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Dambrot says 'yes' to Duquesne this time


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22 minutes ago, Dr Z said:

 

I have interpreted his feeling for years in many of his comments. Sounds like a good time to move on when you feel like that. I think he is making the right choice, and will learn something about his career one way or another from this choice. 

I had indicated in an earlier post regarding the 2016-2017 year, there were a lot of positives but at the end of the day I was not satisfied with this team.  KD basically said the same thing.  He was not happy with 27 wins and was looking for a change.  You have to admire his honesty.  During the season he kept saying when we were winning that these guys could play better and we had not seen their best basketball.  Unfortunately, he could not get them to play their best basketball, especially when it counted.  (Houston was the exception).  I wish him the best of luck.  Taking over a program like the Dukes there is a lot more upside.  It sounds like he could not take another year of the same old same old.

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Do you 'whore yourself out' or continue to 'bring in the whores?' Per the Plain Dealer article, we brought in $300K for basketball home games and that didn't even cover half of KD's base salary. The 'whores' we brought in also didn't do much for our strength of schedule and at-large consideration. We won't get rich financially heading out on the road for 1 or 2 more road games but it might help SoS and at-large consideration.

 

Beating a dead whorse but I'll gladly give up 1 or 2 cupcakes at home to see what we can do against better competition on the road. Who knows, it might also help us be a bit more ready to play under the bright lights of the MAC Championship game with a ticket to the Big Dance sitting right in front of us. I think this change is good for all parties involved. Good luck KD but remember one of the definitions of 'insanity' ... .

 

Edited by GoZips88
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The one thing KD will get more of at Duquesne, is local media. I follow a lot of Pittsburgh media, and he is getting a lot of attention this morning. We all know how that area suffers in the Akron market. I think he will do well in that area, at least in the beginning. I've always enjoyed hearing him speak after games. Many times he echoed what I felt during the game, but seemed unable to to effect it during the game. I'm anxious to see how that plays out in print next season. 

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1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

I don't think people realize how hard it is to win on the road in college basketball. Georgia Tech spent most the season on the bubble by going 7-2 at home during ACC play. Their road record during conference play was 1-8. Syracuse nearly got in off of solely their 8-1 conference home record (compared to 2-7 road). Spending your OOC going to Creighton, Gonzaga, UNC, Kentucky, Louisville, etc. and expecting to win nearly everyone of those games is delusional and will never happen.

 

I never said that.  I was responding to the poster, and said that I'd gladly take his scenario of 2-3 big OOC wins vs. caring about how weak the MAC was that particular year.  

 

Do you think Wichita or Gonzaga are crying about being in weak conferences?

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2 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

I never said that.  I was responding to the poster, and said that I'd gladly take his scenario of 2-3 big OOC wins vs. caring about how weak the MAC was that particular year.  

 

Do you think Wichita or Gonzaga are crying about being in weak conferences?

Yes, I do. Despite both playing in much better conferences than the MAC, Wichita State is currently in negotiations to join the AAC. Gonzaga would have already bolted the WCC but there is no conference they can geographically join. I'm not advocating for Akron to leave the MAC. What I'm advocating is for more MAC teams to invest into their basketball programs.

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13 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

Yes, I do. Despite both playing in much better conferences than the MAC, Wichita State is currently in negotiations to join the AAC.

 

Wichita State's Conference - #12

Akron's Conference - #14

 

Do you really want to make the distinction that the MVC is "much better"?

 

They don't let their weak conference stop them from going out and making their own lemonade.  Akron needs to do the same

 

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8 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

Wichita State's Conference - #12

Akron's Conference - #14

 

Do you really want to make the distinction that the MVC is "much better"?

 

They don't let their weak conference stop them from going out and making their own lemonade.  Akron needs to do the same

 

Their conference is light years ahead of the MAC. I think you place too much reliance on RPI

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11 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

Wichita State's Conference - #12

Akron's Conference - #14

 

Do you really want to make the distinction that the MVC is "much better"?

 

They don't let their weak conference stop them from going out and making their own lemonade.  Akron does.  

 

How many at-large bids does the MVC have since 2000 and how many does the MAC have? How many NCAAT wins does the MVC have this century compared to the MAC? When was the last year the MAC was rated higher than the MVC?  Accept it or not there is a decent sized gap between the two conferences.

 

You asked a question and I answered. Yes, they complain about being in the MVC and yes they are wanting to be someplace better.

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8 minutes ago, dre22era said:

Im shocked at how much people are Defending the current state of the MAC 

 

 

They must not understand how leagues/conferences work then! MAC, like Akron it seems, thinks football first. MAC basketball is in TROUBLE.  It is sad because I think that the top 4 any given year can compete in some of the top conferences in the country. Bad situation for sure. 

