Gerry McNamara needs to be the next coach

[IthacaMatt]

I don’t understand why so many of you want to disassociate the basketball program from Jim Boeheim. Many programs hire legacy coaches and are quite successful doing it. One of the greatest coaches in college basketball history but his last few years here have made too many people salty. Gerry is a winner, a Syracuse legend, and now, a pretty good conference champion coach. But, no, let’s hire an unproven guy they call Baby Shark that has zero connection to Syracuse. Baby Shark. It’s absurd. Make it make sense outside of holding petty grudges. As a fanbase, the entitled behavior is ridiculous.

Because his apathy toward doing his job is why the team when down the drain.
He reeked of entitlement his last 10 years, honestly.

 

[Ottoble]

Immediate Results & Pressue: After Red's failure, any inhouse hire would be under intense scrutiny and the leash to perform and perform quickly will be SHORT. Would that be fair to GMAC?? Prolly not

This is the most important point. It is not fair to GMac to put him in this position. If he's hired I'll support him fully, but waiting and bringing him in after the guy that rebuilds is hired away seems like the better move. They need to spend on this coaching hire to rebuild for decades and reset the mindset.

If we hired GMac we would need to super spend in the portal for five plus years and probably hire Melo in as associate recruiting staff even though his son is on the team. GMac would need to be fed every opportunity to build his legend to the highest level so players fight to play for him for the rest of his career. You can't let your basketball royalty wilt on the vine because of insufficient resources.
If the administration is not ready to do all of this right now it is not fair to GMac.

 

[Cusefan95]

If Baby Shark is hired, this fanbase will be wishing for the Red Autry days in 2 years.

GROB didn’t make me wish for Coach P back. A bad hire doesn’t make a previous bad hire magically better. About the only thing that could make me wish for Red is if the next coach is caught driving high on crack with a dead hooker in the trunk of his car, because I would miss that Red is a decent human being who didn’t do THAT. Nothing that happens on the court will make me miss the Red dumpster fire years.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

Bryan Baby Shark Hodgson aka The Goofball aka The Guppy aka The Gupster is a lightweight, a charlatan, and a nobody. There are a few people here enamored with Baby Shark and they may or may not be on the payroll of a certain sugar daddy. But to the casual fanbase, Baby Shark is a non entity

Mike... this trolling of the next SU Men's Basketball coach is not very dignified. You had your chance at Washington.

No takesy-backsies.

Now who do I talk to about getting paid?

 

[BomberOrange]

Didnt some insider say last week that Gerry isn’t interested in the su job? The homer narrative would be a moot point if that’s the case.

 

[Brooky03]

Because as an assistant, he was a lot more successful than Gerry was as an assistant.

Mike Hopkins was a vastly more successful assistant than both and at least equally successful through his first 2 seasons (in a major conference) before the cracks showed. Sufficed to say, assistant coach ‘success’ should factor very little into any coaching hire we make.

 

[IthacaMatt]

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.

Well, an objective person might say that Penny Hardaway is a celebrity-player type of coach, and not someone who made his bones on x's and o's. Hodgson is more of an actual coach, not just a celebrity recruiter.

 

[2B20Again]

I like Gerry but not at this point in the program. We need a can’t miss after the last 10 years.

Sure thing? Death and Taxes. That aside no sure thing.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Mike Hopkins was a vastly more successful assistant than both and at least equally successful through his first 2 seasons (in a major conference) before the cracks showed. Sufficed to say, assistant coach ‘success’ should factor very little into any coaching hire we make.

And you might also say that Mike tried to implement an SU system at Washington at a time when (a) teams were getting much, much better at 3 point shooting, and (b) he could no longer recruit elite offensive talent who could get you a bucket when you needed it, regardless of "offensive system".

 

[blust2i3d4]

Everything about the OP is accurate but the truth is that this program needs new life that is completely disconnected from the last 40 years. Time for change.

We need a home run coach. I think Gerry is not it. Last year SU is still in top 10 in recruiting. But the program cannot take another miss-step.

 

[rrlbees]

after siena is knocked out of the ncaat, gmac will be announced as the new bball hc by the new ad, jim boeheim.

 

[Brooky03]

Didnt some insider say last week that Gerry isn’t interested in the su job? The homer narrative would be a moot point if that’s the case.

