When DJ White stepped to the free throw line with 4 minutes left and his team trailing Michigan State 95-66, the Izzone echoed throughout the Breslin Center: "Who's your (Hoosier) daddy?" This chant was closely followed by a chant of "Who's your coach?" The answer to the question should be simple: the man on the bench.
It seems uncommon that following a 103-74 loss a coach would deserve a vote of confidence, however, this is one of the rare exceptions. Following the huge loss at the hands of the Spartans, Dakich came out and shouldered the load.
From espn.com:
"They played great and we did not and that's my fault," Dakich said. "If I'm going to be the guy that everybody pats on the back when things go well, then I'm going to be the guy that accepts it when things don't."
"These kids have been through a lot, but it's been 10 days and that's no excuse," Dakich said. "We have to be better."I don't know that I've seen a team shoot that well, but we gave them too many easy looks and I take the blame for that."
It takes a lot of balls to come out in defense of your players like that. Not only that, but to take the blame yourself for a poor performance in which you lost by 30 and it was never even close. It would have been easy to blame on the players. Blame it on transition. Blame it on MSU being good. Blame it on any and everything but himself but that's not what he did, and I admire that.
Dakich also has history as a coach. After taking over for Jim Larranga, Dakich posted a 156-140 record at Bowling Green State University. Larranga had his most success since leaving BG in 2006 coaching George Mason to one of the most improbable Final Four runs ever. Dakich's record at BG is comparable to Larranga. This shows simply that Dakich shouldn't be judged to harshly by his mediocrity at BGSU. Rather, people should recognize BGSU as a drain on coaching ability. He put on display his ability to focus players after Sampson's dismissal in leading the Hoosiers to two straight wins.
Add to that Dakich spent 11 years as an assistant at IU including 2 Final Fours, 6 Sweet Sixteens, and the Hoosier's last title. IU will need to find someone willing to be there for the impending NCAA restrictions. Dakich has shown a commitment to Indiana University and he learned under The General. He put together a decent head coaching career at BGSU that has shown to work out well for other coaches. Dakich has never had violations, has a decent coaching history, has shown commitment to the school and has shown to be a stand up guy. What more could IU ask for?
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
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3 comments:
The main issue with the last few years of Dan Dakich's tenure at BG was that many of his recruits ended up quitting and leaving school, leaving a relatively untalented group behind. He always was a pretty good game coach and the players that stuck with him seemed to support him (take a look at this message board; many of his ex-players have popped up to defend him at different times.
He's unlikely to chase off Indiana's entire roster this year, so I expect him to do a fine job there.
He won't chase off their roster but it was likely, even before Sampson's firing, that Gordon would be back and White it gone anyhow.
So it might be a rough year especially trying to recruit with NCAA penalties coming.
Correction: That Gordon WOULDN'T be back.
My apologies
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