Siena Basketball: GMAC / Blackwell / AO

[Zelda Zonk]

If "what is" is that we have to think about scheduling in a way where we have to consider how a loss to Siena impacts our chances of making the tournament, then I don't care if we make the tournament.

I'm sick of this discussion about what we need to do to squeak into the tournament. We should be discussing what seed we think we should be, not whether we'll be on the right side of the bubble.

I’m really not even considering how a game like that would affect our tournament hopes. I don’t think SU needs a scenario where GMac either beats Red or it’s a close contest (with far less ‘resources’) and people start (continue) the conversation about why it should have been GMac succeeding JB. How much would SU have to win by to nullify that aspect of speculation?

Then again, if you want Red out next year, that might bolster the argument. So, maybe Bad for SU’s season and Good for its longer term prospects?

I just think it’s too soon, too raw.

 

[Bayside44]

sort of right. The point is that we are not afraid of those teams but a loss to those teams would really hurt us. A win gets us next to nothing. You beat Colgate and Siena. A big so what in any area other than upstate NY. And let's be real, if G-mac wasn't at Siena, no one would care if we played them or didn't.

We haven't played Siena in 20 years.

 

[orange79]

We haven't played Siena in 20 years.

Which is a bit weird, right?

 

[dasher]

Again, they will still need some teams like that to round out the schedule. They might as well be local, and historically they have been.

Don't get me wrong. I think we should play LeMoyne, Cornell and Colgate. But I'm not going to get worked up about not playing them. I'm sure there are things I don't know about how much we pay those schools to play us.

 

[MSOrange]

We have to deal with what is. Not what should be.

Then if that's the case, we wasted our time bringing Red back. GMac did a great job rebuilding Siena last year, but they lost the only power conference game they played to Xavier 80-55. Personally, I don't care if we play Siena or not, but if we're scared of that being a loss, what are we even doing?

 

[Irishsecra1]

If Red has a winning season and actually acts like he knows what he is doing as a head coach, then playing Siena ( win or lose) isn't going to get the fan base screaming for GMAC.
If he has another losing season, he will be heading out the door and the last thing the SU admin will want to do at that time is bring back GMAC.
As a season ticket holder, alum and fan since the 70's, I would enjoy watching us play a local team with several former orange as part of their coaching staff. And I think the casuals would be interested as well.
And frankly the way ticket sales have plummeted, we need to generate as much casual fan interest as possible.

 

[Cheriehoop]

It was done to help these programs by paying them, it certainly has worked over time very well for all 3. They have all elevated their programs as a result. We had the money, prestige and shared it with our closest CNY schools. JB had personal relationships with the coaches too and had the cachet to do it. I can’t blame SU for looking at schools that will help more in this new era from their perspective whether it’s financially and/or improving our ranking to get back to the NCAA etc. It doesn’t mean we won’t ever play them in the future.

We haven’t played football against Cornell nor Colgate either like we used to do
each year. We last played Colgate in 2023 and Cornell in 2005 (edit - sorry wrong info on Cornell) and I haven’t seen any complaints about those series becoming sporadic. Our schedules are more challenging and rosters for all teams in all sports have become year to year challenges causing uncertainty. Programs are trying to do what’s best for themselves not necessarily for what’s better for other teams.

 

[UnknownOrange]

From a ticket sales standpoint a potential game with Sienna at least would do better than a colgate, cornell, binghamton, etc type school solely because of Gerry. He is undeniably beloved here.

Do we have anything to gain from playing Sienna? Probably not. D
o we have more to lose? Of course.

We also have zero benefit of playing a majority of the non-conf/non-p4 teams, but you need some wins.

This would be a fun game and I'd be happy to send Gerry home with a big fat Loss

If the fanbase is afraid of playing Sienna we've lost all hope lol. We don't need to be a top-10 program in order to play sienna

 

[baggerbob]

I’m really not even considering how a game like that would affect our tournament hopes. I don’t think SU needs a scenario where GMac either beats Red or it’s a close contest (with far less ‘resources’) and people start (continue) the conversation about why it should have been GMac succeeding JB. How much would SU have to win by to nullify that aspect of speculation?

