Buffalo

[RootforRoo44]

Thanks BirdZip, I'm glad someone else has noticed the circus that usually is a Keith Dambrot play drawn up after a timeout.

[RootforRoo44]

Some of you are in meltdown mode. I'm not. I sure hope the team isn't.

Well the team obviously is...they just lost two games in a row to teams they should beat.

[skip-zip]

Random replies:

Someone said that Zeke is out at the three point line because they are playing man-to-man so if his man is out there he needs to be out there. Actually, I think that's only in kindergarten games.

Yes, I WAS the one who said that.

Don't be a fool. I've been around basketball way too long. If you have one guy sitting in the paint, your other 4 defenders are chasing 5 guys around the perimeter, and your opponent is going be firing up alot of uncontested 10-15 foot jumpers all night long. Also, you can't always count on your center slacking into the lane against another center who is no threat to shoot from outside, because all your opponent has to do is force you into one switch, and you suddenly become very exposed.

You have to play a zone if you want Zeke to stay in the paint. And quite honestly, I would like to see us try to play more zone for that very reason.

[UAZip0510]

Can you imagine Caleb Porter saying something like that? Dambrot's attitude about the ORU game is a big part of what has led to the complacency of this recent slump. It has set the tone for recent games. And don't think this team is like a switch and can be turned back on just because we will have games in the MAC Tournament. Chemistry takes time to develop. I will be surprised if we get past OU, Buffalo, or Can't in Cleveland.

You really can't compare a soccer coach who has a completely different style than our basketball coach. Both are highly effective in their own ways.

[UAZip0510]

Well the team obviously is...they just lost two games in a row to teams they should beat.

I actually don't think they are in meltdown mode at all. One thing this team doesn't lack is confidence. I'm just not sure if that's a good or a bad thing right now.

[GP1]

I actually don't think they are in meltdown mode at all. One thing this team doesn't lack is confidence. I'm just not sure if that's a good or a bad thing right now.

I agree. They got their butts kicked one night...Every once in a while, you have to take a beating. They were within one point with a minute to go against a very good UB team who already beat them this season. Doesn't smell like a meltdown to me.

"The most dangerous team is a team with confidence and momentum." - Bill Cowher. We may not lack confidence (although I would worry about over confidence), but we are lacking momentum at this critical point in the season. I think tomorrow is an extremely important game for the Zips heading into the Tournament. They need to get some momentum to go with that confidence. Top that off with a first round win and things are back to normal as they win another MAC Championship.

[mivid12]

Thanks BirdZip, I'm glad someone else has noticed the circus that usually is a Keith Dambrot play drawn up after a timeout.

I've seen several inbound plays thru the years after a time out that ended in an easy basket for akron....just sayin'

your 'circus' remark could be lack of player execution..no?

[ksu sucks]

I think someone mentioned this earlier, but it's important to make a distinction between what the coach plans, and it's actual execution.

BTW...I'm not suggesting that KD should be free from criticism, but to claim that the 3rd all time winningest coach in Akron basketball history couldn't draw a play "if his life depended on it" is an immature and simple minded statement. It adds absolutely nothing to the conversation. I'm going to mentally file that statement in with the "blame the refs" accusations we hear after every loss.

[ksu sucks]

Well the team obviously is...they just lost two games in a row to teams they should beat.

Just finished watching the post game press conference. I have no idea what team you're referring to. If Abreu and Treadwell are any indication, this team is not in meltdown mode. Far from it.

[UAZipster0305]

You really can't compare a soccer coach who has a completely different style than our basketball coach. Both are highly effective in their own ways.

If I was making a sport-specific point, I'd agree with you. However, my comment was related to general competition and thus, valid as an analogy.

KD has been great to this point in getting us 20+ win seasons, MAC Championships, and trips to the NCAA. None of those things are out of reach for this season. However, to take the program to the next level, he needs to stop just planning to win the MACC. Some seasons, luck won't go our way, and we won't win the final or even get to it. We need to think bigger than the MAC.

Our OOC is not a preseason, and we can't afford to take games off. If we had wins against Valpo and Duquesne as we should have, going into the ORU game, we definitely would have had the potential to be considered for an NCAA at-large. We were on the cusp as it was.

This team doesn't have a killer instinct in large part because KD's desire to win is selective. Not saying he wants to lose certain games, but KD's approach to any regular season OOC match-up is too casual.

Again, imagine Caleb Porter having that approach. Instead, Coach Porter says, WE WILL PLAY ANYONE, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, AND PLAY EVERYGAME WITH THE PREPARATION, INTENT, AND EXPECTATION TO WIN. (No, that is not a direct quote, but his attitude.) As a player, that's the kind of competitor I want to play hard for every game! As a fan, that's the kind of coach I want leading my team and not on the opposite sideline!

I want the MBB team to have a slay the dragon attitude every game!

[akronzips71]

What a bunch of BS. They just outplayed us. They beat the boards and shot really well.

The OU game was more worrisome. We were never in that one. This one, we just got beat.

The bottom line?

They scored more points than we did.

[skip-zip]

to take the program to the next level, he needs to stop just planning to win the MACC. Some seasons, luck won't go our way, and we won't win the final or even get to it. We need to think bigger than the MAC.

I want to comment on this, because it's a very valid point.

I don't understand why some people don't understand the INCREDIBLY FRAGILE nature of the MAC tournament. We've lost that tournament when we were the best team. And we've won it twice from a lower seeded position, after surviving OT games and last-second shots.

Do we really want every 30-game season to end with us hanging on the edge of these uncertainties ? The only alternative to is to take what we have, and take some chances to push ourselves to a much higher level.

