what needs to change---

[nysaint]

I totally agree with this 100%. Very well thought out plan. There would be so much more energy if the fans were close to the court and they got rid of those large open areas on the end zones. The arena should invest in their most popular tenant. I remember Siena said something about not having the money to develop the end zone seating more than they did around the time of that dumb tarp idea. Siena95 is right on the money with everything, especially with those endless and annoying half time marketing ploys. It's gotten so absurd that I think someone was balancing something on a tongue depresser for a prize at the LaSalle game. I really hate it – one shooting game with kids and a half court shot for a big check is ok (Stanford game), but the constant barrage is minor league and BS. Concentrate on what really matters and don’t sell your product as minor league. Get rid of the consultants, their ideas are usually dumb.

[Tony]

Jan 18, 2013 15:54:52 GMT -5 saints22 said:

Jan 18, 2013 12:45:33 GMT -5 siena95 said:

....when you bat around .500 in coaching hires, every once and a while you will have an 0-2 streak.....

Which of Siena's head coaches you would not have hired, given what was known about each at the time they were hired? We're looking at John Griffin, Mike Deane, Bob Beyer, Paul Hewitt, Louis Orr, Rob Lanier, Fran Mccaffery and Mitch Buonaguro. Which ones would you not have hired, and why?

Easy answers here—Beyer—Siena went cheap here. Orr was a stretch.. Mitch was a slam dunk bad hire. There is a reason why guys who get canned at a mid-major don’t get another chance. And let’s remember it’s not like Mitch didn’t have much of a chance at Fairfield- he ran them right into the ground. Only coach I’ll give them a pass on was Lanier- he looked good coming in… all others bad hires there were warning signs..in Mitch’s case bells and whistles were going off. And even after hiring Mitch any good mid major would have fired him after year one. And I don’t want to hear you have to give him a chance etc..Siena gave him a chance when he was hired, we aren’t talking about a young coach learning to be a head man- Mitch was hired to “keep this thing rolling” and it was obvious to most that wasn’t the case. Given his prior history Mitch had to be on an extremely short leash. Siena let him go and you see the result. Siena talks a big game but has not been able to walk the walk due to faulty administration. Siena has several intangibles that most mid majors would drool over, yet Siena has consistently managed to bungle away any advantage in fan base, facilities, media coverage etc with bad hires on an extremely regular basis. All mid major that have broken out of the mid major cycle have done it with strong administration’s that don’t make hiring mistakes, and if they do they mitigate that mistake quickly by getting rid of bad coach. Did you see Gonzaga change style, Xavier, Butler , Creighton, VCU, Vermont, Western Kentucky .. and don’t talk about size, Gonzaga Xavier and Butler are all small schools

[siena2003]

Hear that Father Kevin !

[MTS]

What's done is done... we all know Mitch should have never been hired and once he was he should have been dismissed after going 13-18 with the POY. Last year would have been tough but then again he created half the problems with the roster. The good news is this disaster is almost over...hopefully we can pull off a couple of upsets and the returning players next year continue to get some experience.

We are in rebuild mood but remember basketball is the "easiest" sports to rebuild in especially with Siena's tradition. I'm not saying we'll be in the NCAAs next year but if we get the right coach we'll be competitive and by his second year will be contending for the title. You need a good PG and 3 other talented players to compete (2 being guards).

[siena2003]

Canisius did very with their new head coach. There is no reason why Siena can't do the same thing next year !

[gorvy]

SaintsFan said it best, the only thing that needs major fixing is the head coach. Do that well, and everything else can be fixed in 2 to 3 years, with the winning starting in year 1.

[nysaint]

Absolutely, the next head coach hire is all that is important right now and all the other stuff is cosmetic. Anything to take attention away from the current situation can’t be too bad since we have to wait until this thing plays itself out over the next two months before anything can happen. The school decided to leave Mitch in place, so they had to expect this lame duck period. The administration has to get this one right.

[Deleted]

We all know what needs to change, we will all see how important our opinions are to the powers that be in about 7 weeks.

[SienaRocks]

The marketing crap and constant noise made the games harder and harder for me to enjoy. Once Mitch was given the job it was a no-brainer to discontinue my season tickets. I have no regrets and have only attended one game a year the last couple of years.

