Tag: Gonzaga

Drew Timme likely to meet with the Thunder in pre-draft visit

Should the Thunder add Chet Holmgren’s former college teammate?

The 2023 NBA draft lottery is officially over, as it confirmed the Oklahoma City Thunder will pick No. 12 in the first round of the draft.

It’s also draft combine week, which means all of the top prospects are gathered in Chicago, Ill. This means most players will likely be asked who they’ve worked out and met with.

One of those players will likely be Gonzaga forward Drew Timme, who said he thinks he’ll meet with the Thunder, per BSO’s Daniel Bell. It would be the second consecutive year he met with OKC in a pre-draft visit.

Timme declared for the 2022 NBA draft before eventually deciding to return to Gonzaga for a senior season. In 37 games last season, he averaged 21.2 points on 61.6% shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

The 22-year-old spent four college seasons at Gonzaga from 2019 to 2023, which included being teammates with last year’s No. 2 pick and current Thunder center Chet Holmgren.

If the Thunder are to draft Timme, it’ll likely occur in the second round with either their No. 37 or No. 50 pick.

The 2023 NBA draft is scheduled to happen on Thursday, June 22. A full list of prospects who’ve met with the Thunder can be read here.

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Projecting who the Boston Celtics will select with the No. 35 pick of the 2023 NBA draft

Take a look at a new projection on who Boston might elect to use their No. 35 overall pick on using an aggregate mock draft and known workouts.

With the 2023 NBA draft lottery finally having come and gone, the Boston Celtics know where it is that they will be selecting with their sole pick of the 2023 NBA draft, a second round pick that came to them by way of the Portland Trail Blazers thanks to a complicated set of pick protections related to moves made in the 2022 offseason.

That pick will likely be used for a player able to contribute in the deep rotation immediately or to fill the third two way slot opened up for all 30 teams in the league in the new collective bargaining agreement adopted by the Association recently.

And with the lottery being set comes a fresh set of projections of who Boston and other teams might select — let’s take a look at what the folks at HoopsHype believe the Celtics might elect to use that No. 35 overall pick on using their aggregate mock draft and known workouts.

Baseball recap: Ducks sweep Gonzaga ahead of Pac-12 series against ASU

Oregon baseball took care of business against Gonzaga ahead of a huge conference series with ASU and first place on the line.

At this time of the season, non-conference games are almost just as important as conference games. You don’t want to lose games you’re supposed to win, especially with a huge Pac-12 series coming up at PK Park.

The Oregon baseball team started the week off right with a brief two-game series sweep over Gonzaga. The Ducks scored seven runs in the seventh inning to take Game 1 by the score of 11-4.

Offense was the order of the day once again on Wednesday after the Ducks hit a couple of homers and stole seven bases on their way to a 10-5 win over the Bulldogs.

Drew Smith hit his first collegiate home run in the seventh inning and Josiah Cromwick followed with a solo homer of his own in the very next inning.

Gonzaga drew first blood in the opening frame with a three-run home run from Sam Stem. Although going down 3-0 before you even come to bat isn’t usually a recipe for success, the Ducks were able to get off the deck and score 10 unanswered runs.

Oregon scored two in the third and then took the lead for good in the fifth on a single from Smith to make it 4-3. With single runs in the sixth and seventh, Oregon blew the game wide open in the eighth with four more runs.

Gonzaga made it interesting in the ninth as they scored two and had the bases loaded, but Austin Anderson coaxed Stem to fly out to center to end the game.

After a much-needed day off, the Ducks will now prepare for the first-place Sun Devils to make their way to PK Park for a big weekend series. Arizona State is ranked 12th in the nation with a 28-13 overall record and 13-4 in conference action.

Meanwhile, Oregon will come into the series with a 28-12 record and 11-7 in Pac-12 play, 2.5 games out of first. A sweep would be huge for the Ducks’ chances to host a regional, but even winning the series would go a long way toward that goal for postseason play.

Game 1 with the Sun Devils is set for Friday at 5:05 pm.

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Fans were floored at how different Adam Morrison looks now compared to his Gonzaga days

You won’t believe how different Adam Morrison looks!

Hey, remember Adam Morrison?

You should if you’re a college hoops fan. He was the star at the center of those early Mark Few Gonzaga teams that played Cinderella — the 2005-06 team, specifically — in the men’s NCAA tournament. His long hair and mustache also caught quite a few eyes. Although he didn’t make it in the NBA, he’s beloved by fans everywhere.

Now? He’s a radio broadcaster for the team, and when cameras caught him on Thursday, people were floored at how he looks YOUNGER than he did a couple of decades ago.

