Valpo Zip Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Dear coach Dambrot, I am not sure if you will read this letter or if you ever visit zipsnation.org or even know about its existance. I am also fully aware of the fact that you do not need my approval of your work and probably don't give a damn about any of my opinions. However, i will still say what's on my mind to, if for no other reason, just be able to sleep better at night. 1 - I have been recently very critical of you and i was extremely frustrated with your tactics and strategies. I am extremely happy now to eat a big pile of crow and admit that your team achieved the ultimate goal of all MAC teams and that i shouldn't have doubted you. 2 - I am in no way saying that you are perfect or that there aren't things that I, the simple fan, think that you can do better. However, I am learning with time that i should have confidence in you and your judgement. Thank you for teaching me that. 3 - Please understand that as a fan, even in the worst times, when frustration was peaking up (after losses to NIU and EMU), I never stopped rooting for you and your team and that is not going to ever change even if your team goes winless for a whole season. (you can ask coach Ianello about that, he tested my loyalty with a close to winless season) 4 - Please try to understand that when i think of your team, i think Gonzaga of the east, i think of top midmajors and as a result, I find comparing your teams to those of Hipsher and Coleman absolutely laughable. This change of mentality and aspirations is a great thing for our community and fanbase and you, sir, deserve all the credit for it. 5 - As you know by now, fans will bash you when you lose and idolize you when you win. I am sure that i will come back next year (or maybe later this year) with criticism and anger after a loss. I may not be reasonnable, why shall i be reasonnable? I am not a journalist... I am not an athletic director... I am merely a simple fan. I only care about one thing...I just want my team to win, every single freaking game. 6 - I am not a big fan of moral victories and i believe that the silver medalist is the first loser. Being the MAC champion 2 times in the last 3 years sounds waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than being in the final game for the last 5 years. To finish this letter, i wanted you to know that crow has never been more delicious than today. Thank you for showing me how clueless i was, and while i still feel that you can do better in some aspects, hats off coach Dambrot Sincerely, Ada Zip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 His best coached tournament. Everything fell into place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I think all of this will at least start discussions that he's not winning this tournament when we're in a favored position. But, there's certainly no doubt now that he's done an amazing job guiding some of his lesser talented or lesser experienced lower seeded teams to MAC tourney titles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I think all of this will at least start discussions that he's not winning this tournament when we're in a favored position. But, there's certainly no doubt now that he's done an amazing job guiding some of his lesser talented or lesser experienced lower seeded teams to MAC tourney titles. Tell me why Can't has more talent than Akron. I think we have some very talented players. My frustration with KD has been more about him not winning big games with what I consider having as much talent as the next guy in the MAC. Yesterday was one day and a great day. We need to strive to be this good all the time and string 2-3 years of MAC Championships together. This can be a great MAC program, but one day doesn't make it great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Before KD the Zips hadnlt even sniffed an NCAA post season bid in 20 years. Rome wasn't built in a day. I plan on enjoying every minute of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipmeister Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 This was the same K.en.t team that drove the lane for easy buckets at will just a few days ago. That didn't happen yesterday. What caused the difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 This was the same K.en.t team that drove the lane for easy buckets at will just a few days ago. That didn't happen yesterday. What caused the difference? The players on the floor were the difference. Zeke didn't foul out. Akron was a better team last Friday then Can't right up until Zeke fouled out. They were the better team on the floor last night and they won. Akron is a better team than Can't and if Zeke doesn't foul out last Friday, they go 3-0 against them this season. Akron is the better team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jupitertoo Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 This was the same K.en.t team that drove the lane for easy buckets at will just a few days ago. That didn't happen yesterday. What caused the difference? The players on the floor were the difference. Zeke didn't foul out. Akron was a better team last Friday then Can't right up until Zeke fouled out. They were the better team on the floor last night and they won. Akron is a better team than Can't and if Zeke doesn't foul out last Friday, they go 3-0 against them this season. Akron is the better team. While Zeke played a great game, the difference was your coach. He had the team ready to play every game and they showed an incredible toughness that mirrors his own. Congratulations - now go win a couple of games in the Dance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Adams Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I don't follow the b.ball team very closely anymore. Haven't been a big Dambrot fan in the past. But, with that said, looking at where that team was a month or so ago I doubt many would have expected them to do what they did last night. Somehow the coach and the team kept the season from getting away from them and gave themselves a chance. WOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 This was the same K.en.t team that drove the lane for easy buckets at will just a few days ago. That didn't happen yesterday. What caused the difference? The players on the floor were the difference. Zeke didn't foul out. Akron was a better team last Friday then Can't right up until Zeke fouled out. They were the better team on the floor last night and they won. Akron is a better team than Can't and if Zeke doesn't foul out last Friday, they go 3-0 against them this season. Akron is the better team. While Zeke played