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Duquesne Basketball Coach Keith Dambrot


Coach Dambrot at Duquesne  

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  1. 1. Seeing that coach Dambrot left Akron out of frustration citing the lack of NCAA bids, how many NCAA trips do you expect him to make at Duquesne?


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1 hour ago, akronzips71 said:

Everyone needs to just shut up about him. He is a traitor who walked out on a contract and took half the team with him.

Maybe he did us a favor. Groce came up with some nice recruits.

Sayles and Duvivier or Michael Hughes and Dunn-Martin?   I know what my choice would be.B)

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2 hours ago, akronzips71 said:

Everyone needs to just shut up about him. He is a traitor who walked out on a contract and took half the team with him.

Maybe he did us a favor. Groce came up with some nice recruits.

 

Yep, I don't get the obsession.  I don't give any more of a $h!+ about Keith Dambrot at this juncture than I do about Bobby Hurley, Tubby Smith, Steve Alford or any other of the hundreds of college coaches in the USA.  I'm not overly angry or sour about him leaving and appreciate his contributions, but once he moved on so did my interest in what he's doing.

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1 hour ago, NWAkron said:

Sayles and Duvivier or Michael Hughes and Dunn-Martin?   I know what my choice would be.B)

Me too!

Our smallest guard is 5'8". He is a redshirt and who knows if he will every play for us.

Meanwhile our starting guards are 6'5". 6'4", 6'6".

No more of the little guy nonsense.

I will give you Dunn-Worthless. And throw in Hughes.

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3 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

Yep, I don't get the obsession.  I don't give any more of a $h!+ about Keith Dambrot at this juncture than I do about Bobby Hurley, Tubby Smith, Steve Alford or any other of the hundreds of college coaches in the USA.  I'm not overly angry or sour about him leaving and appreciate his contributions, but once he moved on so did my interest in what he's doing.

 

Feel free to skip over any threads that don't interest you. He will always be an "Akron guy" and many of us will continue to follow his career for that reason.

 

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11 hours ago, ZippyRulz said:

 

Feel free to skip over any threads that don't interest you. He will always be an "Akron guy" and many of us will continue to follow his career for that reason.

 

 

Just stating an opinion ZippyRulz, but thanks for the direction.  Feel free to skip my posts.

Edited by clarkwgriswold
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Wow, "traitor. Dambrot.  How many college coaches have stuck with one program as many years as he gave akron. He has too much class to go public with the real story of why he left ,but someday it will come out.  I guess he didn't take the program very far, all those 21 win seasons and Mac championships must have been an accident.  Just wait, you will be wishing for those 21 win seasons

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Traitor is probably a strong word, but he left at a good time for himself and probably the program as well.  Maybe I can speak for a few on here and say that the 20+ wins didn't mean that much when many of the opponents were pretty lame.  What would really hurt is if we started to have first round exits from the MAC tourney.  

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I don't have a problem that he broke his contract and left. That is a matter for the lawyers.

I have a problem that he took players and recruits with him. They were recruited on the University's money, and are the "property" of UA. Not that they are slaves or indentured servants, I do not mean to imply that, but he used UA funds to recruit them and then took them with him.

UA gave him a second chance when his career was dead (which in todays climate it would have remained dead). And he repaid them by taking players and recruits and leaving us nothing.

It shows what type of person he really is.

Edited by akronzips71
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I love KD.  I worked with him at Prudential Securities while I was an intern in college.  When I started I didn't know who he was, but he was friendly to me.  When he finally told me his story one day he got teary eyed.  I love what he did for the program.

 

Having said that, I was getting kinda bored with the program's stagnation.  The last handful of years was like watching Groundhog Day.  KD took us as far as he could.  He was as steady as they come.  I'm expecting more highs and more lows with Groce.  And I'm looking forward to that, even if we do have to suffer through a year of growing pains.  I was always fairly certain with KD's Zips we'd be a premier MAC team and compete in Cleveland every year... but never do anything special on a national level (NCAA).

 

And let's not forget, to give Dambrot credit where credit is due: Sayles and Parrish are both Dambrot recruits.  They both look like they're going to be great players.  Duquesne can have Hughes & Dunn-Martin.  I'm more grateful for the open scholarships their departure provided.  It allowed us to sign LePear Toles who's game, honestly, reminds me a lot of Parrish. 

