Feelings of Hopelessness for this Program amidst the Gaslighting

[kcsu]

I've sent it to a couple folks here. I think it was a misunderstanding upon reflection. I hope so at least.

Is it possible for all of us to have a virtual group hug

 

[kcsu]

One thing that John Wildhack has been consistent on is that he doesn’t make a change and fire a coach unless he is confident that the department has given that coach everything possible to breed success. I don’t feel that he could confidently say that going into this season. It was pretty apparent that every available dollar went to football and thank god for that!
Since then we have added a GM, and an analytics wunderkind. We had to replace one assistant coach but still have not taken advantage of the NCAA rule allowing two additional assistants that many of our conference brethren have. We absolutely underestimated the NIL landscape and thought we could build a strong roster with a $2.5MM war chest and found we really needed almost double that as two of our top portal targets backtracked to one degree or another and signed elsewhere. And we have had exactly one ACC game this year with both of our best players on the floor.

I honestly do not know if Red has what it takes for long term success in the ACC. I expect to see some significant changes in the offseason and to see a decision made a year from now after all possible support is put in place.

Bingo. Great post

 

[phil77]

The lack of self-awareness from an X and Os standpoint is astonishing from Red in the clip below. I can see where all the long-time posters are now getting their talking points. There is no amount of talent we can bring in that can cover for the lack of our offensive and defensive systems. The fact that some posters seem to just completely overlook this is baffling. I can see by the thread Dasher made that most of you don't watch other teams or other leagues play and it shows that if you think we can just throw some money at this and it will be fine.

On defense, we give up lay-up after lay-up and when the other team gets tired of doing that they start taking open threes you know why they are open? It's not because of talent. It is because they are not coached in proper rotations and are not demanded to give maximum effort on that end of the court. And if they make a mistake there is no consequence just a gosh good try get them next time buddy.

On offense, we have one of the least efficient offenses in the nation because we are one of the only offenses left in the nation that relies on pure isolation most of the time.

You guys are holding onto an old-school style of big East basketball that you guys once loved that just doesn't work anymore in today's modern basketball. The lack of wanting change is concerning, to say the least.

 

[tptcuse]

The lack of self-awareness from an X and Os standpoint is astonishing from Red in the clip below. I can see where all the long-time posters are now getting their talking points. There is no amount of talent we can bring in that can cover for the lack of our offensive and defensive systems. The fact that some posters seem to just completely overlook this is baffling. I can see by the thread Dasher made that most of you don't watch other teams or other leagues play and it shows that if you think we can just throw some money at this and it will be fine.

On defense, we give up lay-up after lay-up and when the other team gets tired of doing that they start taking open threes you know why they are open? It's not because of talent. It is because they are not coached in proper rotations and are not demanded to give maximum effort on that end of the court. And if they make a mistake there is no consequence just a gosh good try get them next time buddy.

On offense, we have one of the least efficient offenses in the nation because we are one of the only offenses left in the nation that relies on pure isolation most of the time.

You guys are holding onto an old-school style of big East basketball that you guys once loved that just doesn't work anymore in today's modern basketball. The lack of wanting change is concerning, to say the least.

A non-answer. It harkens back to his answer about what he learned from his first year: "Now, I understand my why." Meaningless.

 

[atlanticuse]

This may make zero sense for a lot of people (like me two years ago before I started playing the FIFA/FC video game), but ... Bobby Moore was an awesome soccer player.
He was a terrible coach.
Don Mattingly? Wayne Gretzkey? even Larry Bird.
Red.

 

[Red2003]

The lack of self-awareness from an X and Os standpoint is astonishing from Red in the clip below. I can see where all the long-time posters are now getting their talking points. There is no amount of talent we can bring in that can cover for the lack of our offensive and defensive systems. The fact that some posters seem to just completely overlook this is baffling. I can see by the thread Dasher made that most of you don't watch other teams or other leagues play and it shows that if you think we can just throw some money at this and it will be fine.

On defense, we give up lay-up after lay-up and when the other team gets tired of doing that they start taking open threes you know why they are open? It's not because of talent. It is because they are not coached in proper rotations and are not demanded to give maximum effort on that end of the court. And if they make a mistake there is no consequence just a gosh good try get them next time buddy.

