Dambrot Quote that I Thought of Several Times Tonight

[ZTVSportsProducer]

I planned on posting the press conference from the game Wednesday, but alas, the HD files did not transfer over correctly. Not sure why that is. I can tell you the basic points of what Dambrot said (McNees did the other interview... not interesting at all).

He stated directly that he was pissed and seriously was ready to choke someone out. They knew what was coming in that zone that they put against us, and they made the stupid mistakes they were told not to do (doubling on the inside shooter/against someone on the other side, leaving the 3 shooter open). They stopped (sorta) in the second half... better than the first at least.

He also talked about the talking going on between the games saying "I don't like it, but I have to respect it. They talked a big game, and backed it up... gotta respect that." He wished his players would have made some kind of scene earlier in the game rather than at the end so that way the refs would have stopped it during the rest of the game.

As for his players, horrible against the zone in the first half, better in the second half, but not enough. Comment that Zeke looked good last game, but then this one looked like he had never stepped on the floor before. Wasn't able to keep out of foul trouble early and that hurt big time. Also mentioned that Abreu looked like a true freshman on the floor for the first time this season. Also had to give some props to OU for hitting the open shots (which they had plenty of those on the night), and to scold his team for not hitting there's.

So, for the most part he was pissed (and had I put the videos online, there would have been a *Viewers discretion is advised* logo at the top). He didn't say too much about the next couple games coming up they have on the road, so we'll see if he can kick their butts into gear.

[Dr Z]

I planned on posting the press conference from the game Wednesday, but alas, the HD files did not transfer over correctly. Not sure why that is.

Thanks for stopping by to explain. I was looking forward to the video after I read the the quotes to see how he said what he said. I'm surprised that much more wasn't made out of his comments. Sounds to me that KD took none of the blame and placed it all on the kids. Even if it's true, I'm not a big fan of that in public. For some reason KD gets away with it. Can you see Caleb or Rob saying the same and not getting a major backlash? I'm a KD fan, but I'm not a fan of these comments at a press conference. I would have loved somebody from the press to ask "Coach, do you think you gave your kids the best chance to compete tonight?" & "Coach, if you played these guys next week, what would you do different, or would you do the same and expect different results?"

KD Quotes

"I'm gonna try to sound positive, but that was bad effort, not very smart, undisciplined, emotion-less early. I can't even judge the second half because we had to scramble back. We just weren't really ready to play. We came out there with no juice."

"We were inconsistent. That's been typical of these guys. One night Zeke's great. The next night it looks like he's never played. And it's not just him."

"Alex got caught up playing Cooper. His dad's at the game. He was trying to do too much

"We got the same damn problems in practice as we got in the game. Alex doesn't guard in practice. How's he going to guard in the game?"

"Am I frustrated? I'm about to choke somebody to be honest."

[GP1]

Sounds to me that KD took none of the blame and placed it all on the kids. Even if it's true, I'm not a big fan of that in public. For some reason KD gets away with it.

+1

I'm the first one to blame poor performance on players. At the end of the day, they are the people on the court who matter the most. He also shouldn't blame them in public. He has been doing it ever since he became head coach. It's one of those personality traits about KD that I find unappealing and it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. The one hing KD needs to understand is he can take all of the blame all of the time. The soccer coach and KD are untouchable.

Just take the blame KD, you are the one who brought the players here and you are the highest paid coach in the Athletic Department. Make them better. It's your job.

[GP1]

Dear GoZips.com,

The schedule section of your site reads wrong. The OU game was not 79-70 (W). Change the W to an L.

Make check payable to "The Great GP1" and send it in the mail.

Cheers,

The Great GP1

[Zips Win!]

The whole game stunk. Zips were just bad and I thought both teams were going to have guys foul out. I thought the refs weren't going to get out of the arena alive with the way they called the game. I thought Ohio faked a lot of fouls. I was close to the action so I saw a lot of that. Freeman crying of getting elbowed by Zeke. Zeke is 7 feet, Freeman was like 6-5, what do you expect. Cooper holding his face as Mcness flew over him. Was not touched. Of course Cooper was doing a lot of jawing the whole game and even after the game. Something went down as the teams exited the court. It was just a bad game all around. I hope the Zips get back on track in Buffalo. One thing about Ohio is that they live and die on the three. They can't be shooting threes every game and making them.

Many folks are to blame. The officials were not the problem on Wednesday. Play some D and maybe those threes don't go in. A bad loss for sure, however there is plenty of talent to get back on track. Buffalo is beatable...even on the road.

Just do it!!

[Dave in Green]

I'm the first one to blame poor performance on players. At the end of the day, they are the people on the court who matter the most. He also shouldn't blame them in public. He has been doing it ever since he became head coach. It's one of those personality traits about KD that I find unappealing and it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. The one hing KD needs to understand is he can take all of the blame all of the time. The soccer coach and KD are untouchable.

Just take the blame KD, you are the one who brought the players here and you are the highest paid coach in the Athletic Department. Make them better. It's your job.