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2 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

I love KD.  I worked with him at Prudential Securities while I was an intern in college.  When I started I didn't know who he was, but he was friendly to me.  When he finally told me his story one day he got teary eyed.  I love what he did for the program.

 

Having said that, I was getting kinda bored with the program's stagnation.  The last handful of years was like watching Groundhog Day.  KD took us as far as he could.  He was as steady as they come.  I'm expecting more highs and more lows with Groce.  And I'm looking forward to that, even if we do have to suffer through a year of growing pains.  I was always fairly certain with KD's Zips we'd be a premier MAC team and compete in Cleveland every year... but never do anything special on a national level (NCAA).

 

And let's not forget, to give Dambrot credit where credit is due: Sayles and Parrish are both Dambrot recruits.  They both look like they're going to be great players.  Duquesne can have Hughes & Dunn-Martin.  I'm more grateful for the open scholarships their departure provided.  It allowed us to sign LePear Toles who's game, honestly, reminds me a lot of Parrish. 

 

Not sure I can give him credit for those two without proof that he didn't try to pull them to Duquesne with him. Additionally, if you look at pictures of Sayles in high school compared to his first college game, its incredible the physical transformation that took place this off-season. Not sure that would have happened under Dambrot. 

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You guys are totally wrong on the situation regarding Hughes and Dunn-Martin. They were the ones who wanted to leave and go with KD to Duquesne. There was no recruiting by him for them to leave Akron. The returning players were all free to make their own choices regarding their future. He did those guys a favor by letting them go with him. Both of them were guys that weren't highly recruited out of highschool. They both felt a sense of loyalty to KD and that it was in their best interest to go with him.

Edited by Hilltopper
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1 hour ago, lilroodude said:

Not sure I can give him credit for those two without proof that he didn't try to pull them to Duquesne with him.

 

What?

 

Blue and Gold said that Keith is the guy who got them to come to Akron.  And they now play for the Zips.  They are here because of him.  Be grateful for that.  

 

1 hour ago, lilroodude said:

Additionally, if you look at pictures of Sayles in high school compared to his first college game, its incredible the physical transformation that took place this off-season. Not sure that would have happened under Dambrot. 

  

I care far more about how a guy develops as a basketball player.  Whether a picture of him in high school vs. college looks better doesn't answer that question.  

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1 hour ago, skip-zip said:

 

What?

 

Blue and Gold said that Keith is the guy who got them to come to Akron.  And they now play for the Zips.  They are here because of him.  Be grateful for that.  

 

  

I care far more about how a guy develops as a basketball player.  Whether a picture of him in high school vs. college looks better doesn't answer that question.  

 

I'm glad they're here. My point is if he tried to recruit them to Duquesne after his departure, then really he tried to get them to not come here. Maybe Groce talked them into staying? That was my point; I'm skeptical in this situation, until proven innocent. 

 

We'll see how he develops as a basketball player. I don't ever remember a player taking the physical leap that Sayles or other players look like they've taken, when Dambrot was here. 

 

I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of Dambrot's tenure. Then it became annoyingly stagnant, full of consistent disappointment, underachievement, and cliche answers in post-game interviews. I am thankful for the new heights he took the program, but there was a lot not to like, especially towards the end. 

Edited by lilroodude
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8 hours ago, lilroodude said:

We'll see how he develops as a basketball player. I don't ever remember a player taking the physical leap that Sayles or other players look like they've taken, when Dambrot was here. 

 

So, here's my question.  If you had looked at pictures of Big Dog through the years, would you have seen his transformation from a bench player to the MAC Most Valuable Player under the development of Dambrot and his staff?

 

This is basketball.  Not a bodybuilding contest.

 

For whatever reason, I think a few of you are going through a mental process of trying to find things that might tell you, "This coach does this better than Dambrot".  And when you think you've found something, you bring it here to bash on him a little more.  

 

For instance, it's quotes like this one below that strike me as being some kind of really bizarre hatred for the guy.

 

8 hours ago, lilroodude said:

My point is if he tried to recruit them to Duquesne after his departure, then really he tried to get them to not come here.


I'm skeptical in this situation, until proven innocent. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, skip-zip said:

For whatever reason, I think a few of you are going through a mental process of trying to find things that might tell you, "This coach does this better than Dambrot".  And when you think you've found something, you bring it here to bash on him a little more.  