Then again, if you want Red out next year, that might bolster the argument. So, maybe Bad for SU’s season and Good for its longer term prospects?

I just think it’s too soon, too raw.

Until we get back to being top 10-15, there is no reason to play Siena with Gerry there, case closed. Time to stop the thought.

 

[djcon57]

From a ticket sales standpoint a potential game with Sienna at least would do better than a colgate, cornell, binghamton, etc type school solely because of Gerry. He is undeniably beloved here.

Did he help ticket sales when he actually coached here?

 

[dasher]

Then if that's the case, we wasted our time bringing Red back. GMac did a great job rebuilding Siena last year, but they lost the only power conference game they played to Xavier 80-55. Personally, I don't care if we play Siena or not, but if we're scared of that being a loss, what are we even doing?

We aren't scared of Siena. We haven't played them in 20 years. Was JB afraid of them? There is zero to be gained in playing them other than the fans get to say hi to Gerry. I don't care if we play them but to make this an issue is somewhat ridiculous to me. We never play them. And it's not like they were some sort of power last year. Good luck to them. Why not play St Bonnie? At least we have a history with them. Or Marist? Or Iona. There are a lot of teams we could play. Siena would be way down my list. Certainly behind Colgate, Cornell and LeMoyne.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Did he help ticket sales when he actually coached here?

its obviously different when he was ON staff

a prodigal son returns home and I know a handful of people off the top of my head who would go specifically for the matchup

lets not act like it wouldn't be an intriguing storyline. I am also not saying this would sell out the building but when given a chance to play sienna over say binghamton, I would play sienna every single time so long as Gerry as HC

 

[LAorange44]

its obviously different when he was ON staff

a prodigal son returns home and I know a handful of people off the top of my head who would go specifically for the matchup

lets not act like it wouldn't be an intriguing storyline. I am also not saying this would sell out the building but when given a chance to play sienna over say binghamton, I would play sienna every single time so long as Gerry as HC

People who are disregarding the excitement and buzz for seeing head coach Gerry play Cuse in the dome are being intentionally obtuse

 

[djcon57]

People who are disregarding the excitement and buzz for seeing head coach Gerry play Cuse in the dome are being intentionally obtuse

2003 was 22 years ago.

The buzz would be with a bunch of 50 year old dudes

 

[longtimefan]

People who are disregarding the excitement and buzz for seeing head coach Gerry play Cuse in the dome are being intentionally obtuse

How does the cliche go? "I didn't come to see the officials blow their whistles, I came to see the players play." The same thing can be said for opposing coaches.

I have been to games where teams were coached by legends--John Thompson, Dean Smith Mike K., Bobby Knight, hell, even Bob Cousy. It was not the opposing head coach who coaxed me into the building.

 

[LAorange44]

How does the cliche go? "I didn't come to see the officials blow their whistles, I came to see the players play." The same thing can be said for opposing coaches.

I have been to games where teams were coached by legends--John Thompson, Dean Smith Mike K., Bobby Knight, hell, even Bob Cousy. It was not the opposing head coach who coaxed me into the building.

Well I went to Syracuse so naturally I’m a little dumb and slow, but I think many people locally and regionally would find a Syracuse game against Siena very interesting and a must see game.

 

[Orangezoo]

Well I went to Syracuse so naturally I’m a little dumb and slow, but I think many people locally and regionally would find a Syracuse game against Siena very interesting and a must see game.

I graduated from SU in 06 same class as Gmac, played against him in HS and know how big he is locally where I grew up and amongst SU fans.

With that said and all due respect to your point, at this moment I just don’t see where there is any reason this would be of significance to play them now when the focus is a bit different with a program trying to get back to the upper echelon of the sport. Maybe if things make a big shift this year and over the next couple years and Gerry is doing well it could be a really fun event with that interest you refer to but right now it’s not really worth the time to debate.