[bighitter]

Easy fix.
Let adults in for $5 and kids in free... give the rest away to youth teams and organizations. The kids want drinks and snacks during game time and the parents WILL pay... Take 10% from those expensive ass Aramark food services. The place would be packed and they'd probably make more from the 10% than from ticket sales.
And to break even, sell the shirts, hats, and hoodies for what you paid for them or maybe a dollar more.

[SienaRocks]

At the rate our team is deteriorating they may have to pay fans to attend. It's one thing to watch a team competing but coming up short, but this disaster is enough to make people sick.

[siena95]

Jan 18, 2013 16:38:10 GMT -5 hoopjunkie said:

Jan 18, 2013 13:43:40 GMT -5 siena95 said:

HJ- horseshit---- FF is paying a lot for their coach and their ticket prices and game day schedule isn't like Siena's..... i dont see any team at siena's level with cafe seating, yet they manage to pay their coaches..... i dont think any other MAAC school charges for students to go to games, but they all seem to stay above water..... Siena is a business school, if they can't figure out a model where you have premiere sponsors and cut out a lot of the noise, lets face it, that is all that time out and halftime events are, noise, well then Siena should pack up and head back to the ARC and de-emphasize basketball. and lets just say I know pretty intimately what they bring in as far as sponsorship $$$ it isn't as much as you think and certainly not a sink or swim effect on their balance sheet.

Everrything you proposed would cost the program at least $100,000 in revenue. Then you want to pay a real coach "Fairfield guy, good money?" (how much is "good money" anyway?)

We have a lot more bills than the other MAAC schools that "stay afloat."

We just need to get a good coach, and PAY HIM! We have the money, we just don't like giving it up. Hopefully the administration ses that that being frugal, is costing the school thousands every day with such a pitiful program we're supposed to blindly support.

well when Fran got his couple of pay raises, the season ticket prices jumped very little.. With a winning program $$ can be found very easily in a few target sponsors, not 25 various sponsors who all want their piece and time on the court. and you add in the # of tickets they throw at the sponsors (some get premium seats all season, so subtract that cost from what they pay) and some of the sponsors hardly pay anything. There is a better way (across the board)

[siena86]

Jan 18, 2013 18:09:40 GMT -5 Tony said:

Jan 18, 2013 15:54:52 GMT -5 saints22 said:

Which of Siena's head coaches you would not have hired, given what was known about each at the time they were hired? We're looking at John Griffin, Mike Deane, Bob Beyer, Paul Hewitt, Louis Orr, Rob Lanier, Fran Mccaffery and Mitch Buonaguro. Which ones would you not have hired, and why?

Easy answers here—Beyer—Siena went cheap here. Orr was a stretch.. Mitch was a slam dunk bad hire. There is a reason why guys who get canned at a mid-major don’t get another chance. And let’s remember it’s not like Mitch didn’t have much of a chance at Fairfield- he ran them right into the ground. Only coach I’ll give them a pass on was Lanier- he looked good coming in… all others bad hires there were warning signs..in Mitch’s case bells and whistles were going off. And even after hiring Mitch any good mid major would have fired him after year one. And I don’t want to hear you have to give him a chance etc..Siena gave him a chance when he was hired, we aren’t talking about a young coach learning to be a head man- Mitch was hired to “keep this thing rolling” and it was obvious to most that wasn’t the case. Given his prior history Mitch had to be on an extremely short leash. Siena let him go and you see the result. Siena talks a big game but has not been able to walk the walk due to faulty administration. Siena has several intangibles that most mid majors would drool over, yet Siena has consistently managed to bungle away any advantage in fan base, facilities, media coverage etc with bad hires on an extremely regular basis. All mid major that have broken out of the mid major cycle have done it with strong administration’s that don’t make hiring mistakes, and if they do they mitigate that mistake quickly by getting rid of bad coach. Did you see Gonzaga change style, Xavier, Butler , Creighton, VCU, Vermont, Western Kentucky .. and don’t talk about size, Gonzaga Xavier and Butler are all small schools

I disagree, Lanier was a poor communicator right from the start. He was also full of crap, kids can see through that. The successful coaches have a plan and implement. Beyer, Lanier and Mitch all could never do that from day 1.