Give Me...

[ZachTheZip]

I think it should be a matter of who we play and our lineup needs at the time.

It's not important who starts a game but who finishes.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I think it should be a matter of who we play and our lineup needs at the time.

It's not important who starts a game but who finishes.

Against Hiram...put Diggs in the 6th Man role. Who cares?

If we play a good team, he should start.

Brett McKnight was a 6th man because he couldn't play defense or rebound. His minutes needed to be limited because of those liabilities.

Diggs is arguably our best offensive threat, and undoubtedly our best perimeter defensive presence. That guy starts.

[Valpo Zip]

Michael Jordan could have been a great sixth man too.

Could you imagine how good the Lakers might have been if Kareem or Magic was in the 6th man role?

Diggs starts. Period.

Remember when Kevin McHale was the best sixth man in the NBA? One second after the game started, the Celtics would send him to the scorer's table to enter the game. He was actually a starter. It was a joke.

Diggs is the best player on the team and looks like what a D1A basketball player should look like. It's called talent and this program finally has the talent it could have had for years. I like Keith Dambrot Version 2.0 much more than Version 1.0. I might even start calling him KD2.0.

Please explain. I am confused.

KD1.0 banked on kids of lesser talent and didn't ever want to take a risk. His good coaching and "gritty" kids weren't enough to win the MAC the way they could. He even admitted one year after losing the MAC Championship that he had to do things differently and bring in better talent.

KD2.0 goes after better athletes and is a good coach. It makes his life easier and the team much better.

KD1.0 had to coach his a$$ off every game to get the team to win. KD2.0 can coach the kids up, send them out, sit back and drink coffee and read the NY Times. KD2.0 realized there were better ways and easier way to win basketball games. This is the best Zips basketball team I think I have ever seen and it goes to a paradigm change in the coach...which is a good thing. The old way was not helping the program reach its potential.

GP1, do you think KD1.0 was able to get good athletes but he decided not to? Do you think the likes of Diggs, Zeke, Rico, etc... would be interested in coming to a post-Hipsher Akron team coming out of i don't know how many losing seasons?

I think that KD is the same, he is just gradually building the house. Rome, Dru, and J-wood laid the foundation. Dials and Linhart followed, now with 2 NCAA trips in the last 3 years, KD can recruit almost any midmajor. That is the difference as i see it.

[GP1]

GP1, do you think KD1.0 was able to get good athletes but he decided not to?

I think KD1.0 had an idea of what he wanted to do with the team and the type of player he wanted on the team. We got those players. After a few unfortunate loses in the MAC Championship game, I believe he had enough and was changed his recruiting priorities a little. I'm not saying this, he said it.

In comes KD2.0 and we see the results the other evening.

It has nothing to do with a "building process" and everything to do with a coach who made a decision he needed to take his program in a different direction. He made the changes for the good of the program and didn't let his ego get in the way. What makes KD2.0 a good coach isn't his building process, but his ability to admit what he was doing was falling short and he needed to do something different. The building process wasn't actually working or had at least stalled. He made a decision to go in another direction and is making that decision work. I'll take an open minded guy before a "building process" guy every day.

I have much, much, much more confidence in KD2.0 than 1.0. I also have much more interest in this team than I ever have and I look forward to watching them play as much as possible this season. This is an EXCITING basketball team. KD1.0 teams weren't very exciting and gave the fans more disappointing moments than they should have.

Go Zips!

[Dave in Green]

Everything that goes wrong is the result of a "building process" and everything that goes right is something else?

Ridiculous.

[Doug Snyder]

GP1, do you think KD1.0 was able to get good athletes but he decided not to?

I think KD1.0 had an idea of what he wanted to do with the team and the type of player he wanted on the team. We got those players. After a few unfortunate loses in the MAC Championship game, I believe he had enough and was changed his recruiting priorities a little. I'm not saying this, he said it.

In comes KD2.0 and we see the results the other evening.

It has nothing to do with a "building process" and everything to do with a coach who made a decision he needed to take his program in a different direction. He made the changes for the good of the program and didn't let his ego get in the way. What makes KD2.0 a good coach isn't his building process, but his ability to admit what he was doing was falling short and he needed to do something different. The building process wasn't actually working or had at least stalled. He made a decision to go in another direction and is making that decision work. I'll take an open minded guy before a "building process" guy every day.