[BirdZip]

Yes, I WAS the one who said that.

Don't be a fool. I've been around basketball way too long. If you have one guy sitting in the paint, your other 4 defenders are chasing 5 guys around the perimeter, and your opponent is going be firing up alot of uncontested 10-15 foot jumpers all night long. Also, you can't always count on your center slacking into the lane against another center who is no threat to shoot from outside, because all your opponent has to do is force you into one switch, and you suddenly become very exposed.

You have to play a zone if you want Zeke to stay in the paint. And quite honestly, I would like to see us try to play more zone for that very reason.

Never said anything about being in the paint, and certainly never implied he should leave him open for 10-15 footers. Just said you don't need to be out all the way to the 3-point line. No matter how long you've "been around basketball", doesn't change that fact.

[UAZip0510]

If I was making a sport-specific point, I'd agree with you. However, my comment was related to general competition and thus, valid as an analogy.

KD has been great to this point in getting us 20+ win seasons, MAC Championships, and trips to the NCAA. None of those things are out of reach for this season. However, to take the program to the next level, he needs to stop just planning to win the MACC. Some seasons, luck won't go our way, and we won't win the final or even get to it. We need to think bigger than the MAC.

Our OOC is not a preseason, and we can't afford to take games off. If we had wins against Valpo and Duquesne as we should have, going into the ORU game, we definitely would have had the potential to be considered for an NCAA at-large. We were on the cusp as it was.

This team doesn't have a killer instinct in large part because KD's desire to win is selective. Not saying he wants to lose certain games, but KD's approach to any regular season OOC match-up is too casual.

Again, imagine Caleb Porter having that approach. Instead, Coach Porter says, WE WILL PLAY ANYONE, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, AND PLAY EVERYGAME WITH THE PREPARATION, INTENT, AND EXPECTATION TO WIN. (No, that is not a direct quote, but his attitude.) As a player, that's the kind of competitor I want to play hard for every game! As a fan, that's the kind of coach I want leading my team and not on the opposite sideline!

I want the MBB team to have a slay the dragon attitude every game!

I take issue with a few things.

1) I'm not sure how it isn't clear that KD is trying to take this program to a level where they don't need to win the MACC to get the the NCAA Tournament. He took transfers, which is never did before. He added Harney and Treadwell, two kids he wouldn't have added before. He strengthened the schedule considerably this year. Everything he did put them in play for an at-large bid. Unfortunately, they lost some winnable games. But KD absolutely set things up to take that next step.

2) This team's lack of killer instinct has nothing to do with Keith Dambrot. What, he had it last year, not but this year? This team is extremely young and lacks leadership. Cvetinovic is a wild card and McClanahan is having a rough season. Last year, I would have trusted Steve McNees, Darryl Roberts, and even Brett McKnight toward the end of the season. This year, Alex Abreu is the only one right now that I trust with the game on the line. That's a roster problem, not a coaching problem.

3) Any coach is open to criticism, it's the nature of the business and KD isn't immune to that. However, I cannot fathom anyone questioning Dambrot's desire to win. I've seen the man pace the sidelines of an exhibition game against Walsh like it's the NCAA Championship game. I've heard him say losing a game because of a lack of execution made him "want to jump off the roof of the JAR" in a postgame interview. Trust me, he wants to win more than anything. I think he even wants to win more than the players do (which is part of the problem). I think you're reading wayyyyyyyy too much into quotes and ignoring what should be obvious with simple observation - Keith Dambrot BADLY wants to win EVERY game.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Serious questions for you...

1) Do you think Dambrot tells Zeke to go out on the perimeter and jump to block shots, or to stay in the paint?

2) Do you think Dambrot is telling the team to share the ball and move it around? Yes or no?

3) Do you think that Dambrot has worked on this in practice with the team? Yes or no?

1) I think he tells Zeke to play man-to-man. Whether or not that means stay in the paint with his man or guard the perimeter if his man is out there, man-to-man is what Zeke does.

2) It's not a matter of telling them to move the ball around, it's getting in place your offensive system in September and October, before the season, not at the end of February with a MAC title on the line. If this is the offensive system, then WOW. We are in trouble.

3) I think Dambrot has worked on what Dambrot feels he needs to work on. The team works very hard in practice, which I am not challenging at all. What I am debating is more or less a matter of the basketball IQ limit on the staff and with the players. Do we have enough basketball smarts on the team/staff to contend outside of the MAC?

[Dave in Green]

Back to reality, this Zips team isn't much different from previous Zips teams in terms of results.

Typical Zips teams of the last few seasons find creative ways to lose the MAC regular season championship.

Typical Zips teams of the last few seasons go to the Q as underdogs but find a way to make it to the championship game.

Typical Zips teams of the last few seasons are more likely than not to win the MAC tournament and earn an NCAA tournament berth.

Really, if this Zips team ends up being typical of the last few seasons, I'm OK with that.

To prove that they're better than a typical Zips team of the last few seasons, they need to find a way to beat Can't on the road. Or, if they lose at Can't, they can still be better than a typical Zips team of the last few seasons by winning an NCAA tournament game or two.

In other words, the real season comes down to the next four games -- one at Can't, two at the Q and one in the NCAA tournament. These next four games will write the legacy for this Zips team.

They have the raw talent to succeed. But if the recent games against ORU, OU and UB haven't shown them that they're not good enough to win on raw talent alone, then they will end the season prematurely without matching the results of the last few seasons.

This team desperately needs to buy into a winning game plan, and they need to execute it with precision and determination. That's what has carried Zips teams of the last few seasons to heights beyond what was predicted for them.

Check.