It's Official: It’s GMac

[rrlbees]

I hope so Dick. Always a big fan of Gerry. I hope the promised money comes through for him. The goalposts seemed to have moved the past few days from the money is there for Gerry, to now help Gerry be successful by pledging your donation based on the numerous notifications I got today.

giving day is a yearly endeavor for all of su. its been planned for months. you can even give to academic depts. its not some conspiracy.

 

[llandz]

giving day is a yearly endeavor for all of su. its been planned for months. you can even give to academic depts. its not some conspiracy.

Yes. Very smart marketing strategy to introduce him today and push out donations for men's basketball. But also Fran was on Facebook pushing for football donations. I also got emails or saw asks from Falk, IVMF, athletics in general from the new AD. Funny nothing from Newhouse or other places I have donated to in the past. I did donate to Falk this year for a program they did in AZ, and I am friends with April who is now their engagement person, and probably many of you know April from her athletic days. I also gave to IVMF for a program I attended in Syracuse in September while visiting. I always donate when I attend an event with speakers.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Franz69]

 

[SaveSUHoops]

Fire me up G-Mac!!

 

[Oakland]

Arnold Palmer would have approved of the clean shaven look.

 

[Scooch]

Since we're always talking about the strength or decline of the Syracuse brand, here's a passage from an article in Front Office Sports today about coaching hires during March Madness...

How March Madness Turns Into a Mid-Major Coaching Raid

Perhaps the most high-profile move: Syracuse’s hiring of Gerry McNamara, a former star player at Syracuse (and member of the 2003 national championship team) and assistant coach under Orange coaching legend Jim Boeheim.

McNamara has spent the last two years as the men’s basketball head coach at Siena. Amid the rumors that he was a contender for the Syracuse role last week, McNamara led the No. 16 Saints, who also won the MAAC tournament title, to a stunning performance against No. 1 overall seed Duke—though the Saints ultimately lost 71–65, the Blue Devils trailed for the first 35 minutes of the game.

This is why I always push back so strongly when people suggest the Syracuse brand is irrelevant. It's not. Needless to say, our on court performance has been awful for a while now. But the brand still matters.

 

[cusefan88]

The energy and posture is a 180 from Red.

Poor Autry I don't know if he ever seemed comfortable in the big chair.

GMac is ready guns blazing I guess.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Enter "what is the relationship between the number 88 and extremists" in a Google or AI search.
Had no idea either -that got the answer.

I’m not going to get an urban dictionary type shock, am I

 

[hoopsupstate]

Someone said he had his ankle surgery yesterday. Can anyone confirm that? I wonder if he has a few days before he can really do something like the press conference.

They have to get GMAC, Wildhack and Blair schedules to mesh. Haynie will probably have to be there too. There’s probably family responsibilities too.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Arnold Palmer would have approved of the clean shaven look.

He looks younger without the beard.

 

[kingtidge]

He looks younger without the beard.

Yep, I no longer want to offer him a sammich and a clean pair of socks.

 

[FloridaCuse]

Speaking of the Syracuse brand not being irrelevant [shoutout to Scooch above] PTI gets in on our fun tonight. 1:51 into the show Tony says: "Duke almost lost to Siena, which is why Gerry McNamara is coaching Syracuse today!" Wilbon laughs "in part".

[In a second Syracuse reference in the same show, today's "Happy Trails" was to the SU Women in their loss to UConn. Tony gave extensive time to coach FLJ's complaints about having to play UConn in their house "again". Wilbon was sympathetic: "It is unacceptable, it is unfair, and it is unfair to those kids." Tony was not -- coach better he said. "You're a university that cares about athletics."]

 

[Sherman20]

I know nothing and my opinion is as worthless as everyone else's (not named Brian Blair). That being said, once Gerry became a viable candidate, I think it was always going to be extremely difficult not to hire him.

I suspect he crossed the viability threshold when Sienna won the MAAC tourney. Once people could point to him taking a 4-win team to a conference title in 2 seasons, there was going to be a ton of momentum jk behind his candidacy from SU donors.

In my mind, the only thing that could have derailed that was luring an established, winning, current P5 coach to SU. And honestly, SU would never spend the money to hire a candidate with those qualifications. Schertz was on the fringe of that but not P5 obviously.

I have concerns about Gerry as HC, but I love the renewed energy that he'll bring to the program and us fans. I hope that all the donors who promised to open their wallets for him follow through.

We need about $8 million in NIL to pair with the $4 million in direct compensation from SU. Hitting that number is the most important thing necessary to turning things around starting this coming season. Blair's statement made that crystal clear.

It's been a miserable past couple years for SU hoops. Let's go Gerry, crush the offseason.

I don’t think NIL is simply the be-all and end-all. Look at BYU this season. You need competitive NIL but also great coaching. I don’t see that with any of the guys in the SU coaching tree including Gmac. How is another coaching hire from the failed JB coaching tree gonna help us back to being a national power? Gmac will be better than Red, I have no doubt. But he hasn’t proven much of anything as a head coach, I have heard nothing about his offensive vision, and his pace of play at Siena has been a Tony Bennett sludge fest. I see lots of bubblicious seasons in our future and lots of excuses. Hope I’m wrong.

