GoZips Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 Attending open practice was darn lonely. Other than a local high school coach taking notes, I sat alone in JAR as the kids went through their Sunday morning practice. Come join me. Coach Dambrot holds open practice for you. You will immediately see the difference from the recent past program. Its all about hustle. Its fast paced, in your face basketball. Lots of wind sprints laced through the practice. Be in shape or barf. Even the drills have changed. First one I watched reminded me of Hoosiers. Ball handling skills emphasised. Get down court quickly, turn and attack the ball. One thing NOT like the movie there was no pass the ball four times before taking a shot. Basically its pound it inside, shoot, rebound, kick it out for a second shot. The score is going to zing to stratospheric levels. I just hope they spread the wealth rather than ala Tarver. The kids look to be in great shape. No bloaties in the group. The freshmen look like they belong. Dials was there, due to an injury not dressed. Sixteen in uniform for practice. Made for a rapid paced set of drills. Reminded me of running three lines in a hockey game. We might not have great players, but we do have great depth. Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoZips Posted October 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 UPDATE. Still darn lonely at BB practice. All the slugs must be dead. A few walking wounded. Various sprains, etc. Still, plenty of eager bodies laying on the wood. Kind of hard to predict who'll start especially in the backcourt. I lean toward Drew Joyce at the point and CEDeric Middleton at the two guard. Futch, Wood and Patterson in the front court. Possible to see McFadden at the two. Futch and Wood own the inside with Travis and Millum fighting for playing time. Darryl can either sub for Wood and Futch or play the three. I lean toward playing him at the three. This makes Travis the odd man out. Make no doubt about it, Romeo will see tons of floor time. Millum is on the thin side and might be a canidate for red shirting. Bubba has a sweet trey shot. But, he is way, way to slow and doesn't seem to grasp the in your face type of play Coach D is looking for. Mario Collins understands the type of game and hustles his butt. Mario works the point sufficiently well to allow Drew longer "blows". We are definitely thin at guard unless McFadden is moved to the two hole AND at least one of the walk-ons steps up his game. The basic philosphy reminds me of former coach Kevin Mackey of Cleveland State fame. Run 'n Stun in your face quick paced basketball. Get down the floor quick. Cover down. Deny. Skip passes. Look for the open man. The Zips will be raining threes and throwing down all the dunks they can find. Lots of lead passes, layups, slams, alley oops. You are going to love it. Sadly, Nick Meyers seems to be mentally opting out. What a waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipfan maybe Posted October 25, 2004 Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 Do you see any of the walk ons working with the team? Just wondered about Goddard and Keenan and the others.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zippy37 Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Kieth is going to do a Laturza, Webb, Huggins type of job with all the best attributes of these great coaches, out program is destined for big things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoZips Posted October 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 ZIPSFAN Sort Of .... There are currently five walk ons practicing with the team. I managed to get four names. Chad Mraz, a freshman who played for Revere wears #5. Nick Goddard, a sophomore from Wadsworth wearing #25. Zach Sowers, a freshman from Zanesville wears #33. Maurice Kanaan probably from Akron Firestone wears #15. No guarantee that I have their class stated correctly. I heard that Zach Sowers is a transfer walk on. He may be a higher class than freshman. Lastly, there is a #34 who I have not identified. To my way of thinking having plenty of walk ons helps build the quality of the team. They play their guts out for the most part. While they never seem to have enough talent to be a major factor they certainly provide much welcomed depth. I hope that all of them "stick" and are rewarded with floor time late in games where the Zips are comfortably ahead. God bless them one and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Go Zips - Chad Mraz played for St. Vincent-St. Mary, not Revere. Unless it's a different Mraz. Chad was a year older than LeBron, Romeo, little Dru...Heck of a player for the Irish. Could hit the three with consistency, good ball handler, scrappy. He thrived in Dambrot's system at St. VM. He was sidelined his entire junior season with a knee injury and came back his senior year for another trip to State, but it was the only state title game the Irish lost during the LeBron ear (to Cincy Roger Bacon). So is the guy on the Zips roster the Mraz from VM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoZips Posted November 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 GUEST ... right. Chad Mraz did play at St.V-M. My source wasn't sure and thought Mraz played at Revere. I don't know from nothing. Haven't seen #34 the past few practices. Might be gone. A #43 has joined the team. Could be #34 as both are very dark complected guards. Supposedly #33 Zack Sowers from Zanesville transfered in from another program. He is a walk-on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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