Coach Search Options after Autry

[orangepassion]

Everybody was mad we didn't do a real search last time. Now everybody's mad we're doing a real search this time.

Who's mad we're doing a real search (assuming we actually are)? I want us to turn over every rock and possibility.

 

[FireballPhil]

Wade is at nc state

Ah I forgot he moved last year. Not sure why lol. Oh well.

 

[sufan59]

Paulie was 98% Gerry on Friday lol

 

[PhatOrange]

Has anyone dug into the ties or connections Blair might have?

 

[RF2044]

Again, what are you proving? USF has better players than Siena? Yes, I agree 100%. Surprise, the metrics back it up.

So USF has better players, but you expect a coach to magically get the worse talented team to have better metrics?

No -- I expect a good coach to get his team to play well, and the metrics will reflect said performance.

That's why Saint Louis is #33. It isn't because their roster is littered with McDonald's all americans. It isn't because their conference -- the A10 -- is a recruiting powerhouse that helps elevate their rankings.

It is because the coach has good systems, and the players execute well.

And for the record, a pet peeve program of mine, Ohio State, is ranked #25 -- ahead of Saint Louis in the rankings. By no means does that imply that Diebler is a better coach than Scherz.

 

[Cusean]

I am not pro-Hodgson. I didn't like him for a long time, when his name was discussed here.

But when you evaluate how his team performed, there was a lot to like. You are what the numbers say you are, and USF posted some impressive results. That can't be disputed, and it isn't offset by a loss to Louisville.

And again, to be clear, I'm not a Hodgson stan.

What I am is a Syracuse fan, who is tired of subpar play. What was attractive about a candidate like Hodgson was the potential for his proven system to translate up, and change how our team performs. We had something like 27 double-digit losses under Autry. Wouldn't it be nice instead to be in the top 10 nationally in offensive rebounding, #7 in 2p FG%, #1 in free throws made and attempted [both]?

So is he the best? Don't know about that. Scherz was almost universally seen as the top mid major head coach, and with good reason. But Hodgson was pretty good too -- I won't let sour grapes stop me from acknowledging that [even though I hope he flops at PC].

Oh I agree 100%. All I said was he’s not the best mid major coach. Think he would have been great as our coach. But I would certainly have Mark Few, Randy Bennett, Josh Schertz and a couple others ahead of Hodgson on the list of best mid major coaches.

 

[RF2044]

Has anyone dug into the ties or connections Blair might have?

I saw someone post [not going back to dig through 766 pages to find it, though] that Blair might have ties to Groce [Akron] and Steele [Miami OH] -- but that was just something I read, can't vouch for the veracity.

 

[RF2044]

100%, pet peeve of mine, stating bare minimum qualifications when asked why you should be tasked with a big job. If the reasoning behind wanting Gmac is bare minimum qualifications like “Having his guys ready to go” or “His kids play hard for him” what does that say about his candidacy? I love Gmac, I just do not think this is the right time for him to be the Syracuse head coach.

Ditto. Those come across as rationalization to make up for a lack of other qualifications where the candidate doesn't stack up favorably.

 

[Melancer46]

So now we’re moving the goalposts? Efficiency numbers are widely regarded as a better metric. But again, that’s all besides the point.

I haven't moved anything lol every time I have referenced these sort of rankings it's been the same. KenPom ratings are valuable tools but when I say Syracuse ranked outside the top 200 in points per 100 possessions, I do not mean that they ranked somewhere else but got bonus points for playing in a relatively good conference. I don't find it particularly helpful to suggest that being nearly dead last in the ACC is a better coaching performance than being near or at the top in the A10 or MAAC.

 

[RF2044]

Oh I agree 100%. All I said was he’s not the best mid major coach. Think he would have been great as our coach. But I would certainly have Mark Few, Randy Bennett, Josh Schertz and a couple others ahead of Hodgson on the list of best mid major coaches.

Yeah, and I should have clarified -- "best avaialable" mid major coach. Because I agree that Few, etc. are better.

 

[UpstateSM]

Has anyone dug into the ties or connections Blair might have?

Kyle Smith. Who I would be happy with.

 

[CuseBlood44]

Kyle Smith. Who I would be happy with.

How many would want him over Gerry though

 

[pearl31]

And Siena was #180.

But he gets his guys to play hard, and he bleeds orange!!!

see... just... why?

 

[pearl31]

About 7 pages during the Syracuse half marathon. Nice work.

No, nice work YOU!!

 

[Mr. M]

see... just... why?

Sarcasm

 

[TrickySU]

No -- I expect a good coach to get his team to play well, and the metrics will reflect said performance.

That's why Saint Louis is #33. It isn't because their roster is littered with McDonald's all americans. It isn't because their conference -- the A10 -- is a recruiting powerhouse that helps elevate their rankings.

It is because the coach has good systems, and the players execute well.

And for the record, a pet peeve program of mine, Ohio State, is ranked #25 -- ahead of Saint Louis in the rankings. By no means does that imply that Diebler is a better coach than Scherz.

Right. Here’s the point: These ratings largely coincide with talent, but some teams play above their talent level and some teams play below. So for teams that are peer schools or relatively close in terms of talent, comparing these metrics is a great way to separate.

But comparing schools that are far apart in talent levels is a horrible way to try and determine who the better coach is.

Generally the team with more talent will have better metrics. So don’t compare teams that are in different playing fields recruiting wise.