 

[Fat tire 13]

Now that we are a few days into it, one can see why Cuse went with GMAC

I’m from Cuse and an alum. My townie friends are thrilled. My “fair weather” college friends are fired up. The buzz is there. It’s mostly the diehards (this board) who were upset on the BH, TJ and Schertz “misses.” The casual fan doesn’t even know these people

Personally I would have preferred the right outsider, but understand the pressure to go with GMAC. Now that is has happened the reaction is palpable

However, it’s short term thinking. If we go 13-18 next year the shine will wear off very quickly. I hope Gerry succeeds because we need to keep this initial momentum going. Really rooting for him and let’s see what happens

 

[donniesyracuse]

So why don't we talk about Melo being a winning player with such reverence?

 

[elimunelson]

Since we're always talking about the strength or decline of the Syracuse brand, here's a passage from an article in Front Office Sports today about coaching hires during March Madness...

How March Madness Turns Into a Mid-Major Coaching Raid



This is why I always push back so strongly when people suggest the Syracuse brand is irrelevant. It's not. Needless to say, our on court performance has been awful for a while now. But the brand still matters.

A friend of mine reached out to me yesterday . UConn diehard and wanted to let me know that he’s pumped we got our guy. I called it out initially w a passive aggressive response and he actually wrote me a long email saying “we love when Syracuse is relevant and when we are playing each other”. Not the same with SU down.

I haven’t spoken to him in a year and it actually made me realize how much we stir the drink. Scooch is right we are a national brand in hoops. Nationally this is a home run hire.

Hope it’s Vrabel vs Ewing like move. I have faith

 

[OrangeFoo]

So why don't we talk about Melo being a winning player with such reverence?

Who doesn't? Again outside of the echo chamber of this online community I would bet people revere Melo just as much as GMAC. I will conceded that people probably find it much easier to relate to GMAC because Melo looks and moves like a super star athlete and has all the trappings of one. GMAC looks like a guy you would see at the pier fishing or hanging out shooting hoops at the local Y... So that probably explains why it seems like GMAC is more revered. The open question is going to be what an 16 year old kid and his family will relate to... I suspect parents will love GMAC, but will the kids?

What's funny is that GMAC is much more of a "killer" than Melo was... I think there is a an inner drive and will to win and succeed in GMAC that goes beyond way beyond what the normal elite athlete has. The true all time great coaches all have this characteristic... they don't accept anything less than 100% adherence to their directions and they hold people accountable if that's not there. This is why I am, and I'm sure a LOT of people are so excited about GMAC... I can't imagine him sitting around eeking out .500 seasons. I've said this earlier, but you see it when he is coaching when he is literally playing every play on the sidelines along with his players. I think with people like that burnout is a real risk as I don't know how a coach can maintain that level of intensity game after game... season after season.

When I look at GMAC I see a Pep Guardiola... reserved dudes, who were amazing and great players in their own right who maxed out their talents at a very elite level, but never true super stars. They are really nice guys who are quiet killers underneath the hood. If GMAC is 50% of the tactician and leader that Pep is we are in for an amazing run of success... that's the upside that I see. As someone said above... Ewing/Autry is the floor.

 

[swish7]

Since we're always talking about the strength or decline of the Syracuse brand, here's a passage from an article in Front Office Sports today about coaching hires during March Madness...

How March Madness Turns Into a Mid-Major Coaching Raid



This is why I always push back so strongly when people suggest the Syracuse brand is irrelevant. It's not. Needless to say, our on court performance has been awful for a while now. But the brand still matters.

This is definitely going to help us sway some recruits who are reading the Front Office Sports magazine.

I kid

 

[OttoinGrotto]

What's funny is that GMAC is much more of a "killer" than Melo was... I think there is a an inner drive and will to win and succeed in GMAC that goes beyond way beyond what the normal elite athlete has.

The claim that GMAC is more of a killer than Melo is mythology.

Melo achieved things at levels of basketball few do, and at levels of basketball Gerry wasn't even close to being good enough at to compete in. He accomplished those things with a lesser drive and will to win than Gerry exhibited?

Again I'm glad so many are excited, but I fear the reasons for excitement are so grounded in irrationality that 1) GMAC is not possibly going to be able to meet expectations and 2) when he doesn't then cognitive dissonance will be so great people will struggle to face it.

For one example, at no point in my lifetime except for this one and the fiction around it would Syracuse fans be excited about and think it's a good roster building strategy to add multiple guys from Siena's roster and recruiting. And yet here we are.

 

[Scooch]

Who doesn't? Again outside of the echo chamber of this online community I would bet people revere Melo just as much as GMAC. I will conceded that people probably find it much easier to relate to GMAC because Melo looks and moves like a super star athlete and has all the trappings of one. GMAC looks like a guy you would see at the pier fishing or hanging out shooting hoops at the local Y... So that probably explains why it seems like GMAC is more revered. The open question is going to be what an 16 year old kid and his family will relate to... I suspect parents will love GMAC, but will the kids?

