Gerry McNamara needs to be the next coach

[LAorange44]

Attention Gerry Haters and Baby Shark Lovers:


Didn’t Fran McCaffery make the jump from Siena to Iowa??? How many of his Iowa teams made the big dance after coaching at lil ole Siena???)

 

[CooperCuse]

Why is Hodgson more unproven than Gerry? Based on a conference tournament? Based on how your assessment of JB's last years and how you have already said you wbased on how ould have let him retire on his own terms, it's obvious you don't have the emotional maturity to make adult decisions.

Insulting me isn't needed, I've not done it to you. Many of you have an axe to grind based on how Jim's tenure here ended. That carries over into how Gerry is viewed. He's proven to be a good coach, and he's a Syracuse legend. Forget that, let's hire Baby Shark. Maybe Left Shark will be available as an assistant.

 

[LAorange44]

Who was the last MAAC coach that jumped directly to a P4 job and did well?

Does that even happen?

Fran McCaffery

 

[Newhouser]

Just out of curiosity, what was Sienas NIL this year?
What did some other teams in the MAAC have?

How did it compare to SU’s NIL that Red flushed down the toilet?
What was BH’s NIL?

I have no clue what kind of NIL Gerry had, I only know AW paid Doty’s NIL.

Yeah I'd be interested in this info too. People thrown around that Siena is the best funded because of the belief that Whitesman paid for Doty.

I always had heard Iona had the best NIL and basically fired Tobin Anderson because this new guy's parents were going to fund the program.

NIL spending is a guess - Siena has a pretty solid fan base especially when good. Let's say "Mr. I need attention" did pony up...I'm sure they are in good shape but in this new world you never know.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Who was the last MAAC coach that jumped directly to a P4 job and did well?

Does that even happen?

Willard, McCaffery, Holloway & Pikiell...

You can argue levels of success and, to be sure, many more have come from the AAC.

 

[Irishsecra1]

Gerry has not shown he’s qualified to run a top 10 all time program. One good regular season at Sienna. That’s great. Maybe BC can roll the dice on him.

The old guard of Syracuse fans have to let go of the Boeheim era.

And BH has? What the heck has he done to qualify to run a top 10 all time program?

Got to the NIT with Arkansas State in the second year, waiting to see if he makes the NCAAT with South Florida.

You can only play the hands you are dealt - BH had the chance to get A State to the NCAAT in 2 years and he could not get it done.

Gerry did get it done - from a lot weaker position when he took over than BH

And that is why so many are considering Gerry - when the important game is on the line he comes thru. Whether as a player or as a head coach.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Not all mid-major conferences are made equally Forza. American is rated quite a bit higher than the MAAC.

Agreed but my primary point, agree with it or not, is that both would be a risk.

If people think that one successful season in the AAC makes Hodgson that much more ready for Prime time than GMAC, so be it.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Do you want a proven coach or do you want Hodgson?

Hodgson is in his third season - all at the mid-major level.

GMAC is in his second season at the mid-major level.

So, if you are going to argue that that one additional season makes Hodgson a proven commodity or even a safer hire, I am going to disagree with that assertion.

Hiring Hodgson is just as much of a risk as hiring GMAC.

Agreed. There is a chance, that we whiff on the next hire, Gerry continues to ascend and 3-4 years from now, he's not attainable. You just never know. Stranger things have happened. The people who think GMAC will always come back if given the opportunity, well it depends where he is at 3-4 years from now. Hodgson could flame out, GMAC be truly a great coach. I have no idea or preference but an NCAA tourney bid would be nice

Tough spot.

 

[MSOrange]

Insulting me isn't needed, I've not done it to you. Many of you have an axe to grind based on how Jim's tenure here ended. That carries over into how Gerry is viewed. He's proven to be a good coach, and he's a Syracuse legend. Forget that, let's hire Baby Shark. Maybe Left Shark will be available as an assistant.

My emotional maturity comment is based on a lot of your thinking of how you would have handled JB and also hiring GMac appears to be based on emotion rather than an honest analysis. Plus making fun of his nickname doesn't exactly strengthen your argument that you aren't making an emotion-based argument. Sorry if you can't handle that.

 

[LAorange44]

Mick Cronin and Bob Huggins are proven coaches.

GMAC and Baby Shark are both high risk, high upside hires based on potential. Either one could be the next Porter Moser, who was the splashy mid major hire everyone wanted 5 years ago and is now being FIRED like red.