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20 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

Wichita State's Conference - #12

Akron's Conference - #14

 

Do you really want to make the distinction that the MVC is "much better"?

 

They don't let their weak conference stop them from going out and making their own lemonade.  Akron needs to do the same

 

You are forgetting the MVC was even stronger when Creighton was a member.  Even with their departure, the MVC is still much better than the MAC. If Akron drops off then the MAC drops off even more.  Now that the Shockers have a strong program they are wisely looking to move up.  I am a diehard Zips fan but you have to accept that the MAC is a weak, weak conference.   Unless a MAC school has a once in a generation season, it is a one bid conference not only to the NCAAs but the THE NIT.  

 

 

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11 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

The best analogy I can come up with is that Dambrot decided to buy the worst house in a high end neighborhood rather than the best house in a crap neighborhood.

Don't you think he bought the worst house on a good street in an upper middle class neighborhood and is leaving one of the nicest houses in a lower middle class neighborhood?  The A-10 isn't what it used to be since Temple, Xavier & Butler left.

 

It is interesting to me to hear people questioning KD's departure because of the difficulty in winning at Duquesne in that conference and then read that what Akron needs to do is to get into a conference like the A-10.  News flash, everybody. . .Duquesne can win in that conference a helluva lot easier than Akron could ever win in that conference.  A cash-poor public school that plays FBS football is never going to have the money to compete at that level.  Never.  We are broke.

 

The level of discontent with the MAC has reached a level of self-loathing with some folks.  The only hope Akron ever has of leaving the MAC is if football would get good enough to actually get to the top of this conference, stay there for about 10 years and develop somewhat of a following.  Then your prize is maybe getting an invite to CUSA.

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12 minutes ago, Blackburn said:

 

They must not understand how leagues/conferences work then! MAC, like Akron it seems, thinks football first. MAC basketball is in TROUBLE.  It is sad because I think that the top 4 any given year can compete in some of the top conferences in the country. Bad situation for sure. 

Im out of likes. 

I agree 100% 
The current state of the MAC reminds me of teams in the Colonial Athletic Association a few years back where they were pretty much going through the same situation. 
VCU, George Mason, Richmond and Old Dominion all left for the exact same reason we are enduring in the MAC. 
 

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15 minutes ago, K92 said:

 

It is interesting to me to hear people questioning KD's departure because of the difficulty in winning at Duquesne in that conference and then read that what Akron needs to do is to get into a conference like the A-10.  News flash, everybody. . .Duquesne can win in that conference a helluva lot easier than Akron could ever win in that conference.  A cash-poor public school that plays FBS football is never going to have the money to compete at that level.  Never.  We are broke.

 

Disagree. I think we'd be a middle of the road A-10 team right now. Well maybe not right now, but last week :lol:

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11 minutes ago, dre22era said:

Im out of likes. 

I agree 100% 
The current state of the MAC reminds me of teams in the Colonial Athletic Association a few years back where they were pretty much going through the same situation. 
VCU, George Mason, Richmond and Old Dominion all left for the exact same reason we are enduring in the MAC. 
 

I agree. The difference is none of these schools were saddled with a mediocre FBS football team that limited its options for re-alignment.

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3 hours ago, LZIp said:

We all know the MAC isn't good. Luckily close to half of the season is made up of the OOC schedule. Schedule there better and actually BEAT some of those teams and you can make a case for an at-large. Outside of St Marys and Gonzaga, the WCC is not better than the MAC.  The difference St Marys and Gonzaga go out and get it done in the OOC. If we were able to beat Gonzaga or Creighton and avoided blunders like YSU, Miami, and BG, I think we would have had a real shot at an at-large. We did nothing to prove we were worthy of an at-large this year or any other year and blaming it on our conference is a cop out. KD can go to that 3-4 bid conference, but he isn't in the MAC anymore. Its going to be hard as hell to break in the top 3-4 of that conference. Harder than winning the MAC probably.

 

And BYU. 

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15 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Disagree. I think we'd be a middle of the road A-10 team right now. Well maybe not right now, but last week :lol:

 

 

No way. More goes into conference alignment/ranking/organization than just playing. It is truly and organization thing.  You have to think about the travel and and $$$.  The Zips never traveled well in the MAC let alone taking that trip to Richmond to Rhode Island to St. Bonny.  And on our budget, we would look like Rick Vaughn and company driving a bus full of duct tape.

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32 minutes ago, K92 said:

Don't you think he bought the worst house on a good street in an upper middle class neighborhood and is leaving one of the nicest houses in a lower middle class neighborhood?  

Yes.  That's exactly what I thought.  Thank you for clarifying my already imperfect analogy.:rolleyes:

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