 

For instance, it's quotes like this one below that strike me as being some kind of really bizarre hatred for the guy.

 

 

 

Funny Skip how you know what all our "mental processes" are and what we are "really thinking?"  Did you get a Psychology degree from Portage County Community College?

 

We all want the same thing.  And we all aren't going to be monolithic in our feelings about the prior coach or the new one.

Edited by NWAkron
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2 hours ago, skip-zip said:

 

So, here's my question.  If you had looked at pictures of Big Dog through the years, would you have seen his transformation from a bench player to the MAC Most Valuable Player under the development of Dambrot and his staff?

 

This is basketball.  Not a bodybuilding contest.

 

For whatever reason, I think a few of you are going through a mental process of trying to find things that might tell you, "This coach does this better than Dambrot".  And when you think you've found something, you bring it here to bash on him a little more.  

 

For instance, it's quotes like this one below that strike me as being some kind of really bizarre hatred for the guy.

 

 

 

 

You and I see things totally differently regarding Big Dog. Did he develop into a solid post player, mainly his junior/senior year? Yes, his vision was incredible for a big man. However, did his lack of physical development ultimately hurt the team? I think yes. What did we accomplish with the MAC MVP? Very little in the grand scheme of things. You could only play one game with Big Dog on the floor - in and out ball. Otherwise, you weren't really able to run with the bulls (not in reference to Buffalo) and there wasn't much flexibility in game strategy/style. Zeke didn't really bulk up until senior year, either. Who knows if that's just how his body matured, or if the strength & conditioning program wasn't where it needed to be, but it's a fact. 

 

My point is I haven't seen a player in a long time physically transform in the off-season, especially prior to his freshman year, like Sayles has. This is basketball and not a bodybuilding contest, you're correct. However, I'm sure we could go back to previous years' game threads, and find several posts about not being able to physically match up with some of the bigger name teams. Physicality, strength & conditioning - they're all important aspects of the game of basketball.

 

What's wrong with going through a mental process of trying to find things that might tell us, "This coach does this better than Dambrot?" Isn't the overall goal to keep the program going in the right direction, and actually take steps to improve? I don't hate Dambrot, but I disliked quite a few things over his last couple of years here - bashing fans, making excuses about the MAC and the JAR holding him back, boring game style, poor free throw shooting, losing to OSU when we clearly should have beaten them, etc. Not to mention I was fed up with the 20-win participation trophy seasons with nothing of substance as the end result; no NCAA tournament wins, no victories over ranked teams, etc.

Edited by lilroodude
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General warning: Keith Dambrot coached at Akron for more than a decade, and is a big part of what Akron basketball is today. He will be talked about for years to come on ZipsNation. The majority of that discussion will happen in this thread. If, for whatever reason, you are not a fan of that, please do not harass members that want to be a part of it, simply do not click on the thread. 

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On ‎11‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 3:29 PM, kreed5120 said:

Without what Dambrot accomplished here we probably never land a guy like Groce. He turned a below average to bad MAC program into the class of the MAC and regarded by many a respectable mid-major. Hopefully Groce is the man for us to take that next step.

 

The first part is correct.  Groce has said it, or at least implied it, himself.  There's no way we land him if it wasn't for the reputation/prestige that the previous staff created over the last decade-plus. 

 

The second part isn't exactly true.  Tim O'Shea had some pretty good teams his last few years before leaving to coach at Bryant (still weird), so it really wasn't Groce himself that turned them around.  They've had pretty good sustained success the last 15 years through 3 coaching staffs.

 

I hope the 3rd part is correct.  I could certainly see it happen.  The number one knock I've read around the internet is that Coach Groce isn't a great game coach.  Fantastic recruiter, but could struggle time to time putting the pieces together.  That can be improved, if it's an issue.  I certainly like the recruiting situation thus far.  Also, there were some good adjustments in the 2nd half vs. CSU.

 

I wish Coach Dambrot and his staff all the best success they can attain.  I, like others, have heard of some rumblings that some behind the scenes events helped make the decision to move on for Coach.  I will be following Duquesne on the periphery of my basketball consciousness and rooting for them unless they happen to cross paths with the Zips. 

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