a great game, the difference was your coach. He had the team ready to play every game and they showed an incredible toughness that mirrors his own. Even KD agrees Zeke was the difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quickzips Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I think all of this will at least start discussions that he's not winning this tournament when we're in a favored position. But, there's certainly no doubt now that he's done an amazing job guiding some of his lesser talented or lesser experienced lower seeded teams to MAC tourney titles. Tell me why Can't has more talent than Akron. I think we have some very talented players. My frustration with KD has been more about him not winning big games with what I consider having as much talent as the next guy in the MAC. Yesterday was one day and a great day. We need to strive to be this good all the time and string 2-3 years of MAC Championships together. This can be a great MAC program, but one day doesn't make it great. I wouldn't call it more talent, but a different kind of talent. Can't's talent lies in a variety of athletic guards and wing players who can handle the ball and break you down off the dribble combined with one very good post player, but they don't have a lot of guys who can shoot from long range and outside of Greene they have nobody who is a threat in a post up situation. Akron's talent lies in a variety of guys who can light it up from long range on any given night combined with a couple of pretty good post up players, and emerging seven foot shot blocker and now a couple of guys off the bench who have that ability to break you down off the dribble. Personally I think Akron is now the more balanced team as we can beat you in a variety of ways. You want to take the 3 ball away from us? We'll toss it down to Nik and Brett and Zeke. You want to swarm the post and take us out of the inside game? We'll light you up from distance? Add in the change of pace from Alex and Quincy coming off the bench and attacking the basket for good measure and we are a very difficult team to match up with when we get things clicking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 He had the team ready to play every game They weren't ready to play last night. In fact, they were terrible the first 5-7 minutes of the game. The players found it within themselves to play better after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I think all of this will at least start discussions that he's not winning this tournament when we're in a favored position. But, there's certainly no doubt now that he's done an amazing job guiding some of his lesser talented or lesser experienced lower seeded teams to MAC tourney titles. Tell me why Can't has more talent than Akron. I think we have some very talented players. My frustration with KD has been more about him not winning big games with what I consider having as much talent as the next guy in the MAC. Yesterday was one day and a great day. We need to strive to be this good all the time and string 2-3 years of MAC Championships together. This can be a great MAC program, but one day doesn't make it great. I wouldn't call it more talent, but a different kind of talent. That's my point. They don't have better talent. Like a lot of MAC teams, they are all pretty equal in talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jupitertoo Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 He had the team ready to play every game They weren't ready to play last night. In fact, they were terrible the first 5-7 minutes of the game. The players found it within themselves to play better after that. Let me get this straight. You're saying Akron won in spite of their coach last night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 He had the team ready to play every game They weren't ready to play last night. In fact, they were terrible the first 5-7 minutes of the game. The players found it within themselves to play better after that. Let me get this straight. You're saying Akron won in spite of their coach last night? No negatives here. The Zips won for all the right reasons. They won because our group of players played better than their group of players over a 45 minute game. During the first 5-7 minutes of that game, the Zips were terrible followed by Can't being terrible for a 5-7 minute period. The Zips were sleepwalking at the beginning of the game. Both teams were well coached and the refs were not a factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Watcher Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 He had the team ready to play every game They weren't ready to play last night. In fact, they were terrible the first 5-7 minutes of the game. The players found it within themselves to play better after that. Let me get this straight. You're saying Akron won in spite of their coach last night? No negatives here. The Zips won for all the right reasons. They won because our group of players played better than their group of players over a 45 minute game. During the first 5-7 minutes of that game, the Zips were terrible followed by Can't being terrible for a 5-7 minute period. The Zips were sleepwalking at the beginning of the game. Both teams were well coached and the refs were not a factor. The Zips played good, cohesive D from the opening tip. They couldn't get shots to fall in that early period, but the D was there & kept them in it. Much different from a sleep walk. Defense won this championship .. they forced Can't State into making jumpshots & not layups .. and Can't State didn't make enough of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearTheRoo Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 He had the team ready to play every game They weren't ready to play last night. In fact, they were terrible the first 5-7 minutes of the game. The players found it within themselves to play better after that. IMO opinion, that comment is just ignorance. KD deserves praise not for one game or not even for one tournament. It goes back 7 years worth of recruiting, wins, losses and more. He took a team that, at least on paper, looked above average at best. He put the kids in position to determine their destiny. At the end of the day, the coach doesn't motivate, the players motivate themselves. The coach doesn't make or miss shots, the players do. The coach doesn't foul or turn the ball over, the players do. The coach simply creates the right mixture, the chemistry, on and off of the court and hopes that his recipe works. You simply can't judge 7 years of work on 7 minutes of poor shooting at the beginning of a much-hyped championship game which was the fourth game in 5 days for a team that wasn't expected to even be in the building on Saturday. Just my two cents.