But I’d bet on GMAC before just about anybody if I am making a high risk bet

 

[Sherman20]

What makes him qualified and why he should be our next coach if he wants to come here, is in year one he improved Siena’s win total by 10. Year two he improved on year one by 9 wins and a conference championship. Oh and he did all of this with seven scholarship players. Their defense has been top 25 all year. He also has that determination and drive that is not seen in many people. I’m so tired of the lame ass excuse not to hire him because we need to get away from Boeheim shadow. He needs to be seriously looked at and hired cause he has proven he’s a man of his word and WILL turn this train wreck of a program around.

Top 25 defense? No. When you look at adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom, Siena ranks 175th in the country. They might be top 25 in raw stats, but that doesn’t factor in level of competition or pace of play.

 

[djorange1989]

Too small a sample size on Baby Shark. The jury is still out. He could have a meteoric rise or flame out spectacularly. He is high risk for all the same reasons GMAC and Hop are. I’ll take GMAC or HOP all day before I would endorse Baby Shark. If I am going to make a high risk, it is going to be on a guy I know. And what if the next coach fails, god forbid????? I argue Baby Shark causes much more damage to the program and brand because his hiring will turn off existing stakeholders, alumni, and donors who are behind the Hop machine. If Baby Shark is hired and then loses his sugar daddy, we are irreparably damaged.

As opposed to Gerry’s massive two year sample size and Hopkins 7 year sample size that was trash the last 5 years?

 

[kingtidge]

Agreed but my primary point, agree with it or not, is that both would be a risk.

If people think that one successful season in the AAC makes Hodgson that much more ready for Prime time than GMAC, so be it.

It has more to do with how he coaches, the tactics he employs and style, and how his teams play for him and buy into his system. He definitely passes the eye test.

 

[LAorange44]

It has more to do with how he coaches, the tactics he employs and style, and how his teams play for him and buy into his system. He definitely passes the eye test.

gMAC also passes the subjective eye test

 

[Widget24]

Hodgson!

 

[JrodCuse]

Do you want a proven coach or do you want Hodgson?

Hodgson is in his third season - all at the mid-major level.

GMAC is in his second season at the mid-major level.

So, if you are going to argue that that one additional season makes Hodgson a proven commodity or even a safer hire, I am going to disagree with that assertion.

Hiring Hodgson is just as much of a risk as hiring GMAC.

A conference and team that is basically D2 vs a team that is in the group of 5 are not the same thing.

If Gerry was coaching a team similar to USF in a bigger conference facing much tougher competition and we saw some good success like Hodgson is having then I’d say yea let’s do it, bring him home.

But it’s just too soon, despite there only being a one year gap.

Hodgson has already taken a step up and is having real success this season. Gmac has not had that step up and that’s the main point here.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Agreed. There is a chance, that we whiff on the next hire, Gerry continues to ascend and 3-4 years from now, he's not attainable. You just never know. Stranger things have happened. The people who think GMAC will always come back if given the opportunity, well it depends where he is at 3-4 years from now. Hodgson could flame out, GMAC be truly a great coach. I have no idea or preference but an NCAA tourney bid would be nice

Tough spot.

Hiring coaches, especially ones with limited experience, is a complete crapshoot.

I think there is a high probability that we whiff regardless of which one we hire. Many more coaches are failures than successes.

GMAC could implode or flourish. Same with Hodgson or any of the other candidates we seem to be considering.

I agree that it is a tough choice.

 

[kingtidge]

gMAC also passes the subjective eye test

He did last night and through this tournament, no question.

Some of Siena's losses have looked very familiar, however.

 

[Orangezoo]

I already explained weeks ago about my respect and admiration for Gerry being from the same area and knowing the family. It would be such a great thing to see him here some day. That said BH vs GM is not the same thing. BH was a top assistant next to Oats as they elevated UB to some of its best ever years in history and then establishment of Alabama as now a basketball power.

Gerry sat a couple seats down from Hop and Red as an assistant at just one place and then once Hop left the SU slide began ( with help from JB not retiring sooner). After Hop left this program has been a mess. Neither Red or Gerry did anything notable when having a bigger role.

So comparing their history it’s not the same as it pertains to what they have done in the top assistant chair not just as a new HC for a couple years.

On the other side we have no idea what kind of fundraising and recruiting he brings to the table with being charged with this program or the assistant coaching connections. BH has a top assistant already being mentioned for possible smaller HC gigs - is that the same for Gerry?

