Evaluating Coach Dambrot

[RooYahoo]

Same old Dambrot, Same old offense, Same old result. Now go to bed.

[NCHoover88]

Now before we go burning the guy that turned our basketball program around, let's keep in mind that an average Kent player had the game of his life and we missed a lot of good looks, it's that simple. Coaches don't shoot the ball, they put guys in good spots to get good looks. We got good looks, we uncharacteristically shot the ball poorly. 

[ZipsVoice]

Thank you.  I thought I was not going to be allowed to complain.  We never seem to have the "stuff" that is instilled in you to do what it takes to be a champion, instead of just "good enough".  Three quarters of the season in, we have national press coverage, a ho e winstreak being talkedabout, and compared to some big programs on the net with twelve 20 plus winning seasons, and we completely implode amd are now just a footnote to the 2017 success story of kent-state-still-sucks....why?

[Blue & Gold]

Being a mid-major is a tough gig.

[Spin]

On the one hand, we have been to nine MAC championship games under Coach Dambrot.

 

On the other, we lost 6 of them.

[clarkwgriswold]

...and the solution is?  Remember, for every successful young up and comer there's a Coleman Crawford or Dan Hipsher.  Be damn careful what you wish for.

[K92]

56 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Being a winner is a tough gig.

FIFY

[Blue & Gold]

 

[zippy5]

2 hours ago, RooYahoo said:

He's not a big game coach.

Go away

[dirtyolcrowe]

He's not a big game coach.   Can't win the big game. Can't win on TV.  Couldn't win a bracket buster game.  For all you homers out there if you want him.  You better change his staff cause they are making him look bad. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Open a dictionary, and locate the word insanity. The example is see Dambrot. 

 

The same schedule. The same game plans. The same offense. The same player development, or lack thereof. The same big game losses. The same disappointment. 

 

I'm not saying we fire him now, but something needs to change. The schedule, the staff, something. 

[zippy5]

KD has gotten our teams to more big games than the rest of the MAC combined. He's bound to have more losses in those games. Would I like to have won more of them? Sure. But I guess what I'm getting at is this is a debate best not made fresh off a championship game loss to our rival. We could do a lot worse than KD

[skip-zip]

23 minutes ago, dirtyolcrowe said:

Can't win on TV.  Couldn't win a bracket buster game. 

 

Please, feel free to exercise whatever opinion you wish about Keith.  But at least be factually correct.  Both of these points are wrong.  

[dirtyolcrowe]

4 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

Please, feel free to exercise whatever opinion you wish about Keith.  But at least be factually correct.  Both of these points are wrong.  

 

4 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

Please, feel free to exercise whatever opinion you wish about Keith.  But at least be factually correct.  Both of these points are wrong.  

You're right.  He beat Miss St on ESPN 8.  The ohco. 

[skip-zip]

5 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

KD has gotten our teams to more big games than the rest of the MAC combined. He's bound to have more losses in those games. Would I like to have won more of them? Sure. 

 

You're right.  Lets at least remind everyone of this...

 

MAC Tournament Titles in last 10 years.

Akron - 3

OU - 2

Kent - 2

Buffalo - 2

WMU - 1

Miami - 1

 

And nobody is even remotely close to our number of Tournament Final appearances.  

[LZIp]

22 minutes ago, lilroodude said:

Open a dictionary, and locate the word insanity. The example is see Dambrot. 

 

The same schedule. The same game plans. The same offense. The same player development, or lack thereof. The same big game losses. The same disappointment. 

 

I'm not saying we fire him now, but something needs to change. The schedule, the staff, something. 

Pretty much agree with this spot on. I like Dambrot and all that he brings, but I want more and I believe he does as well and at some point some changes need to be made. Back when Dambrot was first turning the program around, we lost Boals and Shaka to better opportunities.I may even be missing someone. That is a sign of having good assistants. When is the last time that has happened? I sense complacency with them.

 

I liked playing Creighton and Gonzaga this year, but outside of that the OOC was incredibly weak. That should be looked at. As I said in the Kent thread. Give me Kent's lackluster regular season every year if it comes with playing better teams and making it to the dance.

 

Maybe a philosophy change needs made. Some have said we missed out on Willie Jackson for the second time because he wants to be a focal point and Dambrot likes a balanced team. Nothing about this team was balanced this season. Big Dog was the focal point. Adjust your philosophy to bring in better talent. I'm also disappointed on losing Graves to Buffalo. Jimmys and Joes are worth more than X's and O's.