That’s why I would say despite Saint Louis being ranked outside the Top 30, I think Schertz is an elite coach. Even though his team’s metrics won’t be anywhere near the top of the list. I’m not going to compare him to Michigan. Makes no sense to when the talent is just different.

Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[RedtheGOB]

I predicted Murray before tourney started. His name hasn’t come up lately at all but maybe there’s still some smoke there.

 

[pearl31]

That is nuts, PC just finished at the bottom of the conference, no major recruits coming in, if English was still the coach how do you think they would do, by the way they spent 9 million bucks this year in NIL more then Syracuse by all accounts. Now look at the press they are getting? Public image of PC changes immediately when they hire maybe the best mid major coach in the country especially when they are giving him maybe 13 million a year in NIl. What would our perception be if we brought Red back lol.

so that tells me english is a terrible coach, worse than red, and they've gone and pooled a ridiculous sum of money to lure hodgson

 

[Melancer46]

Siena also had the highest rated offensive efficiency in the MAAC. Only school in the conference in the Top 200.

Despite all the injuries.

This is true now, but it may be worth mentioning it's only true because their offensive struggles against Duke was enough to move them up 20 spots because it was against Duke lol. Pretty much whoever had won the MAAC tournament was going to end up #1 in the conference just because they got to play a 1 seed to inflate their ranking relative to the rest of the conference.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I prefer someone outside of Gerry mainly just because of JB, but he is getting some unwarranted criticism just because he has ties to the previous two regimes. He does run decent offense at times. There would need to be a focus on getting more shooting.

 

[Acesn8s]

so that tells me english is a terrible coach, worse than red, and they've gone and pooled a ridiculous sum of money to lure hodgson

Yes, appears that way

 

[TrickySU]

I haven't moved anything lol every time I have referenced these sort of rankings it's been the same. KenPom ratings are valuable tools but when I say Syracuse ranked outside the top 200 in points per 100 possessions, I do not mean that they ranked somewhere else but got bonus points for playing in a relatively good conference. I don't find it particularly helpful to suggest that being nearly dead last in the ACC is a better coaching performance than being near or at the top in the A10 or MAAC.

All I said in a post responding to someone mentioning Top 100 ratings was that Syracuse ranked in the Top 100 of offensive and defensive efficiency.

You responded saying “Our offensive and defensive ratings were both outside the top 200 this year.”

And I responded to that with the factual information that Syracuse’s offensive and defensive efficiency rankings are indeed top 100.

Then you responded with a different stat that is outside the Top 100.

I don’t think we’re really arguing anything here.

 

[kcsu]

You only want Gerry because he had a great game plan, his team was well-prepared, and his team executed against #1 Duke.

You only want Gerry because his team won the MAAC in just his second season.

You only want Gerry because he went 23-12 this year and made the NCAA Tournament.

You only want Gerry because...

Am I doing this right?

Nobody is saying we should hire Gerry ONLY because his team played well in one game. Anybody suggesting that is lying to themselves and everyone else. And honestly its so annoying and lazy.

Schertz is my #1 pick. Has been for awhile. Has the experience, is a proven winner, has a great system, and is a great coach.

But if it isn't Schetz, Gerry is my next pick. Given the realistic options out there. Yeah, there are plenty of coaches I'd love to poach in a perfect world, but I'm living in reality.

I'll say it again. Gerry can flat out coach. He has a great feel for the game. I've been around a lot of coaches and teams, and people underrate just how many coaches lack a feel for game situations like when to sub, when to make adjustments, how to make adjustments, when to call timeouts, how to work the officials. Having watched Gerry, he's shown a good feel for this.

Yes, I would like to hear his plan for offense. I also watched his team run more sets and better offensive actions in one game, than SU did all year. People also have to keep in mind, there are few teams at the MAAC level or equivalent that are running the type of offenses you see Duke, Michigan, Iowa State, Alabama, etc. run. They just don't have the athletes. I think you'll find Gerry with P4 level players can run a more adaptable offense.

Lastly, Gerry showed he is willing to adjust and adapt. So many of us saw Boeheim's stubbornness. I haven't seen Gerry be stubborn. Just the opposite. Took a team with multiple injuries and a suspension, and adjusted to take an undermanned team to the NCAA Tournament and go toe-to-toe with Duke.

There are reasons why others may be better coaching options. But please stop with the "we have to go outside the family" or "It was just one game." If there's a better coach available, great. Do everything to get them. But Gerry is a great option and can certainly succeed here.

Plenty of great options on paper fail. I bet Georgetown fans were happy to steal Ed Cooley from Providence. Proven winner. NCAA Tournaments. How has that worked out?

Point is, nobody comes without risks. And nothing is a sure thing.

Best post in this entire thread.

 

[BEGood]

I prefer someone outside of Gerry mainly just because of JB, but he is getting some unwarranted criticism just because he has ties to the previous two regimes. He does run decent offense at times. There would need to be a focus on getting more shooting.

He also was limited to like 7 players too hard to judge on that! But I like his players were bought in and played their ass off for him!

 

[Scooch]

I don’t pretend to be an Xs and Os expert by any means. But I have watched basketball pretty much nonstop for the past 3 days. Almost every team is more enjoyable to watch and runs a more strategically sound offense than what I’ve seen at SU the past several years.

Which is to say that I’m not particularly hung up on rankings and systems. It’s hard for me to believe anyone we hire wouldn’t be a major improvement for both O and D from where we’ve been this decade.

So I want a guy who can build a great roster. You still gotta “recruit”, even in the portal era, because a lot of times the money is going to be relatively similar for certain players. We need someone who can sell and close.