Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim on Quincy Guerrier: ‘We’ll see him more’

In the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team’s loss to Notre Dame on Saturday, freshman forward Quincy Guerrier provided solid minutes off the bench. Guerrier scored 10 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in 17 minutes. He blocked 3 shots.

That production along with a good week of practice earned him some positive reinforcement from his head coach.

“Quincy did a really good job coming in, got on the boards,” Jim Boeheim said after the Notre Dame game on Saturday. “He was good. He’s earned some more playing time. He’s been good in practice too so we’ll see him more.”

It’s been a volatile freshman season for Guerrier, who came into Syracuse with high expectations. Guerrier started at forward in Syracuse’s preseason trip to Italy with Marek Dolezaj out. He played well in those games against lesser competition.

Once the 2019-20 season began, Guerrier got off to a slow start but found a bit of a groove in the third game of the year. He was the silver lining in Syracuse’s loss to Penn State in New York, getting on the boards against a tall, physical, Nittany Lions team, while still learning the Syracuse system.

After the New York trip, it was tough sledding for Guerrier. He struggled against Georgetown, which resulted in Boeheim saying he was looking for ‘anything’ out of his freshman forward.

Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In the next three games, Guerrier struggled against Oakland, played well with 10 points and 7 rebounds against North Florida, and then failed to score against Niagara.

Against Notre Dame though, Guerrier played the most minutes since the Iowa game back on Dec. 3. It was the most comfortable he looked in a while, even connecting on a tip slam with 1:37 left that gave Syracuse a three point lead.

As conference play continues, Guerrier will be an important piece for the Orange. Depth at forward took another hit with Robert Braswell out for the remainder of the 2019-20 season. Syracuse will need minutes and contributions from Guerrier, especially if Dolezaj is playing from the center position.

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