Absolutely agree. Now we don't really know KD's exact words, because ZTVSportsProducer was just paraphrasing him. But I've always thought that coaches come across better to fans and players alike by saying something like:

"I thought I had the team ready for that zone they put against us, but from the mistakes that were made in doubling on the inside shooter/against someone on the other side, leaving the 3 shooter open, it's obvious that I didn't do as good a job of preparing the players as I thought I had."

[Captain Kangaroo]

I think one problem that is puzzling to the typical fan, but probably explainable if you attended practice is - The kids that arrive at practice early, and stay late, get the PT. And those who don't practice hard find themselves on the bench. Regardless of skill level.

To the fan, it appears like the coach has no clue. But he's rewarding those who put in the time. Ditto the guy that's put in 4.5 years is going to get the nod over someone that's been here 4.5 months. That's my only explanation for why Diggs isn't getting a few more of McNees' or Robert's minutes.

I see a lot of trouble with this team if we don't work Diggs and Egner into the rotation a bit more. Ok...we're going 10-6 in the MAC regular season in a "bad" year, so it isn't like we're Eastern Michigan....but we have the talent to do better.

Diggs fills a big defensive hole on the perimeter, and Egner can hopefully fill-in on nights when the unpredictable Cventinovic decides he wants to play like the bull in the china shop. Get those 2 guys some additional minutes.

[ZTVSportsProducer]

I'm the first one to blame poor performance on players. At the end of the day, they are the people on the court who matter the most. He also shouldn't blame them in public. He has been doing it ever since he became head coach. It's one of those personality traits about KD that I find unappealing and it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. The one hing KD needs to understand is he can take all of the blame all of the time. The soccer coach and KD are untouchable.

Just take the blame KD, you are the one who brought the players here and you are the highest paid coach in the Athletic Department. Make them better. It's your job.

Absolutely agree. Now we don't really know KD's exact words, because ZTVSportsProducer was just paraphrasing him. But I've always thought that coaches come across better to fans and players alike by saying something like:

"I thought I had the team ready for that zone they put against us, but from the mistakes that were made in doubling on the inside shooter/against someone on the other side, leaving the 3 shooter open, it's obvious that I didn't do as good a job of preparing the players as I thought I had."

Yeah, KD didn't exactly place blame on the players for the loss. He did say at one point that even though they played bad in the first half, the blame eventually leads back to him and the coaching staff for not preparing them fully and driving it into their heads that "this" is how we are going to play against this coverage and so on. He was as mad with himself as he was with the rest of the game

[Dr Z]

That's why I like your video so much. I can decide for myself when I see the video. If you "cherry pick" a few quotes like I did, you don't get the full story. It doesn't make what he said any less disturbing to me though. He should take the blame right off the bat. He is the adult and the one getting paid well to do so.

[Dave in Green]

OK, glad to hear that KD assumed responsibility. As Dr Z notes, it would have been best if he'd said that first before critiques of individual players.

Maybe KD needs to make it crystal clear to the players during practice for an upcoming game that anyone who cannot follow the game plan will be pulled from the game and replaced by someone who does, even if he has to go to the far end of the bench to find players who can stick with the game plan.

Maybe it's a case of having to look each player square in the eye and ask each one to confirm that they completely understand what they're supposed to do and what they're not supposed to do, and what the consequences are of not doing what they're supposed to do.

Maybe this team just believes it can dig itself out of deep holes, and thought they could do it in this game. They started the second half as if they were going to blow right past OU, then stumbled again as OU reasserted itself. Maybe it was a good lesson that they can't always dig themselves out of a deep hole, and need to put more effort into not digging their own deep hole in the first place.

Maybe it was just one of those games that every team has during the course of the season when none of the players are really sharp and the teamwork just doesn't work. I guess the only way to know is to see how they perform in upcoming games.

Lots of maybes.

[GP1]

Maybe KD needs to make it crystal clear to the players during practice for an upcoming game that anyone who cannot follow the game plan will be pulled from the game and replaced by someone who does, even if he has to go to the far end of the bench to find players who can stick with the game plan.

I'm sure KD has no problems communicating his expectations to the players. Even though more than 10 guys dress for a game, there are probably only 9-10 who actually belong on the court at this point. Playing walk-ons is not how games are won.

It sounds as if they tried to do things differently. The defense KD deploys is good for the MAC. Most nights in the MAC, if you force the other team to take shots from the outside, you are going to win because there aren't very many good shooting teams. Periodically, you are going to run into a team that shoots well like OU did and you will struggle. It doesn't mean you can't win, it just means you will struggle.

At the end of the day, even the kids need to understand (and they probably do) this is not the best avenue for them winning, but they have to play better. When any of us go to a game, we aren't guaranteed winning. We should be guaranteed good effort. I heard an ex-NFL guy once say, "I didn't always do my best, but I always gave my best effort." If the Zips played their best against OU and still lost, credit OU's players. The other team is allowed to play good too.