The Futon Report

It has only been a few days since the bombshell news of Stan Joplin being fired, but the only reason I can come with as to why he was canned is money-related, not basketball-related.

Boosters might not have wanted to donate money to a basketball team led by Stan Joplin. Money talks, most notably when you fold up a C-note like one of those grade school fortune telling thingies and pretend to have it speak. But let’s see what others think. Read more

This just broke about a half hour ago. After 12 years of being Toledo’s colorful yet inconsistently successful basketball coach, the Rockets have parted ways with Stan Joplin.

There will probably be further details coming out, but initial reactions are basically those of shock. The timing is about as goofy as one could expect, even coming off an 11-19 season. Most of those losses can be attributed to a brutal nonconference road schedule and the mysterious exile of Kashif Payne. But those with firing authority felt otherwise.

I’m definitely going to miss Joplin patrolling the sidelines for the Toledo Rockets, and the excitement I had for next year’s team suddenly has a confusing flavor to it. ◼ Toledo Blade

Kent State 49, Miami 47 ◼ Miami interim coach Jermaine Henderson has done an admirable job of filling in for Charlie Coles under adverse conditions. And it’s too bad to see the Miami season end in a closely fought, albeit alarmingly low-scoring game against Kent State.

Before Al Fisher’s hesitation jumper to seal the win, coach Henderson had a message for his RedHawks team during the timeout, since Kent was able to take the last shot: Kent State will shoot once, and once only. Thanks to the majesty of ESPN360, here’s an audio snippet of Henderson’s final message (right after Steve Mix quips “take it down to about 4 seconds”):

Read more

Ohio 68, Bowling Green 66, 2OT ◼ I suppose when BGSU has to play two overtimes without Kate Achter, and the second OT without Tara Breske, these kinds of upsets are bound to happen.

So after the BG men bowed out of the season back on Tuesday, I really have no peripheral reason to care about college basketball, except to see if the MAC gets two bids to the men’s tournament.

HollaMAC Girls is your eye on the Mid-American Conference women’s basketball tournament. Here’s how the quarterfinals shaked out:

This much we know: Someone in Ohio’s going to win the MAC championship, as all four teams who advanced are from that sorta-heart-shaped region.

Toledo 65, Ball State 60 ◼ The heck? So after dropping seven straight games, UT has now rattled off four straight at the right time, following up a mild first-round upset of Buffalo Monday with an embiggened upset of the Cardinals Tuesday. What if Mark Ehlen’s team just keeps winning all the way through the conference tournament? Does he still resign?

Holla: Ta’Yani Clark, UT: 25 points (5-for-7 from 3 pt.), 9 rebounds; Kiley Jarrett, BSU: 13 points, 5 assists, 4 steals; Tamesha Scotton, UT: 11 points, 8 rebounds Read more

As the regular season comes to a close, we look at the finales of this year’s Mid-American Conference basketball season.

Kent State 61, Akron 58 ◼ This was quite possibly the most noxiously oxidized finish to a MAC game this year. Three 3-point field goals were drilled in the final 21 seconds, one by Akron’s Nick Dials to cut the lead to 3, one by Jeremiah Wood to tie the game with 8 seconds remaining, then a bucket by Kent State’s Al Fisher to seal the game with 2 seconds left.

Considering the rest of the game was slightly blasé — oh look, Kent’s pulling away again — it was good to see that final collapse followed by Fisher’s dramatic OMG THAT JUZT HAPND moment. Read more

Back on February 26, the Portland Trailblazers had an 11-point lead against the Lakers in the third quarter. But the Lakers came back and won 96-83. Portland simply gave the game away. They collapsed. They blew it. They … what’s the word I’m looking for. Played bad down the stretch. I’m sure it will come to me soon enough. ◼ LA Times

On Saturday, as my endeavors this weekend involve a shift at Deadspin and a Toledo-Western game, the Bowling Green basketball team has the chance to dethrone the streaking Kent State, who comes to Anderson Arena. Read more

Of all the Bowling Green-alum sports media socialites out there, I’m probably the only one who never did any actual reporting while in college. (Credibility is for chumps, if you ask me.) Therefore I’m unable to provide any anecdotal awesomeness of Dan Dakich during his days at Bowling Green.

But that’s where Joel Hammond comes in. His blog has become a sudden Ground Zero for Dakich memoirs. Nick Hurm brings perhaps the best gems, including:

Dakich took Pete Stella and I out to Fricker’s after the 2001 season. I never forget his impression of Kevin Netter. He took a salt shaker for his body and a pair of forks for his legs and was running it around the table.

You basically have to read the rest of them. ◼ Hammond Bacon

There aren’t enough words in the unabridged dictionary to thank you, Nam Y. Huh from the Associated Press, for remembering why we loved ol’ Dan Dakich in the first place. He and Indiana won their first game on the road at Northwestern, 85-82.

I like to imagine that, moments before this photo, Dakich merely flexed and his sportcoat flew off.