This post originally had a distinct purpose. It still will in a moment, but for now, it’s just basketball in general.

I was checking some site statistics earlier, and was surprised (though in hindsight, not surprised at all) to see an ESPN.com article that included an excerpt from Basketball Warfare by Kevin McNamara about last year’s Big East hoops season. Not that it reflects on my work at all, but there are a couple links to the book’s website, bigeastbook.com, which I designed, and that makes me feel damn cool. It’s a simple design, really, but it served a pretty simple purpose, which is now linked on one of the most-read websites out there.

Also, as tournament time heats up, I’ll put up a reminder about the other hoops website I’m behind, Ray Mernagh’s HoopWise. Considering Ray is the guy that introduced me to Kevin, he should use some of that ESPN pull to get some love for the MAC on the big stage. Regardless, his is more of a blog setup, so it should be a daily read for any MAC fan, most mid-major fans (especially in the Midwest) and many college hoop fans.

While I should embarrasingly admit that I have both books, but have yet to crack into them. (My reading time has been ridiculously limited for some reason, and I’m still trudging through a good book about the Browns that I got for Christmas.) From what I’ve skimmed and learned from working with these guys and their sites, it’s good basketball reading. Both books can be ordered from their respective websites.

******
Anyway, on to the task at hand.

Bowling Green’s basketball season wrapped up today with a ten-point loss to Ohio U. in the MAC Tournament. With it, the tenure of head coach Dan Dakich as head coach of the Falcons is most likely over. But it’s not nearly as cut and dry as it was five days ago, when I believe I put his return odds at about 5%.

He was even lower than that about two weeks into February, but combined a 40-minute performance (in a sham of a 45 minute game) at Buffalo and a thrashing of lowly Morehead State showed that while they may not be worldbeaters, the Falcons were coming together somehow and with all but two players returning next year, could be interesting with a full summer of practice. (Not to mention the arrival on the scene of Nate Miller and, later, Ryne Hamblet to cover up the scoring loss of the increasingly streaky Martin Samarco. And that’s not to diss on Samarco, because even with his off nights, he put the ball in the bucket and kept a dismal season from being, well, worse. And some of his efforts last season made the year more interesting than it should have been. His presence will be missed on the floor next year, even though the gap should be filled nicely.)

As the Falcons were building some kind of momentum from the Buffalo-Morehead swing, they welcomed Ohio into Anderson Arena and got stomped. Defense was shaky at best and they were never really in the game (the one I got to see in person all year. On my birthday.), losing by 20-something. Dakich looked defeated on the sideline, a man with no answers, and that figured to be the end. Folks were wondering which postgame interview might include a resignation.

But, true Jekyll and Hyde (and Samarco) fashion, they bounced back with a tight one at Akron, that was lost mostly due to silly ineptness down the stretch. Of course, they then got baked by Kent before beating the eventual 4-seed Miami(OH) at home and were in the game with OU today before going really cold midway through the second half before cutting into a deficit that was just too much at that point.

So, where does this leave Dan Dakich?

No one knows. Relatively-new BG Athletic Director Greg Christopher said today that he’ll sit down with Dakich next week to discuss the future of the program. Some see that as a formality. Some think it’s a courtesy for a man that has given as much to BG (the city and the university) from the basketball court since Harold Anderson. (He’s been here 10 years and even his staunchest critics will applaud his personality away from the floor.) Even more think that the meeting with Christopher will give Dak one more chance to sell the hopes that have evaporated (for the most part in the last five years quickly evaporated) into the cold BG air.

What do I think?

With it all over but the 11th hour schmoozing, and with the thoughts that we’ve heard the same “wait till next year” song and dance before, I don’t think I’d be horribly offended if he got a one-year extension.

With a catch.

Don’t just say “yay, you’re our coach next year!” and be done with it. Make him earn the position back. Set performance goals. Black-and-white, plain-and-simple levels for him to reach on the floor. 20 wins. 18 wins. Whatever. Something that shows success. A MAC Division title. A MAC tournament top-four seed with two wins in the MAC tournament. His players that stay graduate, that’s not a question. Put something in about MAC reprimands (but don’t tell the MAC, they’d run him for wearing ugly shoes the first time out, I think). If he doesn’t meet the contract, he’s done. If he meets it, give him two years. With similar levels (though maybe with a touch of leeway) over those years, give him five.

When Dan Dakich gets things together, I don’t think there’s many other people that I’d want coaching BG hoops, and I don’t think there is any other place he’d rather be. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case the last five years, but I think one clear-cut year to right the ship isn’t that ridiculous of a request to grant.

GO BG!