On offense, we have one of the least efficient offenses in the nation because we are one of the only offenses left in the nation that relies on pure isolation most of the time.

You guys are holding onto an old-school style of big East basketball that you guys once loved that just doesn't work anymore in today's modern basketball. The lack of wanting change is concerning, to say the least.

If I may add.

I think Autrys problem is that he is trying to fix too many things at once and that’s why the laundry list of terrible things you said keep happening.

We are a low IQ bball team and staff so it’s just a disaster.

Just think about the difference hoops IQ makes, Maliq Brown may be 6th man of the year and win a natty this year. Not because he’s a McDs all American with all the talent in the world but because he knows his exact role and what to do every second he is in the game without having to be told or yelled at. Our staff last year didn’t turn Brown into that by amazing coaching and he didn’t just get jacked or all the sudden get taller or jump higher, the game just clicks for him and he understands what to do.

Meanwhile Im still waiting for Autry to tell me who the team captain is or even who he trusts to carry out a basic task on this team.

I see no leader and no trust and yes I blame the staff for putting us in the position and not fixing the problem months ago or in the portal.

However I can also can say that although I don’t like the odds for a better year next year or Autry right now, the right captain at the 1 and anchor at the 5 could lead to dramatically different results. Right now no one on this team deserves to be back next year and wear an orange jersey tho.

Overall we’re in the Screw Around and Find out phase for this program.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Always darkest before the dawn. This to shall pass. Other platitudes. Etc.

It is always darkest before the dawn . However just because it is REALLY dark right now doesn’t mean it can’t get darker. this isn’t the earth rotating on its axis which you know 100% continues barring cataclysm., this is crappy coaching which isn’t guaranteed by natural law to abate

 

[kcsu]

If I may add.

I think Autrys problem is that he is trying to fix too many things at once and that’s why the laundry list of terrible things you said keep happening.

We are a low IQ bball team and staff so it’s just a disaster.

Just think about the difference hoops IQ makes, Maliq Brown may be 6th man of the year and win a natty this year. Not because he’s a McDs all American with all the talent in the world but because he knows his exact role and what to do every second he is in the game without having to be told or yelled at. Our staff last year didn’t turn Brown into that by amazing coaching and he didn’t just get jacked or all the sudden get taller or jump higher, the game just clicks for him and he understands what to do.

Meanwhile Im still waiting for Autry to tell me who the team captain is or even who he trusts to carry out a basic task on this team.

I see no leader and no trust and yes I blame the staff for putting us in the position and not fixing the problem months ago or in the portal.

However I can also can say that although I don’t like the odds for a better year next year or Autry right now, the right captain at the 1 and anchor at the 5 could lead to dramatically different results. Right now no one on this team deserves to be back next year and wear an orange jersey tho.

Overall we’re in the Screw Around and Find out phase for this program.

I posted this as well. We don't have a single leader on this team.

 

[OrangeFoo]

A lot of great posts in this thread... I came in looking for hair on fire type stuff.

My perspective... I love baseball and baseball seems to be the best sport to use the WAR (wins above replacement) sta. The reason baseball is probably good at that is it's really a sport of individual battles disguised as a team sport so it's pretty easy to understand the impact of a single player. It's harder to do that in other sports because scheme, strategy, opponents, score, etc... add so much more noise.

I think the fundamental question here is what is Autry's WAR as a coach. This is a great way to remove the noise from all of the non-court support stuff such as NIL, a GM, etc.

My fundamental concern is the I believe Autry has a significantly negative WAR... I think pre-Buddy JB would have had this squad at least at .500 in ACC play fwiw because he would have these dudes locking down on D with the zone. I'm not saying that zone is the answer... the real issue is that there is ZERO defensive strategy that I can see and it was the same last year. Having any defensive strategy at all would be better than this clown show.

I watch this team play D and it's like watching my team of 11 year olds that I coached last year play D. The only strategy I could coach was stay in front of your defender because anything else was too complicated for them in the time we had. And I had a lot of kids who never played structured basketball. What is Autry's excuse?