Edited March 12, 2017 by LZIp

[dirtyolcrowe]

4 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

You're right.  Lets at least remind everyone of this...

 

MAC Tournament Titles in last 10 years.

Akron - 3

OU - 2

Kent - 2

Buffalo - 2

WMU - 1

Miami - 1

 

And nobody is even remotely close to our number of Tournament Final appearances.  

How's his NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT record???   Does he have a winning record against the Washington Generals,  

[skip-zip]

11 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Pretty much agree with this spot on. I like Dambrot and all that he brings, but I want more and I believe he does as well and at some point some changes need to be made. Back when Dambrot was first turning the program around, we lost Boals and Shaka to better opportunities.I may even be missing someone. That is a sign of having good assistants. When is the last time that has happened? I sense complacency with them.

 

I liked playing Creighton and Gonzaga this year, but outside of that the OOC was incredibly weak. That should be looked at. As I said in the Kent thread. Give me Kent's lackluster regular season every year if it comes with playing better teams and making it to the dance.

 

Maybe a philosophy change needs made. Some have said we missed out on Willie Jackson for the second time because he wants to be a focal point and Dambrot likes a balanced team. Nothing about this team was balanced this season. Big Dog was the focal point. Adjust your philosophy to bring in better talent. I'm also disappointed on losing Graves to Buffalo. Jimmys and Joes are worth more than X's and O's.

 

A good, intelligent analysis.  

[Valpo Zip]

Dambrot will NOT and should NOT get fired. let's put that to rest.

We can't afford eating the rest of his 10 year contract, we can't afford upsetting Lebron, and great coaches are not dying to come coach at Akron.

 

That being said, we need to stop worshiping him and he needs to feel some pressure. Here are a few starting points:

1 - He can't keep scheduling his way to get an inflated number of wins every year. We can't celebrate having x 21 win seasons when we all know it is fool's gold. The AD needs to step in and make him schedule better.

2 - He needs to hire better staff members, it is not Akron's problem to make sure that all his ex-players have good paying jobs. All his assistants are his ex-players and all what they know about college basketball is what they learned from him. Who is going to draw a new play when you need one?

3 - Hire an assistant coach who can coach post players. We don't have one.

4 - Practice free throws...it is EMBARRASSING!  year after year after year.

5 - Stop this nonsense of being loyal to upperclassmen and playing them no matter how terrible they are. You play the best players on your roster. (Utomi over Kwan will be a good example).

 

 

[Blue & Gold]

7 hours ago, LZIp said:

Pretty much agree with this spot on. I like Dambrot and all that he brings, but I want more and I believe he does as well and at some point some changes need to be made. Back when Dambrot was first turning the program around, we lost Boals and Shaka to better opportunities.I may even be missing someone. That is a sign of having good assistants. When is the last time that has happened? I sense complacency with them.

 

I liked playing Creighton and Gonzaga this year, but outside of that the OOC was incredibly weak. That should be looked at. As I said in the Kent thread. Give me Kent's lackluster regular season every year if it comes with playing better teams and making it to the dance.

 

Maybe a philosophy change needs made. Some have said we missed out on Willie Jackson for the second time because he wants to be a focal point and Dambrot likes a balanced team. Nothing about this team was balanced this season. Big Dog was the focal point. Adjust your philosophy to bring in better talent. I'm also disappointed on losing Graves to Buffalo. Jimmys and Joes are worth more than X's and O's.

B.I.N.G.O.  Winner, winner chicken dinner.

 

And losing Graves to Buffalo is "Yuuuuuuuge. It really is."

 

 

Graves was exactly... exactly... EXACTLY... the kind of guard Akron's needed for years.

Edited March 12, 2017 by Blue & Gold

[Blue & Gold]

Following the game I had a very brief text conversation w/ a kid who's a senior in high school who's going to Akron next year. He's learning quickly...

 

Him: "Are you watching the MAC Championship?"

Me: "Yeah, I watched it :/"

Him: "Seems like that happens every year."

Me: "Tell me about it :/"

 

Broken record.  Get used to it, bro.