Insider info can be legit and can be ‘planted’ to drive a narrative. We’ve seen both here throughout the years. Also, a person in Gerry’s spot could want the narrative out there that he’s not interested, when he would be interested, for a multitude of reasons; like not wanting to affect the team he’s currently coaching and not wanting to put undue pressure on the decision makers at the school he’s theoretically interested in.

But yes, if it’s true that he’s not interested, the homer Gerry arguments would be moot.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Well they couldnt hire GMAC now because he made the NCAAT.
USF could very well flame out in their conference tournament and not even make it making BH available sooner.

I will say this.

BH will not last long here. If he is successful, he will leave for the next higher tier program with a lot of money. Maybe, maybe he stays 2 to 3 years and then moves on. He feels no loyalty to this program.
He will be our Doug Marrone.

They could go after Gerry again at that point. But he will have most likely moved on to a rival program somewhere in the north east most likely.

Why not? He's an Upstate guy, and I don't think Buffalo or UAlbany have passed us as a program yet.

 

[Irishsecra1]

I would love to hear you explain how he deserves credit for the good years/players/moments in those years and does not deserve blame for the bad years/players/moments in those years, which began to massively outweigh the good after 2016.

All he can be judged on at SU, good and bad, are the players he recruited and the players he specifically coached.
But even then, a head coach can change how he wants to use the players and a lot of your hard work goes out the door.

In his last year, my 2 favorite players were initially recruited to the school by Gerry and I dont feel Red used them correctly which led to both of them leaving for different reasons. He recruited Maliq - the heart and soul of that first Red team. He left after Gerry did - read his interviews - Gerry and Judah leaving were the main reasons he left. Red did not prioritize keeping him. And he just won defensive player of the year and 6th man of the year for Duke.

He also recruited Qadir Copeland. Gerry said he had what it took to be the next Michael Carter Williams.
Red disagreed and thought he had no future as a point guard. Qadir had emotional issues - god knows how much of that was knowing that Red had no faith in him, and he was just a young kid.
Now he is with a head coach who believes in him, is tough with him and he is playing lights out.

Even Chris Bell, one of the most maddening players of the last 10 years, credited his best shooting year with SU to Gerry. If you remember, he was in a godawful slump at the beginning of the year. He said that Gerry took it upon himself to work with him after practice for weeks (understand Bell was a forward, not a guard - so not Gerrys responsibility technically)

That is what was happening his last year with the program - our last winning season.

 

[Irishsecra1]

I dare say Gerry improved a lot in the seven years between promoting Red to associate head coach when Hopkins left and JAB leaving himself. He probably was not ready then for the promotion.

 

[Millhouse]

I don’t understand why so many of you want to disassociate the basketball program from Jim Boeheim. Many programs hire legacy coaches and are quite successful doing it. One of the greatest coaches in college basketball history but his last few years here have made too many people salty. Gerry is a winner, a Syracuse legend, and now, a pretty good conference champion coach. But, no, let’s hire an unproven guy they call Baby Shark that has zero connection to Syracuse. Baby Shark. It’s absurd. Make it make sense outside of holding petty grudges. As a fanbase, the entitled behavior is ridiculous.

If he had a good tree, I'd be all for it. He doesn't

 

[Brooky03]

And you might also say that Mike tried to implement an SU system at Washington at a time when (a) teams were getting much, much better at 3 point shooting, and (b) he could no longer recruit elite offensive talent who could get you a bucket when you needed it, regardless of "offensive system".

Maybe. Although, notably, Syracuse’s 3 point defense was better than most (and better than Hodgson’s and GMac’s currently) until the wheels fell off in 2022, with some of the worst talent and zone ‘fits’ SU ever had. That was wayyy after the advent of 3-point dominant offenses. So defensive scheme is a tricky thing to point to. (FWIW, I’ve done this research about the defense before and also considered the effects of a stretched out zone on other efficiency metrics. I’m more aware than most on this topic.. probably. Not that that matters much, but I don’t want this to turn into a ‘well actually’ back and forth that’s off topic).

I’ll cede the point about the offense.