Adding more NIL/GM/etc... won't due jack to make Autry's WAR positive because he has no idea how to coach a defence. I think on offence better talent will result in better offence because we can revert to street ball If nothing else and out athlete the other team... not great but better talent will help. But the defence will not get better without better coaching. Either force him to hire a defensive coordinator or get a new coach.

 

[miamicuse]

It is always darkest before the dawn . However just because it is REALLY dark right now doesn’t mean it can’t get darker. this isn’t the earth rotating on its axis which you know 100% continues barring cataclysm., this is crappy coaching which isn’t guaranteed by natural law to abate

It was really dark at the end of the JB era, so dark that when Red was hired we walked into a cave without knowing it, now we are two miles into the cave wondering if the sun will ever come up. It won't.

 

[Melancer46]

The lack of self-awareness from an X and Os standpoint is astonishing from Red in the clip below. I can see where all the long-time posters are now getting their talking points. There is no amount of talent we can bring in that can cover for the lack of our offensive and defensive systems. The fact that some posters seem to just completely overlook this is baffling. I can see by the thread Dasher made that most of you don't watch other teams or other leagues play and it shows that if you think we can just throw some money at this and it will be fine.

On defense, we give up lay-up after lay-up and when the other team gets tired of doing that they start taking open threes you know why they are open? It's not because of talent. It is because they are not coached in proper rotations and are not demanded to give maximum effort on that end of the court. And if they make a mistake there is no consequence just a gosh good try get them next time buddy.

On offense, we have one of the least efficient offenses in the nation because we are one of the only offenses left in the nation that relies on pure isolation most of the time.

You guys are holding onto an old-school style of big East basketball that you guys once loved that just doesn't work anymore in today's modern basketball. The lack of wanting change is concerning, to say the least.

I think you're probably right about the X's and O's too, but I don't really think you can build an efficient offense around a team of non-shooters who also can't get to the rim in 2025. You might be able to draw up a play here and there that gets a cutter a good look but ultimately, we have 0 players that can finish at the rim well and our best 3 point shooter is a guy that can only shoot if he's standing still and isn't even making those this season. The only two players on the team that have been efficient on their 3's this year are Petar (3/8) and Lampkin (1/2). And that's still two more efficient guys than what we have in terms of finishing inside.

Defensively, it's kind of the same. Yeah, the rotations are a mess, but no coaching is going to turn Lampkin into a rim protector and guys like Bell have never played defense dating back to high school. The best defensive coaches in the country will struggle to build a good defense around players that can't/don't defend.

So yeah, there's really no reason for us to believe Autry can do the X's and O's well aside from blind faith, but I also think this team is simply a lost cause regardless of the coach.

 

[Cusefan95]

Had to laugh when I heard Griff state the basketball program needs their Kyle McCord. Not one player is fixing this mess. We have systemic issues across the board. If that's what they think then basically we are just running out the clock next year if the entire staff is back. At least the football program had multiple pros already on the roster.

Yeah...its an indicator of "magical silver bullet" thinking which I've seen from bad leadership throughout my career. There's a reason why people buy diet pills but don't change their eating behavior, or pheromone colognes that supposedly make you irresistible, or why businesses fall for the management fad of the day...because its easier to pretend some magical silver bullet which requires very little effort is all that is needed to fix an issue. People generally don't want to acknowledge the true root cause - and even if they do, they don't want to roll up their sleeves and put in the effort to fix it.

McCord came because Fran had already rolled up his sleeves and done hard work to retain key guys, improve NIL, and be generally attractive to portal guys. It wasn't that McCord came and then everything else magically fell into place.

Literally nothing coming out of the mouth of anyone associated with Syracuse University related to the basketball program gives me any confidence. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better...if it ever really gets "better".

 

[kingtidge]

I posted this as well. We don't have a single leader on this team.

Who's the team captain?

Who's the guy Red has sat down with and said "We need to do this, this, and this on defense. I know you get it, and I need you to be the lynchpin on the court and lead this team by example and get on the guys that are dragging. Take the reigns, son."

A coach can only do so much in-game from the sideline and needs a good floor-general.

If you watched Red's Miami postgame presser, he took responsibility for the fact the team did not play defense but basically said he does not know why they didn't.

He said they didn't do what he coached them to do.

