Duquesne's Keith Dambrot on his coaching style: 'I can be a pain in the behind'

The truth often hurts, but Keith Dambrot is unafraid to confront it — even if it involves taking personal responsibility for a situation that affects his team.

When Duquesne’s coach was asked what junior forward Marcus Weathers needs to do to regain his scoring touch, Dambrot responded with an immediate answer.

“I have to lay off (him),” he said. “It’s all on me. When I think somebody’s pretty good, I can be a pain in the behind.”

Weathers leads Duquesne in scoring (14.5), rebounding (8.0) and field-goal percentage (57.6). He averaged nearly 19 points in a recent five-game stretch before scoring a total of 16 in Duquesne’s past two.

The Dukes (18-6, 8-4 Atlantic 10) will need a little more from everyone in the final 2½ weeks of the regular season, starting Wednesday against George Washington (11-14, 5-7) at PPG Paints Arena. After that, the final five opponents have a combined 90-36 record. That includes Dayton (23-2, 12-0), ranked No. 5 in the nation, Saturday on the road.

When Dambrot met with reporters Tuesday morning after practice, he explained how he never has been reluctant to push his players. It started in 1999 when LeBron James, a high school freshman at the time, showed up at Dambrot’s practice at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron.

“I’m not taking any credit, but I didn’t pamper him,” Dambrot said. “He’ll tell you that. I probably was the hardest guy (on him) he’s ever played for because I knew what he was.”

St. Vincent-St. Mary won two state championships when Dambrot and James were together, but it wasn’t as easy as their 53-1 record might indicate.

“I never felt more pressure in my life,” Dambrot said, “because I knew he was going to make a lot of money or someone was going to get in the way of it. I didn’t want him to flush it down the toilet, so I was hard.”

He uses similar methods on his Duquesne players, including Weathers, who the coach believes has a future in professional basketball.

“I’ve been ruthless,” Dambrot said, remarking he wants more from him in the areas of defense, passing and effort. “I’ve been treating him like he’s LeBron, and that’s not fair.”

Dambrot said Weathers was “mad at me” during the Fordham game Sunday when he scored nine points to complement 14 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot in a 59-54 Duquesne victory.

“The last two games, I’ve been hard on him. I have to leave him alone,” Dambrot said. “You have to be man enough to figure out how to get the most out of people.

“My dad (Sid Dambrot, who played for top-10 Duquesne teams in the 1950s) used to tell me everybody’s a little different. This guy might need massaged. This guy might need hard love.

“I’ve ridden him hard enough for most of the year. Now, it’s time to just let him play.”

Weathers, who transferred to Duquesne from Miami (Ohio) in 2018, said he and his coach have frequent one-on-one conversations.

“He’s on me extremely hard because he sees the potential in me,” said Weathers, who added his high school and AAU coaches treated him in the same manner. “There are times I do get frustrated. I try to not visibly show that I am.

“But at the same time, it’s what you want. I asked to be pushed extremely hard. I asked to be pushed every day.

“It’s not that big of a deal. I take is as a compliment.”

Still, Dambrot believes he needs to occasionally monitor his passion.

“I like Marcus so much that sometimes you can be too hard,” he said. “I think I did the same thing with Baylee (Steele, 6-foot-11 reserve center, who averages nearly five rebounds per game).

“Baylee puts a lot of time in. I want him to be so good that sometimes I expect too much from him, and that’s not what he needs. Sometimes, guys think you don’t like them when you do that to them when in reality you like them more.”

Dambrot is fortunate he and his assistants — Terry Weigand, Rick McFadden and Charles Thomas — have been together for 10 years.

“Terry Weigand’s been with me 35 years,” he said. “He’ll call me stupid, ignorant, and it really doesn’t affect me because I know all he cares about is me.

“I may fire back, but I go home and think about it. It’s kind of like when your wife gets on you. You really don’t want to hear it, but then you think about it and most of the time they’re right.”