I know how badly people want someone who is a winner and bleeds orange to run this program but can we just for a moment realize that the pressure to win right away will be even bigger than it was for Red? Do we really want that for Gerry ? He is not yet his own brand of basketball and he’s still just an SU legend who went away for a couple years and would be back as we become maybe on of the only examples to give a continuity hire 3 years removed a shot after one failed. Give the man a chance to build his reputation, bring in Hodgson and if BH does well but decides to take on a lottery ticket offer after improving us and Gerry is humming somewhere else- make that the time for the reunion where Gerry is here for 15-20 years as a winner at SU. The Roy Williams approach is much better.

It was hard enough watching that Red presser last night. Give Gerry time to build an offensive identity with his coaching to go with the defense where it is not so reliant on a unique talent like Doty who you aren’t finding a replacement for every year even at a higher level.

 

[LAorange44]

A conference and team that is basically D2 vs a team that is in the group of 5 are not the same thing.

If Gerry was coaching a team similar to USF in a bigger conference facing much tougher competition and we saw some good success like Hodgson is having then I’d say yea let’s do it, bring him home.

But it’s just too soon, despite there only being a one year gap.

Hodgson has already taken a step up and is having real success this season. Gmac has not had that step up and that’s the main point here.

Penny Hardaway won 22 games in his first year in the American, one less game than Baby Shark. He is getting canned this year. Winning a couple games in the American in one’s first year is not an indicator of success or ability to transition to a higher league.

 

[Cusefan95]

This is exactly the stuff that I don’t put stock in. The ‘culture’ anywhere is the people working there. The Chancellor is new, the AD is new, and the coaching staff will be new. Gerry was not a guy who anybody had beef with, so him being the one carryover doesn’t do the things you’re saying it does.

It almost like you want to ignore that I addressed that directly by pointing out the staff - the people reporting to the “new” people - have been here and were part of the problem. If “culture” is the people working there, and almost all the people working there have not changed - why would the culture get better? Just magically because we hired a new AD - he can come in, wave a magic wand, and everyone will suddenly get along? Or - here’s a crazy thought - he provides leadership and direction which allows the culture to change over time. Part of that leadership is not giving in to the pressure to hire a guy who has the potential to ossify the culture just by his presence. Which is possible since hiring Gerry absolutely gives those people the opportunity to carry on old feuds, because of his ties to JB. (If you don’t think people who had beef with JB won’t carry that over to Gerry, I question how much experience observing the behavior of actual humans you have).

People have an irrational love for McNamara which is making them actively ignore what a spectacularly bad decision hiring him would be - both for Syracuse and him. The more this discussion goes on, the more I’m trending in the opposite direction - now I think there is no other candidate for the head coach of basketball at Syracuse who would be a worse hire than Gerry McNamara.

 

[oldpinepoint]

Mick Cronin and Bob Huggins are proven coaches.

GMAC and Baby Shark are both high risk, high upside hires based on potential. Either one could be the next Porter Moser, who was the splashy mid major hire everyone wanted 5 years ago and is now being FIRED like red.


But I’d bet on GMAC before just about anybody if I am making a high risk bet

You make an interesting point about being high risk. I think which sways me over in going in a different direction than GMac or Hop is that we are coming off of a high risk hire in Red who was just terrible. It’s a tough spot to be in.

 

[oldpinepoint]

Penny Hardaway won 22 games in his first year in the American, one less game than Baby Shark. He is getting canned this year. Winning a couple games in the American in one’s first year is not an indicator of success.

This statement could be applied to Gmac as well

 

[Forza Azzurri]

A conference and team that is basically D2 vs a team that is in the group of 5 are not the same thing.

If Gerry was coaching a team similar to USF in a bigger conference facing much tougher competition and we saw some good success like Hodgson is having then I’d say yea let’s do it, bring him home.

But it’s just too soon, despite there only being a one year gap.

Hodgson has already taken a step up and is having real success this season. Gmac has not had that step up and that’s the main point here.

Yeah, definitely a fair point. Much higher RPI and Net.

If you think that that one season of success at South Florida means that there is a higher probability that Hodgson will have success at a p4 school compared to GMAC, I can understand that line of thinking.

 

[CooperCuse]

My emotional maturity comment is based on a lot of your thinking of how you would have handled JB and also hiring GMac appears to be based on emotion rather than an honest analysis. Plus making fun of his nickname doesn't exactly strengthen your argument that you aren't making an emotion-based argument. Sorry if you can't handle that.

The honest analysis is that Baby Shark is less proven than GMac. Gerry helped lead Syracuse to it's only national championship. Now he's a conference champion as a head coach. What has Baby Shark ever won besides the love of silly children? College sports are emotional but I'm required to ignore that? That's nonsense. Gerry is a winner and a leader.