I like the honesty but this is an unacceptable situation. I also like Red and it's painful to watch him answer questions staring down at the table with his arms folded looking pained. He is clearly distraught and feeling the pressure and I do feel bad for him. No one wanted it to go this way, least of all him.

People follow leaders in the most basic sense.

Either these players simply won't follow his direction or they are not clear on what they are being asked to do, and hence can't execute what they don't understand.

Whatever the reasons for this, it's not acceptable and Red is getting paid $2mil+ a year to figure it out and get the players to play to their potential.

Big boy pants are on. Good coaches earn their wedge.

 

[BronsonCuse]

I say this honestly and without judgement for Red -- but I wonder if he is uncomfortable with all the media engagements/press conferences. I wonder if he dislikes that part of the gig. He has never really looked comfortable handling the media and giving deeper answers. Juxtaposing Fran and Red's relationship with the media is interesting with them both being first-time head coaches. Fran comes off way more authentic and powerful than Red even though by all accounts Red is a fantastic & authentic guy.

 

[Dcuse]

I say this honestly and without judgement for Red -- but I wonder if he is uncomfortable with all the media engagements/press conferences. I wonder if he dislikes that part of the gig. He has never really looked comfortable handling the media and giving deeper answers. Juxtaposing Fran and Red's relationship with the media is interesting with them both being first-time head coaches. Fran comes off way more authentic and powerful than Red even though by all accounts Red is a fantastic & authentic guy.

Is there seriously any coach that likes the media part of this gig? Very,very,very low percentage.

 

[jdubs30]

I say this honestly and without judgement for Red -- but I wonder if he is uncomfortable with all the media engagements/press conferences. I wonder if he dislikes that part of the gig. He has never really looked comfortable handling the media and giving deeper answers. Juxtaposing Fran and Red's relationship with the media is interesting with them both being first-time head coaches. Fran comes off way more authentic and powerful than Red even though by all accounts Red is a fantastic & authentic guy.

Red just sounds clueless especially when matched with what we watch on the court

 

[Knicks411]

I don't buy it.

It's just the goalposts being moved.

I get they are now saying "Red got his guys but we didn't give him enough $$ to get good guys. He needs more time and more money and another crack at it."

We certainly need a combination of more money, better recruit/portal targeting, and WAY better coaching.

# 1 on the the list is WAY better coaching, tho.

There are literally more than a 100 teams doing better than us - and a lot of them with a lot LESS resources than we have.

Our combined recruiting (highschool and portal) is top 50 and we're what, #128 in KenPom??

You telling me that the likes of Lipscomb or Grand Canyon are at a level we just can't compete with currently because of portal and that our collective recruiting ranking is completely flawed?? Thank God we didn't play St. Bonaventure this year.

I've made a similar post to this as well, it just kinda blows my mind some of the excuses being made.

LeMoyne is 355th in the country in Ken Pom (out of 364!). We beat them by 4, at home! They have playte 2 teams in the top 100 at KP all year; they lost at Notre Dame by 29 and at Uconn by 41. I repeat, we beat them by 4 at home.

Colgate is 242nd, we beat them by 2. At home! Youngstown state is 195th, we beat them in double OT. (Say it with me) at home! BC is 207, same thing, double ot at home. We have beaten one team in the top 100 all year (Notre Dame is #90, at home of course. Georgia Tech is 101, we also beat them. at home)

If you want to say we need more money to compete at the highest levels, that is surely true. If you want to say we need more money or else we are destined to barely beat LeMoyne, Youngston State, and Colgate, then let's just say I disagree.

 

[DilemaCuse]

We gotta find our Kyle McCord?

Like is that sustainable? What is your foundation for your program? Do you have a system for that player?

Hoping to hit the lottery on a 1 year mercenary?

I know what Griff means but these statements just sound desperate.

 

[PauliePeppas]

We gotta find our Kyle McCord?

Like is that sustainable? What is your foundation for your program? Do you have a system for that player?

Hoping to hit the lottery on a 1 year mercenary?

I know what Griff means but these statements just sound desperate.

Desperation at its finest.

 

[sufan59]

Is there seriously any coach that likes the media part of this gig? Very,very,very low percentage.

