Welcome to the Sweet Sixteen edition of the ANNUAL IGGY AWARDS also known as the first edition of the Red Autry head coaching era. The end of last season was basically a sh!tshow for the program and for the athletic department, the AD and the school president. But, in the end, the school did the right thing and appointed Adrian "Red" Autry who became the 8th head coach in Syracuse basketball history. Not too shabby for a program that has been around since 1904.
And Red came prepared. He hit the ground running and despite losing two main cogs from the last four years, he was able to hire a young, energetic assistant coach with great AAU ties, brought in five new players and kept the core of the team together. Especially one special player named Judah Mintz.
So where does this bring us. There is definitely a buzz around the team. However, it's an unknown buzz. But we do know the team should be more exciting. And we think that the team will play faster on offense and play a more attacking man to man defense, maybe sprinkled in with a little 2-3 zone, with mtm principles, as our good friend Bill Raftery would say.
As I type this, the IGGY COMMITTEE, is curious what IGGY, the man, would have thought of the Red hire. Like most, he probably would have pined for Pitino, or Wright, or Cooley, but I think he would have felt good about Red and what he has accomplished during the off season. But those of us who remember IGGY, the ultimate contrarian, we are sure he would be ready for the first exhibition game on October 27th to offer his suggestions and advice. Is it possible to play a Tavern League Man to Man defense?
So, this brings us to the 16th annual IGGY AWARDS and the categories. We've changed it up a little bit but due to a great tradition in Syracuse, not too much.
Please list your answers in order. The IGGY COMMITTEE is not responsible for reading comprehension or lack thereof. Please submit your answers by 4 pm on Monday, November 6th, which is the day of our first regular season game vs New Hampshire. Good luck to all.
1) ACC RECORD. We are scheduled for 20 regular season games.
2) OUT OF CONFERENCE RECORD. We are scheduled for eleven out of conference games.
3) ACC TOURNAMENT RECORD. We could play anywhere from one to five games.
4) NCAA TOURNAMENT. First four play-in games do not count. If you do not feel we will make the NCAAT then put 0-0.
5) LEADING SCORER. List the player and average points per game.
6) LEADING REBOUNDER: List the players and rebounds per game.
7) WHO WILL MAKE THE MOST THREES THIS YEAR AND HOW MANY.
8) TIEBREAKER: WHO WILL AVERAGE THE SECOND MOST MINUTES PER GAME AND HOW MANY.
Best of luck and here is a recap from the 15th ANNUAL IGGY AWARDS. Congrats to all previous winners.
1) ACC RECORD. We are scheduled for 20 regular season conference games.
The 2022-2023 Orange squad finished with an ACC record of 10-10. We beat the teams we were supposed to beat, and we lost to the teams ranked ahead of us. We had six posters predict 10-10 and we had to go to the 2nd tiebreaker to pick our winner. Congrats to CuseFaninVT for winning the IGGY AWARD for best ACC record.
2) OUT OF CONFERENCE RECORD. We are scheduled for 11 out of conference games.
We finished with a record of 7-4. St. Johns, Colgate and Bryant were all woulda, coulda, shoulda games that we should have won. But we had a ton of new players and a zone that allowed average players to become Steph Curry. That said, the IGGY COMMITTEE just watched St Johns lose in overtime to #1 seed Marquette and Colgate won the Patriot League for the 4th straight year. Bryant was just a terrible game that hopefully we never need to revisit again.
We had 15 people predict 7-4. We had to go to the third tiebreaker for this category and in a big upset win, with his 2nd IGGY AWARD of the evening, congrats to CuseFaninVT. Some people never win one, and this guy who, I believe, was embarrassed by the volume of his posts and doesn't want his wife to know how many, wins two consecutive IGGYS. Please be sure to let your wife know your good news. Honorable mention to tbtcuse and SUOrange08 who both predicted the first two categories correctly but lost out in tiebreakers.
3) ACC Tournament RECORD. We could play anywhere from one to five games depending on season and success (or lack thereof).
0-1. Hopefully Red doesn't go 0-1 next season. We had eight people predict 0-1. Surprised there wasn't more based on past history. We had to go to the 2nd tiebreaker and we are proud to announce the winner of the next IGGY AWARD goes to BomberOrange. Congratulations.
4) NCAA TOURNAMENT-First four games do not count (or whatever they are calling them this year) so we could play anywhere from one to six games. If you do not think Cuse will make the NCAAT then put 0-0 as your prediction.
0-0. This is probably not a good time to insert a John Belushi 0.0 joke. Not the season that a lot of us were hoping for, but at least we don't need the agony of Selection Sunday to tell us we suck. 22 people predicted 0-0. Yikes. In a close tiebreaker, we are proud (disappointed?) to announce the winner of the next IGGY AWARD goes to Madbiker. Congratulations.
5) LEADING SCORER. Please list the player and how many points per game.
Wow, this was close. Came down to the end of the last game. Joe ended up with 16.4 ppg and Judah was right behind him at 16.3 ppg. Basically it came down to a five point difference that could have gone either way considering they both had some great games and both had some games that they will probably never watch again. We had a ton of people pick Joe and it came down to two people in the tiebreaker: BomberOrange (again) and OrangeDW. In a very close one, we are proud to announce our 2nd double winner of the evening to BomberOrange.
6) LEADING REBOUNDER. Please list the player and how many rebounds per game.
Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. He was a man among boys. Culminating with a 20 rebound game in the first Wake game. Lots of people picked Jesse but everyone underestimated that he would snare an average of 10.3 rebounds per game. Awesome job Jesse. Hope that you are truly in love with Jesse's girl, and Syracuse wins out over a fat contract overseas. The winner of this category with a paltry prediction of 9.0 is Cuseattle. Congratulations to you.
7) HOW MANY THREES WILL JOSEPH GIRARD THE THIRD MAKE?
Ok, so this gets old quick. We are in unprecedented territory here. JG3 made 88 threes this year. We had two people predict 88 threes for Joe. In another tiebreaker situation, CuseFaninVT wins in a close one over Madbiker for his 3rd IGGY AWARD of the evening. Now, I really hope the Catamounts lose on Saturday. LOL!!!
8) TIEBREAKER-Who will lead the team in 3 point shooting this season (same tiebreaker as last year). Will it be one of our rotation guys like JG3, Judah, Quadir, JT or Chris or will it be a walk-on that shoots 1-1 for 100% like happened last year. We just need the player and not the percentage.
Lots of suggestions all over the board. If you haven't been hiding under a rock, you should know Jesse won this with a percentage of 100%. Three people predicted Jesse (Niastri, GonzoinMD and RealOrange). In another tiebreaker, we are proud to award the last IGGY AWARD of the evening to Niastri.
A special shoutout to Benny Williams wtih a percentage of .396. He had a great game vs Wake2. Especially if you were at Wake1 and saw him sit in the 2nd row with the managers for almost the entire second half and playing only 8 minutes. Hopefully it was Red that got through to him and helped prepare him mentally in Wake2. Very nice turnaround.
The IGGY COMMITTEE congratulates all the winners. Thank you all for participating. Hopefully next season goes much deeper in March for all of us.