My point remains that assistant coach résumé’s don’t mean a lot because they’re so closely tied to the head coach. Sure, an assistant could be labeled the lead recruiter for a player, but nobody has any idea how much of a role the HC did or didn’t play in the final decision of the player, or what pitches worked or didn’t work.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Because his apathy toward doing his job is why the team when down the drain.
He reeked of entitlement his last 10 years, honestly.

I for one am glad they didn't go forward with the JB statue. Maybe revisit in a few years when the program has turned around and his legacy will be viewed in a better light. Maybe.

The best leaders develop a strategic succession plan with the program's best interest at heart and, more importantly, know when it's time to step down. He did neither, defied an agreement, pouted like a baby and betrayed his longtime assistant that was a HUGE part of his success.

Anyone who speaks of JB in black-and-white shades is being dishonest. He did many great things and many terrible things.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

after siena is knocked out of the ncaat, gmac will be announced as the new bball hc by the new ad, jim boeheim.

A source close to ADJB tells me that the first order of business is reinstating the golf team.

 

[RF2044]

Quick thought experiment for the pro-GMac crowd. I've read several posts in this thread suggesting that Hodgson is unproven, questioning his coaching acumen, and / or suggesting that what GMac is doing at Siena is on par with what Hodgson is accomplishing at USF.

Here is a summary from about two weeks ago about how USF rates nationally on a bunch of advanced statistics:

• Fast pace aggressive system that can compete with some of the best. They overwhelm opponents, and attack the rim at every chance.
• 20th in tempo 38.4%
• adj off reb% (9th)
• 17.7 2CP/g (1st)
• 28.3 FTA/g (1st)
• 8.4 steals/g (29th)
• 18.7 pts off TOV/g (8th)
• 5th in 2PA distance

Please note that those are national ratings. So, in adjusted offensive rebounding [just picking one from the list above], USF is 9th NATIONALLY, out of the 361 D1 programs. USF is #1 out of 361 men's college basketball in free throws attempted per game, etc.

Also please note that Hodgson is accomplishing this in his first year at that school, with a roster he had to scramble to cobble together last offseason.

How does Siena rate on these same indicators? Would make for an interesting comparison, and might provide some empirical data to compare the two coaches.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Quick thought experiment for the pro-GMac crowd. I've read several posts suggesting that Hodgson is unproven.

Here is a summary from about two weeks ago about how USF rates nationally on a bunch of advanced statistics:

• Fast pace aggressive system that can compete with some of the best. They overwhelm opponents, and attack the rim at every chance.
• 20th in tempo 38.4%
• adj off reb% (9th)
• 17.7 2CP/g (1st)
• 28.3 FTA/g (1st)
• 8.4 steals/g (29th)
• 18.7 pts off TOV/g (8th)
• 5th in 2PA distance

Please note that those are national ratings. So, in adjusted offensive rebounding [just picking one from the list above], USF is 9th NATIONALLY, out of the 361 D1 programs.

Also please note that Hodgson is accomplishing this in his first year at that school, with a roster he had to scramble to cobble together last offseason.

How does Siena rate on these same indicators? Would make for an interesting comparison, and might provide some empirical data to compare the two coaches.

Posted earlier in the thread. Siena shoots 11 less shots per game than South Florida. It's a halfcourt grind. They play great defense for their level. I feel like if I didn't know any better that Gmac came up under Tony Bennett. They don't run at all.

 

[Sherman20]

Yes, let’s go with Gmac. He’s the only one that can fix this, because he was an SU legend. That’s the main qualification here. Not the guy with the demonstrably better resume. This is sarcasm btw.

 

[DoctahLexus]

All he can be judged on at SU, good and bad, are the players he recruited and the players he specifically coached.
But even then, a head coach can change how he wants to use the players and a lot of your hard work goes out the door.

In his last year, my 2 favorite players were initially recruited to the school by Gerry and I dont feel Red used them correctly which led to both of them leaving for different reasons. He recruited Maliq - the heart and soul of that first Red team. He left after Gerry did - read his interviews - Gerry and Judah leaving were the main reasons he left. Red did not prioritize keeping him. And he just won defensive player of the year and 6th man of the year for Duke.

He also recruited Qadir Copeland. Gerry said he had what it took to be the next Michael Carter Williams.
Red disagreed and thought he had no future as a point guard. Qadir had emotional issues - god knows how much of that was knowing that Red had no faith in him, and he was just a young kid.
Now he is with a head coach who believes in him, is tough with him and he is playing lights out.