Actually yes, I’m sure many coaches like the media part of the job most of the time. Coaches that don’t and just want to coach, stay away from the head coaching roles or take a head coaching role that is not a public figure position. You may not make millions like a HC would, but you can still make a very decent living being an assistant or a non-public figure head coaching role at a lower level, if your not interested in being a public figure and dealing with media.

 

[Newhouser]

Actually yes, I’m sure many coaches like the media part of the job most of the time. Coaches that don’t and just want to coach, stay away from the head coaching roles or take a head coaching role that is not a public figure position. You may not make millions like a HC would, but you can still make a very decent living being an assistant or a non-public figure head coaching role at a lower level, if your not interested in being a public figure and dealing with media.

If my team stinks and I'm getting skewered, I take every chance I can to get in front of a mic to sell my vision. Question is does red have a vision or just coach speak.

 

[kcsu]

real question. No disrespect of Red. Does Red understand the X and O portion of coaching? Is he considered smart. I'm not asking if he is intellectually intelligent, I'm asking is he known as a basketball mind or simply a good recruiter and people person. Bill B as an example has poor people skills but is known as a great football mind. So don't torch me about Red's intelligence. I could care less if he can count to 10 as long as he knows the ins and outs of basketball. My two cents is that he doesn't. I believe that he subs based on a pre-determined pattern. Anyway, if he doesn't have the chops on the X and O side, he needs to hire someone who does. If he does, he needs to either start using them and or put together a roster of kids that will listen to and follow coaching instructions. At this point I believe he is strong on the people connection side and weak on the details of game planning and scheme.

 

[OrangeCrush22]

Feels like the staff is realizing it’s over too.

 

[DilemaCuse]

real question. No disrespect of Red. Does Red understand the X and O portion of coaching? Is he considered smart. I'm not asking if he is intellectually intelligent, I'm asking is he known as a basketball mind or simply a good recruiter and people person. Bill B as an example has poor people skills but is known as a great football mind. So don't torch me about Red's intelligence. I could care less if he can count to 10 as long as he knows the ins and outs of basketball. My two cents is that he doesn't. I believe that he subs based on a pre-determined pattern. Anyway, if he doesn't have the chops on the X and O side, he needs to hire someone who does. If he does, he needs to either start using them and or put together a roster of kids that will listen to and follow coaching instructions. At this point I believe he is strong on the people connection side and weak on the details of game planning and scheme.

I've wondered this and I tend to think that among bball coaching circles he is not that highly thought of. Hence why he had never received an offer at a lower level school while being an assistant at Vtech or SU. By comparison, Hop was pursued by Bonaventure and USC. It also didn't help that he worked for Greenberg that had very few NCAA births and was soon fired after Red left and then he was part of the JB decline so he had some bad timing but wasn't a hot commodity which is why I didn't agree with him being chosen. I tend to think if he was highly thought of his name would have came up for job opportunities at the St. Peters, George Mason, JMU types.

Recruiting was cited as a strength and we have seen a slight uptick in HS recruiting due to him not being 80 and just showing up and making an effort. He is an engaging personality but if his recruiting is soo good, we wouldn't have had the drop off when Hop left and the W/L decline and JB would still be coaching. So by that logic he isn't even on the level of Hopkins as a recruiter. And I know Jim wasnt helping much at the end with his lack of effort and the sons playing time getting in the way.

 

[RF2044]

Yeah...its an indicator of "magical silver bullet" thinking which I've seen from bad leadership throughout my career. There's a reason why people buy diet pills but don't change their eating behavior, or pheromone colognes that supposedly make you irresistible, or why businesses fall for the management fad of the day...because its easier to pretend some magical silver bullet which requires very little effort is all that is needed to fix an issue. People generally don't want to acknowledge the true root cause - and even if they do, they don't want to roll up their sleeves and put in the effort to fix it.

McCord came because Fran had already rolled up his sleeves and done hard work to retain key guys, improve NIL, and be generally attractive to portal guys. It wasn't that McCord came and then everything else magically fell into place.

Literally nothing coming out of the mouth of anyone associated with Syracuse University related to the basketball program gives me any confidence. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better...if it ever really gets "better".

Fantastic post.