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 The Zips played good, cohesive D from the opening tip. They couldn't get shots to fall in that early period, but the D was there & kept them in it. Much different from a sleep walk. Defense won this championship .. they forced Can't State into making jumpshots & not layups .. and Can't State didn't make enough of them. Can't made shot after shot in the first five minutes. For a cohesive defense, they sure weren't keeping them from scoring. Please do yourself a favor and review the GoZips.com play by play review of the game. Maybe it wasn't 7 minutes, but it was at least five. Maybe when people go to games, the lose some of the nuances of what other fans see on TV with replay, etc. After that, I would agree that the Zips far outplayed Can't. What neither team did, which had nothing to do with defense and it hurt Can't the most because they took so many of them, was miss foul shots. The foulshooting percentages those two teams put up last night were almost criminal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 He took a team that, at least on paper, looked above average at best. From where I stand, the team on paper looks pretty damn good. They were loaded with seniors, brought in some good talent in the off season and have a high school All-American playing for them. I don't know why everyone is so quick to downplay the talent on the team. They have better talent than Can't State and showed it last night. Can't State was the No.1 seed and there is no way that team has more talent than Akron. We ARE a talented team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearTheRoo Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 He took a team that, at least on paper, looked above average at best. From where I stand, the team on paper looks pretty damn good. They were loaded with seniors, brought in some good talent in the off season and have a high school All-American playing for them. I don't know why everyone is so quick to downplay the talent on the team. They have better talent than Can't State and showed it last night. Can't State was the No.1 seed and there is no way that team has more talent than Akron. We ARE a talented team. Talent yes, but talent alone doesn't win championships. They had a slew of young players and much of the chemistry was disrupted by these younger players getting more time. What KD does as a coach is not just calling plays but determining what combination works in what scenario. My point is that other coaches would not have the ability to take the talent on paper and mold it into a championship team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Talent yes, but talent alone doesn't win championships. They had a slew of young players and much of the chemistry was disrupted by these younger players getting more time. What KD does as a coach is not just calling plays but determining what combination works in what scenario. My point is that other coaches would not have the ability to take the talent on paper and mold it into a championship team. You just described what every college basketball coach does. I can't believe nobody is discussing some of the central plays that decided the game last night. There were three, all performed by players and not coaches. 1. The two free throws made at the end to take the lead. Many of us have been fans for a long time and have watched the Zips in many sports choke away leads. What I am most proud of and and encouraged about is we finally had a player in a position to win a game and he did. 2. Zekes block at the end. A clean play. In the past, a Zip would have fouled the guy and send him to the line and we would have lost. 3. A play that is not getting much talk is Steve M. blocking a jump shot right at the end. In the past, this shot would have beaten us. I don't think any of these plays were a result of some great coaching strategy. They were plays executed by the PLAYERS. I'll take good players over good coaching any day of the week. Good players make coaches look good, not the other way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZZZips Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 GP1 Said " Maybe when people go to games, the lose some of the nuances of what other fans see on TV with replay, etc." My reply "Maybe people who rarely attend games lose some of the nuances of what others observe because they are limited to the viewpoint of the game camera." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Watcher Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Can't made some shots early, certainly that's true. The nuance here is that the Zips forced them into jump shots. Can't hit some jumpers early .. and for the most part, fell in love with them for the rest of the half. Very little inside scoring was done by Can't & almost none of the open path layups we saw a week ago. Can't hitting shots isn't necessarily indicative of the quality of D being played. The Zips executed a game plan designed to force Can't into their weakness offensively, and away from their strength. Can't State hit some big shots early and they weren't aggressive in getting back to what they do well. At no time, even in the beginning of the game did I think that Can't was getting over on our D. They were hitting the shots we wanted them to be taking .. percentages even things out .. and it played out in the Zips favor. It was a good game plan, and the guys executed it well. Go Zips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Watcher Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 He took a team that, at least on paper, looked above average at best. From where I stand, the team on paper looks pretty damn good. They were loaded with seniors, brought in some good talent in the off season and have a high school All-American playing for them. I don't know why everyone is so quick to downplay the talent on the team. They have better talent than Can't State and showed it last night. Can't State was the No.1 seed and there is no way that team has more talent than Akron. We ARE a talented team. +1 on that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I like both coaches evaluation of the game, especially Geno's (see newsnet 5 interviews). Both had the same breakdown of what the game changer (hint hint) was to last night's game as opposed to Fridays Ken+ victory. GP1, I would add a #4 to your list, McKnight's crucial free throws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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