What's funny is that GMAC is much more of a "killer" than Melo was... I think there is a an inner drive and will to win and succeed in GMAC that goes beyond way beyond what the normal elite athlete has. The true all time great coaches all have this characteristic... they don't accept anything less than 100% adherence to their directions and they hold people accountable if that's not there. This is why I am, and I'm sure a LOT of people are so excited about GMAC... I can't imagine him sitting around eeking out .500 seasons. I've said this earlier, but you see it when he is coaching when he is literally playing every play on the sidelines along with his players. I think with people like that burnout is a real risk as I don't know how a coach can maintain that level of intensity game after game... season after season.

When I look at GMAC I see a Pep Guardiola... reserved dudes, who were amazing and great players in their own right who maxed out their talents at a very elite level, but never true super stars. They are really nice guys who are quiet killers underneath the hood. If GMAC is 50% of the tactician and leader that Pep is we are in for an amazing run of success... that's the upside that I see. As someone said above... Ewing/Autry is the floor.

Oh man. Dismissing Melo’s “inner drive” is ridiculous. There’s loads of people with innate athleticism and basketball talent. How many make the Hall of Fame? Incredibly few. It’s almost impossible to do. Yet Melo did.

You think the #13 scorer of all time didn’t have insane “inner drive”? What are we doing here?

People loved Gerry as a player because he was a small, great shooting white guy. That’s perfectly fine. Like you said, he looked like your neighbor and we relate to his background.

It’s the same reason Celtics fan love Payton Pritchard. But no one is claiming Pritchard has more “inner drive” than Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. My goodness.

 

[Trueblue25]

I need townie to come back

 

[Widget24]

Echo chamber.






Just wanted to say it since everybody else is.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Oh man. Dismissing Melo’s “inner drive” is ridiculous. There’s loads of people with innate athleticism and basketball talent. How many make the Hall of Fame? Incredibly few. It’s almost impossible to do. Yet Melo did.

You think the #13 scorer of all time didn’t have insane “inner drive”? What are we doing here?

People loved Gerry as a player because he was a small, great shooting white guy. That’s perfectly fine. Like you said, he looked like your neighbor and we relate to his background.

It’s the same reason Celtics fan love Payton Pritchard. But no one is claiming Pritchard has more “inner drive” than Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. My goodness.

I for one am really looking forward to the lines that get drawn when Kiyan and Doty are on the same roster competing for minutes, and what people will interpret that each player symbolically represents.

 

[Orangezoo]

I might be on repeat but I feel more strongly that because of how people view the program and the lack of trust around what someone could raise money wise outside of Gerry or Hop- BH or Schertz or nearly any outside option would ultimately fail even if they saw some success early on. I feel much more confident in that than I do of GMac succeeding. I really don’t know if he will or not but he will get the money that gives him a better chance at it especially if he meets expectations in year 1 than the other options.

That is a flaw or circumstance of a program that while Dave Bing ( and of course Pearl set things on fire for us ) put us on the modern map, truly revolves around 40 years of JB. He made it what it was as did the many players and administrators around him that still love and idolize him. That means that trusting someone who has deep roots into the days things worked and raising money around them in the days where money is king- is a much much easier task and profitable outcome than bringing in a name that only a small subset of SU fans and supporters really know. They would know the big coaching names who are out of the game or not worth the crazy salary they would demand but BH, JS , PMJ etc etc are just coaches we know.

I said it back when he decided to step away that while it would hurt because of conference affiliation, Calhoun leaving when he did gave UConn a leg up on finding their groove in the next generation and said the same about UNC and Duke. Now UNC did what they did and it’s been mixed results - a far cry from how bad we have had it and Duke has thrived. Scheyer was the very popular , well spoken firebrand who Duke family knows well as a super recruiter and basketball mind and flooding in the money was easy. They also timed things and managed it better.

It’s easy to place blame on JB staying too long and that being on JB and the school because that’s true. Handing the reigns to Hop back then probably doesn’t go much better than Autry lets be real , but then we would have been years ahead like UConn was in re establishing finding the right leader.

So back to what I’m getting at- paying for these other up and coming coaches is the sexy pick for those of us including myself to say a new era with fresh blood is bringing us to prosperity and the bad days are long gone.. it’s fools gold. You see the money and energy flying in behind Gerry. He’s not the logical decision for a program buried in the past that made it but he’s our best shot to survive and progress in a world where more and more big programs leak out having major money issues. Gerry brings in the grass roots support and money and the past player buy in no one else can and if he wins there will likely be sustained support for a while behind him.

If he doesn’t - then the reality that our hoops program will never reach the same heights is upon us and those of us already adjusted to a version of that will fall back into that new routine.

It’s also fair to say we are a bit of a change hungry echo chamber of frustration vs the masses of SU fans. We are pretty hellbent that we are right on many things within our chamber and I expect it stays that way and we can all commiserate or be joyous within our little community.