Nate Oats vs. Coach Hop Thread

[Trueblue25]

At this point in time, and up until JB gives up the throne, who is the better fit for Syracuse moving on from the JB era?

We do not need speculation into other HC’s in this thread. This is purely a constructive conversation surrounding the two mentioned HC’s.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Red.

 

[Trueblue25]

Red.

Red can have his own thread whenever someone else feels it necessary! Im interested in the discussion between these two

 

[jdubs30]

Oats

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I will go for new and shiny for 5 years,$10M, Alex (RIP)

 

[Orangezoo]

Hop was the ideal program guy to partner with JB. He was in essence the COO, and a player friendly COO to JB's CEO when he was here at SU. The two of them together made for a dynamite combo with great recruiting, great player relationships and a good partnership between player needs, game strategy and team morale.

Hop on his own has shown that the CEO role is still a work in progress. He doesn't have the feel for in game adjustments and it appears that simplicity of scouting (see recent Athletic article) takes a little longer to deploy if it was carried through. I am not sure he has really built his own style on the court. There is no doubt in his recruiting abilities and relationship building especially on the East Coast. I still think he needs to find himself game plan wise. The current staff I believe fails to challenge JB as much as Hop did. I don't say that from a source of knowledge just observation.


When I look at Oats- I look at a clean slate- new guy in town. That said if he sends the incumbents packing off the staff, who are extremely entrenched in SU hoops from multiple perspectives not the least the fans, his road to success will be tough. He will install a brand new style, different types of recruits and may have a short leash. It's good he is getting experience at Bama and has local roots but he is protected by Bama football. Here he is front and center. Can he handle it and do so with grace? We all know locals won't give him 1/10th of the rope JB gets for obvious reasons.

Both choices have their issues. It's possible neither may be ideal. I like Hop more than Oats for continuity but it's a near even line.

 

[Newhouser]

Oats.

 

[pearl31]

oh god

 

[moqui]

this is like fantasizing which celebrity is going to replace your spouse someday.

we have a guy in the chair who is still better than either of those guys will ever be

 

[RF2044]

Drink

 

[General20]

this is like fantasizing which celebrity is going to replace your spouse someday.

we have a guy in the chair who is still better than either of those guys will ever be

Except in this case we are currently married to the beautiful celebrity and fantasizing about replacing her with the homeless lady on the corner for some strange reason.

 

[Cuse1055]

This should be an epic thread that may set all new records.

 

[Trueblue25]

this is like fantasizing which celebrity is going to replace your spouse someday.

we have a guy in the chair who is still better than either of those guys will ever be

How so? Both have the most tangible ties to being interested in coaching here, of outside p5 Head Coaches.

JB’s not coaching forever.

I don’t think

 

[Trueblue25]

Except in this case we are currently married to the beautiful celebrity and fantasizing about replacing her with the homeless lady on the corner for some strange reason.

Regardless of opinions here, these two names are more than likely on any existent shortlist ADJW maintains. So it’s worth discussing how each measures up against each other. It’s not a fantasy, it’s two reasonable possibilities.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Posters need some original content. This topic is wayyyyyyyyy too played out each year. Entirely predictable.

 

[Trueblue25]

Posters need some original content. This topic is wayyyyyyyyy too played out each year. Entirely predictable.

Better to have one thread for it than to see it brought up in multiple threads each month.

 

[CuseMan4]

First call will be to Hop but if he’s really struggling out in Washington by the time this all has to come into play I would want Oats. In my opinion Oats is a hell of a coach and a hell of a recruiter. He leaves no stone unturned, he will go after high school recruits, Jucos, traditional transfers, grad transfers. He’s crushing recruiting at Alabama, I’m sure he would crush recruiting here too with our facilities, tradition, fan base, new renovations, etc...and we all know he can coach from his time at Buffalo. If Hop finds success at Washington and then comes here that’s a home run hire, I think Oats would be a home run hire as well. If this were to happen this off-season, I think Oats is the more realistic option

 

[KevMonstah]

this is like fantasizing which celebrity is going to replace your spouse someday.

we have a guy in the chair who is still better than either of those guys will ever be

Over his career, certainly. But if I'm looking to replace JB, I'm not looking to replace
a HoF coach, I'm simply looking to find the best guy who can get SU out of this
19-14 rut they've been in for the last five years. And that is how everyone needs to
look at it. I'm not hiring a guy who's staying for 40 years; if SU's lucky, they'll get
10-15. I'm not hiring a guy who's been to a final four each decade for the last five,
I want a guy who'll get SU to one soon, and then go from there.

What JB has been over his career, he's not that right now, and his team's record
and current build reflect that. Over the last five years, the record, the style of play,
the talent, it's mediocre. And I'll bet that's a lot easier to replace than a 45 year
coach with a great career. That should be how Wildhack and SU fans go about
finding the next guy. You can do it, Louisville did it with a guy I'll bet few people
thought could pull it off, but their program is just as strong with Mack as it was
with Pitino, pending sanctions aside (or not).


.

 

[Ragman2000]

Except in this case we are currently married to the beautiful celebrity and fantasizing about replacing her with the homeless lady on the corner for some strange reason.

Can't help but think of the first minute of this clip General...

 

[moqui]

How so? Both have the most tangible ties to being interested in coaching here, of outside p5 Head Coaches.

JB’s not coaching forever.

I don’t think

that decision is still years away. at least one of those guys is likely to join the long list of formerly hot coaching names in the coaches graveyard by then

 

[Trueblue25]

that decision is still years away. at least one of those guys is likely to join the long list of formerly hot coaching names in the coaches graveyard by then

No reason not to have a dedicated thread as Hopkins is brought up once nearly every 5 threads during the season and if SU needed to hire someone tonight these two would likely be 1A and 1B if looking outside the current staff.

 

[djorange1989]

remember this movie? that is JB, our forever coach. Mods, lock the thread

 

[SUFan44]

this is like fantasizing which celebrity is going to replace your spouse someday.

we have a guy in the chair who is still better than either of those guys will ever be

Better is a very interesting word to use.

His career is better than all but a handful in the history of college basketball. So that is undoubtedly true of anyone they ever bring in.

Better right this minute for the situation we currently have might not be accurate.

As has been stated ad nauseum, Syracuse University basketball should not be on the bubble the majority of the last decade. Or on the outside looking in, as we were last year.
The resources, fan support and national brand of the program -- which JB built, so no disrespect there -- is Top 20, at minimum. Top 10 in a lot of areas except location (which arguably means less in basketball than football because there are players in the Northeast and surrounding areas).

That being said, I'm rooting like hell that they do great this year, go 20-6, and waltz into a 4-6 seed. That's where they belong, at minimum. We haven't had a year like that since 2013-14. That's a long drought.

Sanctions are gone. This team barely beat Bryant. And I do hope it improves. But it looked a lot like the incarnations of the last few years -- not enough defense and a couple of guards who may or may not be good enough at the elite level.

 

[Cuse1055]

remember this movie? that is JB, our forever coach. Mods, lock the thread

View attachment 192230

Someone photoshop Jimmy’s head on Bernie as well as Red and Gmac on the other two.

 

[moqui]

No reason not to have a dedicated thread as Hopkins is brought up once nearly every 5 threads during the season and if SU needed to hire someone tonight these two would likely be 1A and 1B if looking outside the current staff.

if we had to make a hire tonight, it would be red. full stop.