CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Quincy Guerrier looked comfortable and fluid, perhaps because he was all alone. Prior to Syracuse’s (9-7, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) 63-55 win over No. 18 Virginia (11-4, 3-2) Saturday, SU clumped into a small space around the right elbow to shoot around. Except Guerrier. The 6-foot-7 forward and SU’s lone sure bench contributor camped in a corner by himself.

Three-pointer after 3-pointer swished through the net. When the Orange are at home, Guerrier starts his routine three hours before game time. He takes 45 minutes to shoot, work on free throws, and practice dribble-moves inside and outside the 3-point line. Saturday, the shots fell with ease. 

A season of development has finally convinced him he can make those shots. Even when he hasn’t. SU head coach Jim Boeheim had insisted it from the first game of the season. Yet Guerrier has made just three of his 18 attempts from beyond the arc. Despite a slow start, Guerrier still found a role as an energizer off the bench. The early-season results were erratic, but Guerrier has now struck a balance between energy and making the right decisions.

“I’m slowing down a little bit,” Guerrier said. “Probably more mentally.”

Guerrier’s Syracuse debut in Italy was as a starter. The most heralded recruit in Syracuse’s 2019 class had the raw talent to excite, yet like most young players on the SU team, Boeheim said he wasn’t totally ready. Boeheim met with Guerrier before SU’s first exhibition game against Daemen and prepared him to come off the bench. Guerrier was Syracuse’s strongest player, and perhaps its most athletic big as well at 6-foot-7. His role was to take advantage of just that.

But early in the season, his speed never wavered. Tough crashes for offensive boards took him out of defensive plays, and powerful attempts under the basket pushed some shots strong. He missed seven of his first nine shots from the field and didn’t score in double figures until SU’s matchup with Seattle. He scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds, but at times still felt imbalanced.

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“Even today (against Seattle), I was physical, but I feel like I was (sometimes not) in control,” Guerrier said on Nov. 16. “Should be finishing easy baskets around the rim.”

Boeheim ensured Guerrier he would play through early mistakes. Guerrier tried to counteract erratic play with a steadier approach, but games with less activity left Boeheim asking for “anything.” Guerrier said Boeheim wanted him to be a “dog” because “I’m the strongest guy on the team and I need to use it.” The next step in his development was to make the right plays simultaneously.

In recent games, production has followed a focus on making correct reads based off recent film. Foul trouble prevented him from contributing against Virginia — fouls he joked “I think probably (were) not (fouls)” — but against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech he strung together back-to-back double-digit point games for the first time since November. He flashed to the high-post when he needed to and identified mismatches against smaller defenders.

“Guerrier has earned some more playing time,” Boeheim said after Virginia Tech. “He’s been good in practice so we’ll be seeing more of him.”

Down five points with less than a minute to go in the Orange’s eventual loss to the Hokies, Guerrier caught the ball in the corner beyond the 3-point line as a defender closed out on him. It was the shot that the Orange have been waiting for, the one he knows he can make. It was there, but Guerrier saw something better.

He pump-faked, watched the defender fly by him and burst to the rim for an uncontested dunk. Guerrier said earlier in the season he might have taken the initial shot. But he just sought out the better read.

“I just got to be aware of the score and the time,” Guerrier said. “So, for me, that was the best decision.”

Published on January 12, 2020 at 10:33 pm

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