[zen]

8 hours ago, zippy5 said:

KD has gotten our teams to more big games than the rest of the MAC combined. He's bound to have more losses in those games. Would I like to have won more of them? Sure. But I guess what I'm getting at is this is a debate best not made fresh off a championship game loss to our rival. We could do a lot worse than KD

 

This ^

The discussion should be how to get over the hump, not complaining about how good it's been in the guise of it being bad.

[NWAkron]

Collected my thoughts and read all your posts.  I have some random musings that mean nothing since none of us have control over any of this.  I am a battered spouse in a cycle of violence and have now reached the stage of resignation and acceptance:

 

1.  We have been to more MAC title games and have won more in the last 10 years than the other schools.  But what does that mean to the future of the program and the fans?

2.  The season leading up to the tournament is meaningless because if you have to play at home on Monday night of tourney week it really isn't a detriment.

3.  Worst game of the year last night for the Zips.

4.  I agree this 21 win per year streak is also meaningless.  As someone said a month ago, the home winning streak wasn't hard to keep going considering the level of competition at the JAR.

5.  I don't know about recruiting.  Should a player dictate to the coach that he wants to be the focus of the team?  I do know that our staff and all the teams in the MAC are scrambling to get what is left over which includes small guards, skinny (or overweight) centers, and players who are notoriously inconsistent.  Dambrot got burned so badly when he tried to go the JUCO/problem child route that he gave up on it.  The problem child route isn't working for EMU but it worked for Kent this year.  (Also, no injuries or suspensions this year.  We can't use that as an excuse).

6.  Coaching staff:  just from looking at the staff, loyalty and familiarity appears to be #1 factor in being with Akron.  I've never coached on any level, so i don't know what it takes to develop a coaching staff.  Do you want a Geno Ford or Dan Hipsher as your asst?  How on earth did Shaka and Keith ever work for Hipsher?  Do you want guys under you who are looking to make names for themselves or do you want a loyal, comfortable group?

7.  I know I would be happy giving up these 20 win seasons and wouldn't mind a bunch of losses in a row or at home or on the road to the big conferences if it can get the program out of the limbo we are in now.  That win at Texas did a lot for the Kent team this year.  Frankly, that game looked really similar to the game last night.

8.  Don't you all secretly want John Groce as our coach for a few years?  Why can't we be like those delusional Bobcat Attack bloggers and expect a whole lot more?

9.  And for all of us and the program to keep coming back to..."well, we have more tournament final games than anyone else" or whatever benchmark we set on here really is a defeatist attitude.  Mid Major basketball and life in the MAC promises fool's gold as someone said.  The school and the coaching staff don't have to keep buying it.  But they have to (obviously) decide what is their goal and how they will achieve it.

10.  I'm really looking forward to a quarterback competition this Fall and another Bowl appearance.  Football is so much more enjoyable because I expect nothing and am so happy with any win.  It's just entertainment which is what basketball is becoming for me.

 

P.S.  Last night was a reverse of 2011.  The basketball gods are really telling something to the Zips.  The loss at BG (after "owning" them for years.  Loss at home to Miami.  The loss at home to Kent.  These meaningless win streaks and domination of crap teams isn't going to work anymore. 

Edited March 12, 2017 by NWAkron

[ZIPS96]

We need someone to teach this kids to make smart decisions at the end of close games.  In the last two championship games Antino (last year) & Ivey (last night) made bad decisions fouling for no reason in the last minute of the game.

[UAZip0510]

9 hours ago, LZIp said:

Pretty much agree with this spot on. I like Dambrot and all that he brings, but I want more and I believe he does as well and at some point some changes need to be made. Back when Dambrot was first turning the program around, we lost Boals and Shaka to better opportunities.I may even be missing someone. That is a sign of having good assistants. When is the last time that has happened? I sense complacency with them.

 

I liked playing Creighton and Gonzaga this year, but outside of that the OOC was incredibly weak. That should be looked at. As I said in the Kent thread. Give me Kent's lackluster regular season every year if it comes with playing better teams and making it to the dance.

 

Maybe a philosophy change needs made. Some have said we missed out on Willie Jackson for the second time because he wants to be a focal point and Dambrot likes a balanced team. Nothing about this team was balanced this season. Big Dog was the focal point. Adjust your philosophy to bring in better talent. I'm also disappointed on losing Graves to Buffalo. Jimmys and Joes are worth more than X's and O's.

 

This is not at all true.  I'm not going into details, but I can promise you it had nothing to do with on-court stuff and I'm OK with Willie going elsewhere, as talented as he is.