John Wildhack joins Orange Nation today at 12:15

[walsh2012]

I’ve accepted Autry is returning, but seriously the best option right now at Syracuse? We are not Washington, we are Syracuse. Even though Washington does have a lot of cash.

Wait we're Syracuse? Whoops, thought this was Weber St

 

[AcAndAc]

I’ve accepted Autry is returning, but seriously the best option right now at Syracuse? We are not Washington, we are Syracuse. Even though Washington does have a lot of cash. We’re a unequivocally Top 15 program that hasn’t been ranked in conference play in over a decade.

Hopkins was 48-22 his first two years. Not surprisingly, they went ahead and let him take a stab at a 3rd year. Year 3 through 7 were pretty bad though. Within 2 games of .500 for 4... and 5-21 in 2020-2021. After 2 years, he seemed like a pretty solid hire. After 7, you wonder how he lasted so long.

 

[Red2003]

He's going to neglect his announcing gig to fundraise and attend every game? Not sure I buy that.

I guess if Kiyan shows up and is Brycen Goodine level we can blame red and say he'll be better with the next coach.

What’s the update on housing? Pretty sure LaLa said she would be flying up but wasn’t Melo looking at houses in CNY?

 

[FloridaCuse]

I'll give him 5-10 games next year before Interim coach watch begins.

How about 1 or 2 after they lose to LeMoyne?

 

[cusefan88]

How about 1 or 2 after they lose to LeMoyne?

My pitchfork will be easily accessible at all times.

 

[HyattsCuse]

I think it provides some necessary wiggle room. What if we are 18-2 and ranked #6, but then our three best players get injured for the season... and we finish 21-13 (despite playing very well effort-wise relative to our lack of depth) and miss the Big Dance as the last four out. I think most of us would say "c'mon, no need to fire him... he seems to be figuring it out."

Conversely, if we are 19-15... but we win the ACCT because other teams pull the upsets for us... and then get blown out by 35 in Dayton... is that really the significant improvement?

Along the same lines... what if we are 25-8... we get screwed on the seed (#9) and have to play a #8 seed that started slow but got healthy and strong at the end depsite a worse record.. or end up playing a #1 seed in a quasi home game (MSU in Detroit). You cannot force a coach to win 2 games in the Big Dance to keep his job.

This line of thought is why I’m also OK with JW using words like “meaningful” and “significant” versus giving hardline expectations. I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as Dino’s expectation of 7 wins which he fell short of. If he got that 7th win, he would have been our coach this past season.

I think it’s evident that expectations are we are solidly in the tournament and finishing high and competing with the upper echelon of the ACC. Mediocre (e.g. season 1) isn’t going to cut it.

 

[Red2003]

How about 1 or 2 after they lose to LeMoyne?

NIl tourney is in Vegas over Thanksgiving. 18 team tourney. Last place is a real possibility. Or we could surprise if there’s a miracle.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Yup this was going to be the outcome as I noted. Do like that he was adamant about expectations and getting this fixed, confirms what I was told, Tourney or gone.

He has to keep Freeman. And he has to raise big money. Signing only 4 or 5 players isn't getting us to .500.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Hard to read his comments as having full support. Wildhack essentially said win a lot more games or your fired

Yeah, but he clearly didn't say NCAA by name. He left himself some wiggle room.

 

[IthacaMatt]

did he actually say tourney or gone?

no, he did not.

 

[RCDICK44]

In my personal opinion I would give JW a Break.He was willing to give Fran Brown a chance and everybody is Happy.We have several good players coming in and Red has made this team look much better late in the season. JW in my opinion is no dummy and I would expect he will do the right thing when it's all said and done. quit the squabaling and let him do his job. I feel he will do whats right when it's all said and done.

 

[Red2003]

He has to keep Freeman. And he has to raise big money. Signing only 4 or 5 players isn't getting us to .500.

I feel the same. Getting outbid for Freeman is just another nail in the coffin not just for Autry but for our hoops program overall. And really I will not blame Autry on that if he loses freeman because of money.

For any of you all counting that will be 3 years in a row we lost our best player due to NIL. Jesse, Maliq, Donnie.

I don’t buy the line that oh they just want to compete for winning teams, it’s money.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

In my personal opinion I would give JW a Break.He was willing to give Fran Brown a chance and everybody is Happy.We have several good players coming in and Red has made this team look much better late in the season. JW in my opinion is no dummy and I would expect he will do the right thing when it's all said and done. quit the squabaling and let him do his job. I feel he will do whats right when it's all said and done.

JW doesn’t have a great track record for basketball. The JB retirement and transition was a mess. Immediately went with Red after it was clear the program needed a fresh start.

Tell me again what Wildhack has done to deliver desired results in men’s basketball?

 

[hoopsupstate]

I feel the same. Getting outbid for Freeman is just another nail in the coffin not just for Autry but for our hoops program overall. And really I will not blame Autry on that if he loses freeman because of money.

For any of you all counting that will be 3 years in a row we lost our best player due to NIL. Jesse, Maliq, Donnie.

I don’t buy the line that oh they just want to compete for winning teams, it’s money.