Even Chris Bell, one of the most maddening players of the last 10 years, credited his best shooting year with SU to Gerry. If you remember, he was in a godawful slump at the beginning of the year. He said that Gerry took it upon himself to work with him after practice for weeks (understand Bell was a forward, not a guard - so not Gerrys responsibility technically)

That is what was happening his last year with the program - our last winning season.

Sorry man, so Gerry’s main responsibility was with the guards at that time and he gets credit for Bells shooting his sophomore year? So lets look at the other guards that year: Judah/JJs shot from range was terrible that year. Where was Gerry for their shot? Qs shot from anywhere was terrible. Justin Taylor’s shot from anywhere was terrible. And we are not just talking the mental game, more often then not their actual technique was terrible. Do you blame Red or others for all those guys even though you said the guards were Gerry's responsibility?

This is just digging the pro Gerry viewpoint into a bigger hole. It is just not a convincing argument for me. If anything, getting in the weeds with the guard's performance in Gerry's later years here makes me more convinced we should not hire him. I hate being negative with this guy after a great job last night, but it has to be said.

 

[Brooky03]

Sorry man, so Gerry’s main responsibility was with the guards at that time and he gets credit for Bells shooting his sophomore year? So lets look at the other guards that year: Judah/JJs shot from range was terrible that year. Where was Gerry for their shot? Qs shot from anywhere was terrible. Justin Taylor’s shot from anywhere was terrible. And we are not just talking the mental game, more often then not their actual technique was terrible. Do you blame Red or others for all those guys even though you said the guards were Gerry's responsibility?

This is just digging the pro Gerry viewpoint into a bigger hole. It is just not a convincing argument for me. If anything, getting in the weeds with the guard's performance in Gerry's later years here makes me more convinced we should not hire him. I hate being negative with this guy after a great job last night, but it has to be said.

A shooting form adjustment takes years. Coaches can give some pointers, but no coach is going to fix a guy’s shooting form quickly. This isn’t like teaching 10 year olds they need to tuck their elbow and flick their wrist.

I’m not particularly interested in this argument, but some guys are shooters and some aren’t. You can’t put shooting form on the coach, especially for non-shooters.

Judah was never a shooter and wasn’t going to be. As a pro, with all the time in the world to work on his shot, he’s no better now than he was at SU. JJ’s shooting problems are well documented as a mind-body issue attributable to the shoulder injury; akin to the numerous baseball players over the years who essentially unlearned how to throw.

Taylor was a 34% 3pt shooter who never had form issues that I recall. Q might be the only argument you have because he’s finally making threes as a senior, albeit on low volume.

 

[Irishsecra1]

Sorry man, so Gerry’s main responsibility was with the guards at that time and he gets credit for Bells shooting his sophomore year? So lets look at the other guards that year: Judah/JJs shot from range was terrible that year. Where was Gerry for their shot? Qs shot from anywhere was terrible. Justin Taylor’s shot from anywhere was terrible. And we are not just talking the mental game, more often then not their actual technique was terrible. Do you blame Red or others for all those guys even though you said the guards were Gerry's responsibility?

This is just digging the pro Gerry viewpoint into a bigger hole. It is just not a convincing argument for me. If anything, getting in the weeds with the guard's performance in Gerry's later years here makes me more convinced we should not hire him. I hate being negative with this guy after a great job last night, but it has to be said.

Actually this post was more about who Gerry recruited - i.e. Maliq and Qadir. I should have left Bell out of it, not his responsibility to work with him, he was a forward.

As for Judah, probably the most me-first guard we have had in a long time. Nobody could have made that kid into a team first player, stats were all he cared about. Heightened sense of his own importance and a lousy shooter. Gerry needed some basic material to work with.
And we have seen with JJ first hand, that kids shot was broken due to injury. Not a hell of a lot for Gerry to do there.
Both were recruited by Red, not Gerry. I think Red recruited Chris Bell as well.

We talk about what a great recruiter Red was and is.
Well, he has the charm but cant evaluate talent worth a damn.
And sure couldnt develop what he had.

He brought in Freeman - another me first bad attitude kid. These last few weeks have said it all.