Last year’s sixth man Quincy Guerrier, or shall I say the candyman, will be back in action this week. The Canadian native got his nickname for being a streaky scorer. Instead of just saying his name time and time again after a bucket, the name “candyman” made things easier. It’s from an urban legend that talks about the story of a murdered slave that returns from the dead looking for revenge if you say his name five times. It was one of his former coaches, Armel Mampouya, who gave the nickname to him.
Similar to the urban legend, Guerrier will be back this season looking for revenge too. Coming off of a weird ending last season, the candyman wants to improve on what he did last season where he wasn’t even at 100% health due to a groin injury (ouch). I’ve said this before but I will say it again, groin injuries are one of the worse injuries!
According to Syracuse.com, the sophomore said,
Guerrier has since had surgery to repair his groin in the off-season and has resumed practicing with Syracuse. Jim Boeheim thinks he’s not fully recovered but he’s close and shaking off the rust.
“Quincy is pretty healthy. I don’t think he’s quite 100 percent from all the time off and everything, but I think he’s getting better, getting there,” Boeheim divulged.
Position: Forward
Class: Sophomore
Vitals: 6-foot-7, 220 lbs.
Background: Guerrier was born in Montreal, Canada. His dad, Steve Guerrier, is a former baseball player there. Saoua Melissa Lemay is his mother and she used to do ballet. He started playing basketball in Canada but eventually moved to the U.S to continue his career. Before coming to Syracuse, he played for Thetford Academy in Vermont where he averaged 24.7 PPG and 6.2 RPG in his final year.
2019-20 Stats: 6.9 PPG, 0.6 APG, and 5.3 RPG
Strengths/Weaknesses: The Canadian forward can really score at a high volume and he was known for that before coming in last season. It took a little while for him to adapt and get used to the college pace but eventually he broke through and showed signs of potential. Notably, I started seeing these signs after a game against the Seminoles when the Orange lost by only 3 points on February 15th. Guerrier can defend considering the ground he can cover due to his size . Despite this, he still needs to work on his shot more to reach the next level. He also needs to improve his decision making and scoring in traffic. He can get physical but none of that will matter if he doesn’t apply technique into the way he attacks aggressively.
Ceiling: The candyman will stretch the floor as a 6th man (most likely again) who will see minutes at the 4 and maybe even the 5. His role will be to score, rebound, and help create shots for others.
Floor: Expect to see Guerrier on the floor a lot this season for he will be the backbone of the team. He will bring energy through his tenacious rebounding considering he is an undersized forward and his improved scoring (as long as he doesn’t repeat the start he had last year). Still, his shooting fails to materialize and he remains content to try to prove otherwise.