate the MAC and make multiple NCAA trips. Ball State won the presser, now they have to back it up on the court, and its no guarantee they will. Time will tell, just like with all coaching hires