I have much, much, much more confidence in KD2.0 than 1.0. I also have much more interest in this team than I ever have and I look forward to watching them play as much as possible this season. This is an EXCITING basketball team. KD1.0 teams weren't very exciting and gave the fans more disappointing moments than they should have.

Go Zips!

That does not match the words coming directly from the mouth of Dambrot when I have spoken with him. Maybe DiG, Hilltopper or GoZips can correct my misinterpretation of what was said the one time he spoke to us as a group. The other times were one on one. I think you are 100% wrong....it is his process of building a sustainable program.

[Quickzips]

To me it honestly has to be a combination of both things. I don't think there is any doubt that Dambrot has fundamentally changed the type of player he is looking for. If you had told me two years ago that we were going to have three transfers on the roster this year I would have told you you were out of your mind. Dambrot has re-tooled the roster into one that is not just competitive in the MAC, but has the size and athleticism to compete with the big boys.

At the same time, you can't just wake up one morning and say, "hey, I think I'm going to start recruiting more players with top level athleticsm" and BAM that type of player starts lining up at your door. Without a foundation of success you aren't going to get talented athletes like Diggs, Harney, Treadwell, Walsh, Abreu and Zeke who also seem to buy into the program and aren't simply out there playing for themselves. The more you prove that you can put together a consistent winner the easier it gets to sell guys like that on coming to Akron.

[Dave in Green]

@Doug Snyder, you heard what I heard. Everything KD said to us is consistent with what I've heard him say over the years. I believe KD has always gone after the best quality players he thought he had a chance of landing as long as they came from good families and had good character to match what UA expected of its student-athletes.

We don't really know how many transfers KD has tried to recruit over the years. We only know the ones who've actually signed with the Zips. We know that Nick Dials worked out really well when he transferred to UA from OSU in 2005. We don't really know if the fact that the Zips currently have 3 transfers on the roster is a trend or an aberration. I haven't seen any rumors about any future transfers.

We also don't really know how many players who needed to catch up on their academics KD has tried to recruit over the years. We know that Darryl Roberts had early academic issues, but overcame them and worked out really well for the Zips as both a player and a person. We don't really know if the fact that the Zips currently have 2 players on the roster who had to sit out a season to get their academics in order is a trend or an aberration. For example, Justice and Ibitayo both have strong academic backgrounds, and I believe all the potential recruits being mentioned for next season do, as well.

One thing we do know is that a college team with an athletic 7-foot center and trips to the NCAA tournament in 2 of the last 3 seasons is more attractive to quality transfers as well as quality HS recruits than some of the teams the Zips have had in the past.

We also know that KD can coach winning teams with all kinds of different players. The stronger his record grows, the more higher potential players he's able to recruit, and the more higher potential players he's able to recruit, the stronger his record grows.

KD has helped put UA basketball on the national radar to the point that it's one step away from being included in conversations with VCU and Butler. This season's team has the potential to take that next step if everything works out just right.

If it does, the level of recruit attracted to UA would also be raised to yet another level.

You're darn right KD has a "building process," and it's working darn well.

[GP1]

To me it honestly has to be a combination of both things. I don't think there is any doubt that Dambrot has fundamentally changed the type of player he is looking for. If you had told me two years ago that we were going to have three transfers on the roster this year I would have told you you were out of your mind. Dambrot has re-tooled the roster into one that is not just competitive in the MAC, but has the size and athleticism to compete with the big boys.

Good points. I like the term re-tool. The original plan wasn't working to his satisfaction, so he changed and it is working great.

[Doug Snyder]

To me it honestly has to be a combination of both things. I don't think there is any doubt that Dambrot has fundamentally changed the type of player he is looking for. If you had told me two years ago that we were going to have three transfers on the roster this year I would have told you you were out of your mind. Dambrot has re-tooled the roster into one that is not just competitive in the MAC, but has the size and athleticism to compete with the big boys.

Good points. I like the term re-tool. The original plan wasn't working to his satisfaction, so he changed and it is working great.

5 straight MAC championship games and 2 of last 3 NCAA bids. Stick with football...you don't have a clue in bball. His plan is working. Why don't you have a talk with him about his plan.

[Dave in Green]

Almost forgot to mention here that in KD's post-game interview, he confirmed to the world that he is actually using a "building process" in those very words.

So, by GP1 standards, UA basketball is doomed to failure.