Just think how keeping the first two could have changed the past two seasons.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Syracuse has had a Net Negative in the portal. Outgoing talent always exceeds incoming talent. We'll see if SU breaks the cycle this year. Honestly would be very tough to decrease the talent from the current roster.

I'm sorry, but on paper this was a good team!

Yes, JJ got injured and Freeman got injured and shut it down. Both were McDonald's AAs!

Lampkin - 3 times in the NCAAs. Cuffe was good enough to get a scholarship to Kansas.

The other guys were stars at their lower level schools, just like Elijah Hughes, Andrew White, Alan Griffin, and several other guys who were big contributors for us as transfers. Yes, Choppa was mishandled and shut it down.

There's no way the talent level was that of a 20 loss team. It clearly was good enough for 20+ wins.

 

[jdubs30]

I'm sorry, but on paper this was a good team!

Yes, JJ got injured and Freeman got injured and shut it down. Both were McDonald's AAs!

Lampkin - 3 times in the NCAAs. Cuffe was good enough to get a scholarship to Kansas.

The other guys were stars at their lower level schools, just like Elijah Hughes, Andrew White, Alan Griffin, and several other guys who were big contributors for us as transfers. Yes, Choppa was mishandled and shut it down.

There's no way the talent level was that of a 20 loss team. It clearly was good enough for 20+ wins.

Are you comparing Carlos, Taylor and Davis to Eli, Andrew White and Griffin???? Not even a comparison

 

[atlanticuse]

I'm sorry, but on paper this was a good team.

Potential ≠ results.
A kid with an 160 IQ doesn’t magically get into Harvard nor make $500k a year.

 

[IthacaMatt]

SU is a peer of the Vols?

It's an aspiration.

 

[atlanticuse]

In my personal opinion I would give JW a Break.He was willing to give Fran Brown a chance and everybody is Happy.We have several good players coming in and Red has made this team look much better late in the season. JW in my opinion is no dummy and I would expect he will do the right thing when it's all said and done. quit the squabaling and let him do his job. I feel he will do whats right when it's all said and done.

Fran texted him.
JW had no idea who he was.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Are you comparing Carlos, Taylor and Davis to Eli, Andrew White and Griffin???? Not even a comparison

We know that now. I said "on paper this should have been a much better team".

Carlos was all conf defense in his league. Davis could have been better in spot duty, relieving Freeman. Taylor was insurance for Bell not playing defense or rebounding.

But then of course, he refused to play guys for big chunks of the season who could have helped. He relied on the wrong guys to play the whole damn game and failed to properly use his bench.

I've said it 100 times. NONE of these guys are good enough to play 36 minutes a game. They ALL have big holes in their games. That's where GOOD coaches rotate players based on match-ups, and try to get the best of what each guy has to offer.

For goodness' sake, he went 2/3 of the season without any kind of regular rotation, and the players just checked out on him. It's not because they all suck, as everyone likes to say. They just played a bubble team to the wire on their home floor. They didn't lose by 20.

 

[Red2003]

I'm sorry, but on paper this was a good team!

Yes, JJ got injured and Freeman got injured and shut it down. Both were McDonald's AAs!

Lampkin - 3 times in the NCAAs. Cuffe was good enough to get a scholarship to Kansas.

The other guys were stars at their lower level schools, just like Elijah Hughes, Andrew White, Alan Griffin, and several other guys who were big contributors for us as transfers. Yes, Choppa was mishandled and shut it down.

There's no way the talent level was that of a 20 loss team. It clearly was good enough for 20+ wins.

When it got going the wrong direction early on they just never recovered and def never came together as a team. Granted that’s on Red but I blame the veterans too. Mainly JJ, Carlos, Bell in that order just scared mice on the court late in games or when it mattered.

I found myself asking who would I trust at the end of a game to win it just by making a play or even just hitting their free throws. No one on this team. We have no leader and def no clutch guys.

You can throw all the metrics you want around or what the talent should’ve been. You gotta have a dude or 2-3 that can handle the pressure, we don’t.

 

[Bulldog04]

He's going to neglect his announcing gig to fundraise and attend every game? Not sure I buy that.

I guess if Kiyan shows up and is Brycen Goodine level we can blame red and say he'll be better with the next coach.

The use of a private jet is a wonderful thing…

 

[Bulldog04]

How much money do you expect them to have for next season between rev share, NIl tournament and fundraising?

A lot a lot… no set number right now but they will be a serious player

 

[IthacaMatt]

i know things are bad, but i think a third year is fine here. He's a first time coach, and like it or not it's the best option here.

this is the tournament or bust season. How many years did UW give mike hopkins? Far more than three

Mike Hopkins was Pac 12 Coach of the Year his first two years. That buys you time.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Potential ≠ results.
A kid with an 160 IQ doesn’t magically get into Harvard nor make $500k a year.

Yes, but when others in this thread say "we'll know in 60 days", well, that's what we had last year.

Best 3 point shooter in the ACC, and one of the best in the entire country.

Two McD's AAs. A 4 star shooting guard considered among the best shooters in the class. Low post beef eater who can score and pass. A Euro stretch 4/5 who played pro. Experienced depth pieces who should have known how to play defense. A 7-4 rim protector who never played!

I will be shocked if the roster on August 1 looks as good on paper as that.