 

[sufandu]

We aren't scared of Siena. We haven't played them in 20 years. Was JB afraid of them? There is zero to be gained in playing them other than the fans get to say hi to Gerry. I don't care if we play them but to make this an issue is somewhat ridiculous to me. We never play them. And it's not like they were some sort of power last year. Good luck to them. Why not play St Bonnie? At least we have a history with them. Or Marist? Or Iona. There are a lot of teams we could play. Siena would be way down my list. Certainly behind Colgate, Cornell and LeMoyne.

I think the point some people are making is that it would be fun to have GMac in the dome, and since there is no reason to fear them, go ahead and schedule the W. We're gonna have some of those on the schedule anyway. Why not have GMac come in.

Of course JB wasn't afraid of them. But they also never had one of his and the fans' favorite former players as their coach. If they had, don't you think he'd have made it happen?

I really don't care all that much whether we play them. What bothers me is people wanting so badly to not play them.

 

[dasher]

I think the point some people are making is that it would be fun to have GMac in the dome, and since there is no reason to fear them, go ahead and schedule the W. We're gonna have some of those on the schedule anyway. Why not have GMac come in.

Of course JB wasn't afraid of them. But they also never had one of his and the fans' favorite former players as their coach. If they had, don't you think he'd have made it happen?

I really don't care all that much whether we play them. What bothers me is people wanting so badly to not play them.

Did we play Siena when Louis Orr coached them? And he was one of JB's favorite players and a fan favorite as well. And I don't see anyone wanting badly not to play them. It appears to me just the opposite. People want to play them and the rest of us don't care. We haven't played them in years and years.

 

[LAorange44]

Did we play Siena when Louis Orr coached them? And he was one of JB's favorite players and a fan favorite as well. And I don't see anyone wanting badly not to play them. It appears to me just the opposite. People want to play them and the rest of us don't care. We haven't played them in years and years.

We didn’t play Louis Orr as coach of Siena or BGSU. I thought maybe we played BGSU in the 2000s but apparently we did not.

 

[dasher]

We didn’t play Louis Orr as coach of Siena or BGSU. I thought maybe we played BGSU in the 2000s but apparently we did not.

We didn't play Pitino or Malone when they left for B.U. and Rhode Island either. A lot of coaches don't like to play friends.

 

[LAorange44]

We didn't play Pitino or Malone when they left for B.U. and Rhode Island either. A lot of coaches don't like to play friends.

Or Hop

 

[Dinkyspond]

It was done to help these programs by paying them, it certainly has worked over time very well for all 3. They have all elevated their programs as a result. We had the money, prestige and shared it with our closest CNY schools. JB had personal relationships with the coaches too and had the cachet to do it. I can’t blame SU for looking at schools that will help more in this new era from their perspective whether it’s financially and/or improving our ranking to get back to the NCAA etc. It doesn’t mean we won’t ever play them in the future.

We haven’t played football against Cornell nor Colgate either like we used to do
each year. We last played Colgate in 2023 and Cornell in 2005 and I haven’t seen any complaints about those series becoming sporadic. Our schedules are more challenging and rosters for all teams in all sports have become year to year challenges causing uncertainty. Programs are trying to do what’s best for themselves not necessarily for what’s better for other teams.

Cornell University Athletics Football History vs Syracuse University Cornell University Athletics Football History vs Syracuse University

1958 was the last time we played Cornell in football, I had to look that up, I would have remembered if we played Cornell during my Cuse fandom beginning in 1978. I've got some Cornell ties through friends and family.

 

[Dinkyspond]

We didn't play Pitino or Malone when they left for B.U. and Rhode Island either. A lot of coaches don't like to play friends.

1986-87 Men's Basketball Schedule - Syracuse University Athletics 1986-87 Men's Basketball Schedule - Syracuse University Athletics, we played BU with Pitino in the 86-87 season, 12.30.86, I was at the game it was my senior year at SU.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

FB games against Ivies don't count towards bowl eligibility.