“Normally a 24-win season and falling only one game short of playing in the NCAA tournament is a success for a men’s basketball program. That is not the case for UA head coach Keith Dambrot and the Akron Zips. After a loss to Wisconsin Green Bay in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational tournament, the man at the helm let us all know what he felt about the season.”
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Normally a 24-win season and falling only one game short of playing in the NCAA tournament is a success for a men’s basketball program. That is not the case for UA head coach Keith Dambrot and the Akron Zips.

After a loss to Wisconsin Green Bay in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational tournament, the man at the helm let us all know what he felt about the season.

Most people would say 24 wins, good job, be happy, well that’s not how I’m built, UA head coach Keith Dambrot said. We should have played in the NCAA tournament if we guarded, we should have beat Western Michigan by 14 if we guarded, we should have beat Eastern Michigan by 14 if we guarded, and we lost more games at home because we didn’t guard.

You can’t win big games unless you can get a big stop when it matters, and we didn’t do that this season. Hopefully we can get better in the off-season, come back and make a run next year.

Coming down the stretch of the season, Akron was not able to play defense on key players in key situations.

In the last five games of the season, starting with Kent State and ending with Wisconsin Green Bay, Akron gave up at least 23 points to a single scorer. The Zips also gave up an average of 35 points to the top scorer during the MAC tournament.

It was an absolute symptom of our season all year long, Dambrot said. We let one guy beat us.

For a team that is built on defense, the results of the final games were unacceptable.

It’s a culmination of bad perimeter defense and bad post help, Dambrot said. I take responsibility for it and I promise you we’ll never guard as poorly as we did this year because I’m not playing anybody that doesn’t guard.

With all four main guards returning next year, has plans to prepare for next season.

In the spring time all we usually do is shoot and work on offense, Dambrot said. I’m going to put football helmets, pads and everything else on them until I get them where I want them.

I’m here to win championships, Dambrot said. I’m not some middle-aged coach trying to retire.

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” #1.1359891:1580400535.jpg:mcknight bw.jpg:Junior forward Brett McKnight is one of 12 returning players from the 2009-2010 Akron team.:Gary Krueger”