Poll - Did JB Manipulate This or Did He Just Save Us?

[JazzNC]

How about an option not listed?

IMO Hop left because Wildhack preferred a known commodity (and Hop got a great opportunity). Boeheim didn't plot anything, but the extension had to be announced to provide stability to the "perception" that SU is on the outs.

I still maintain it was damage control. No recruit is going to honor their commitment or come to SU without knowing who the HC will be in one year.

Time will tell if SU made the right call. I also doubt JB will complete this 5 year contract. I expect a quiet search to be done for a new HC, and if SU is not back in the Tournament next year, he will be gone.

I'll end this by saying that I love JB and am not a hater. Nothing would make me happier than for him to go out on top.

 

[CaptainJ]

The whole JB conspiracy theory(which Im not sure what I think, or if I even care) thing makes me think of this song, which sometimes calms me in troubling times:

 

[Toga]

Not going to go through the entire thread and will only ask a question that maybe has been addressed. Why had Hop's presence on the recruiting trail diminished?

 

[SBU72]

Well, here in reality, when the AD and the Chancellor both say within the last 6 months or so that you will be leaving at the end of the 2018 season, why on earth would he walk into their offices to ask them whether they really meant it?

In reality, what people do is they leak things and they help plant articles to stir up dicussion in hopes of a groundswell of popular support to reverse the superiors' decision. That's where those stories were coming from. I used to work in PR. That's how the press works. People plant information for writers to write stories about.

Or writers make inferences and write them as fact just to get headlines. The extended use of "unnamed sources" drives me up a wall. For all we know it could be the guy in the next cubicle. Like I said, the guy on the radio yesterday took what he was told, made some observations then reported it as such and made no statement that his observations were indeed fact.

 

[Newhouser]

Again, I don't see even a reference to JB going to the AD and asking that his retirement date be extended. Wildhack just reaffirms that a plan is in place in the first article. And it wasn't because he felt the need to do that but because he was asked a question. The second article even says things seem vague. And most people here took the reference to mean that JB could leave even earlier since he is not one to want a grand retirement tour. And Thamels article says nothing about a quote, just that people around JB feel he'll find a way to coach beyond next season. Again, no direct quote or even an unnamed quote. These all lead to the "everybody knows" situation. I only know what the writers are saying , their opinions, no facts. The fact remains that the only quotes are from JB saying he intended next year to be his last.

Here is something for your side. Just a while ago on a Rochester talk show, the commentator said that earlier in the year he was told that there was friction between JB and Hop. After that the commentator said he paid specific attention to see if the two interacted during games. And he said it seemed to him that JB didn't talk to Hop during the games. He thought that that MIGHT infer that there was friction. Again, just opinion but at least the guy says that is such. I don't pay much attention to what happens on the bench but maybe somebody here noticed the same thing OR maybe it is JB's way not to do a lot of interaction with coaches during a game.

I think Hop's presence on the bench was definitely more muted than in previous years. I think both JB and Hop are pros who get the company line but no way this situation didn't strain their relationship.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Or writers make inferences and write them as fact just to get headlines. The extended use of "unnamed sources" drives me up a wall. For all we know it could be the guy in the next cubicle. Like I said, the guy on the radio yesterday took what he was told, made some observations then reported it as such and made no statement that his observations were indeed fact.

The unnamed source is exactly what I'm talking about. That's the plant / the leak, to drive the writing of the story. The writer didn't just get up one morning and say "Hey, I think I'll make up a story that so-and-so is looking for a job extension." People talk to writers, people email or tweet to writers to give them story ideas and story content.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Not going to go through the entire thread and will only ask a question that maybe has been addressed. Why had Hop's presence on the recruiting trail diminished?

Precisely. Somebody stopped caring as much.
And some of us in the peanut gallery have been commenting with worry over the last couple months about how little effort Mike seemed to be putting into building up his roster for when the hand-off from Boeheim took place. I guess we know why - JB didn't want to leave, and Mike got sick of waiting. It's been 10 years since he was first announced as the Coach In Waiting, so I can't blame him.

 

[Ward]

Not going to go through the entire thread and will only ask a question that maybe has been addressed. Why had Hop's presence on the recruiting trail diminished?

Yea there are a lot of obvious questions to be asked that undercut the party line conveyed by JB/Wildhack. I mean I understand exactly why they are saying what they are, it would be foolish to say otherwise, but doesn't mean it should be taken as gospel.

 

[Ward]

The unnamed source is exactly what I'm talking about. That's the plant / the leak, to drive the writing of the story. The writer didn't just get up one morning and say "Hey, I think I'll make up a story that so-and-so is looking for a job extension." People talk to writers, people email or tweet to writers to give them story ideas and story content.

I don't understand why it's so difficult for people to grasp this concept.

 

[br801]

The unnamed source is exactly what I'm talking about. That's the plant / the leak, to drive the writing of the story. The writer didn't just get up one morning and say "Hey, I think I'll make up a story that so-and-so is looking for a job extension." People talk to writers, people email or tweet to writers to give them story ideas and story content.

And sometimes writers and assorted media types even get their ideas from faceless people blindly speculating about things on message boards, thus completing the circle.

 

[TinyManInside]

Not going to go through the entire thread and will only ask a question that maybe has been addressed. Why had Hop's presence on the recruiting trail diminished?

You also need to ask "Why did Hop accept "coach-in-waiting" status in 2007?"

 

[721Comstock]

You also need to ask "Why did Hop accept "coach-in-waiting" status in 2007?"

Well, because JB had already been coaching for over 3 decades at that point, and it would've been a no-brainer for Hop to line himself up as the next guy here, vs having to go elsewhere and hope he could make it happen there.
It benefitted both sides.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Well, because JB had already been coaching for over 3 decades at that point, and it would've been a no-brainer for Hop to line himself up as the next guy here, vs having to go elsewhere and hope he could make it happen there.
It benefitted both sides.

Yeah, but when Hop signed on for that, do you think he expected to wait more than 10 years to get his chance?

 

[SUfanNC]

I don't understand why it's so difficult for people to grasp this concept.

Because it doesn't support what their opinion is!!!!

 

[SUfanNC]

Yeah, but when Hop signed on for that, do you think he expected to wait more than 10 years to get his chance?

Let me answer. Hell no