Seriously. There are photos of the before and after everywhere:

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Gonzaga’s game-winning 3 over UCLA is the same play that won Villanova the 2016 men’s tourney

Did this look familiar? It should.

The Kris Jenkins buzzer-beating shot that won Villanova a national championship in 2016 is among the greatest shots in men’s NCAA tournament history, right up there with Christian Laettner’s game-winner.

And it’s a perfectly-drawn up play, as long as the shooter nails the shot off the handoff.

That happened on Thursday night. Gonzaga’s Julian Strawther hit a three from the logo to take down UCLA and send the Bulldogs to the Elite Eight in the 2023 men’s tournament. And how did he do it? Well, it should look familiar: A dribble up the floor with Strawther trailing, and the pass back gives him room to shoot from way deep.

Don’t believe me? Just ask Gonzaga coach Mark Few what they call the play:

That would be Jay Wright, the championship-winning Villanova coach. Also, here are some side-by-sides:

Brilliant call, brilliant use of a play we know works.

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Julian Strawther is Jalen Suggs 2.0? UCLA heartbreakingly had another Gonzaga logo 3 eliminate them

We’ve seen this before.

Do you remember the Gonzaga shot that beat UCLA in 2021?

Sorry, Bruins fans, this is to remind everyone else: In overtime of their now-classic Final Four matchup, Jalen Suggs pulled up from the logo near mid-court and buried a three-pointer to send UCLA home.

And on Thursday, with a ticket to the Elite Eight in the men’s NCAA tournament on the line, Julian Strawther took a shot from near the logo and buried it, which proved to be the game-winner for the Zags and heartbreaker for UCLA.

As Yogi Berra was said to remark: “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”

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Everyone noticed:

Drew Timme hilariously avoided dropping another F-bomb on live TV after Gonzaga win

This is a fantastic way to avoid dropping an F-bomb on the air.

Drew Timme is a college basketball legend already, and it’s not just because of what he’s done on the court for Gonzaga in his storied career.

It’s also because of his postgame interviews in March Madness , in which he’s stopped himself from cursing (last year) and then dropped an F-bomb on the air (this year).

After the Bulldogs took down UCLA on Thursday night to advance to the Elite Eight, Timme was interviewed again. And this time? He took the 2022 route: “I gotta do whatever I can to fire this team up and fire myself up, and if people have a problem with that, they can go … go somewhere else.”

Oh BRAVO!

That said, there were some other, more NSFW-ish things said on the air (WARNING: As I just said, NSFW-ish stuff ahead!):

At least Timme is listening to his mom!

 

 

 

West Coast basketball in 2023: zero depth, but three elite teams

The Pac-12, Mountain West, and WCC weren’t deep this season, but their champions–UCLA, Gonzaga and the Aztecs–are superb.

We can admit that the Pac-12 wasn’t very good in men’s basketball this season. Only one team got out of the first round. Arizona looked really bad against Princeton. We saw USC’s and Arizona State’s limitations emerge in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Mountain West wasn’t very good, either. Utah State, Boise State, and Nevada all got outplayed in decisive NCAA Tournament first-game losses.

Saint Mary’s won one game for the WCC but then got outclassed by UConn in the second round on Sunday. SMC had a decent season but did not measure up to the big boys. The Gaels will need more time to develop into something bigger and better.

West Coast college basketball wasn’t deep this season. We can admit that. None of the three main Western conferences — the Pac-12, the Mountain West, or the WCC — were particularly deep. The Pac-12 sent only four teams to the NCAA Tournament, and two of those four teams were double-digit seeds, one of them a First Four team. The Mountain West and Pac-12 both had just one team in the Round of 32. The WCC had a great 2022, with San Francisco making the NCAA Tournament in addition to Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, but USF regressed this season. The year did not bring forth everything these conferences hoped for.

However, while none of these Western conferences were deep, their champions were — and are — very good.

UCLA, Gonzaga, and San Diego State all won their conferences. UCLA and SDSU won them outright, while Gonzaga split the WCC with Saint Mary’s. Those three teams all advanced to the Sweet 16 over the weekend. UCLA and Gonzaga meet in the West Regional semifinal in Las Vegas, arguably the best matchup of the entire Sweet 16.

UCLA’s defense, Gonzaga’s offense with Drew Timme, and San Diego State’s toughness carried these three programs into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Either UCLA or Gonzaga will reach the Elite Eight. These are examples of conferences not being good, but teams in these conferences transcending their situations and being strong teams on their own merits.

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Drew Timme said TCU’s trash talk ‘didn’t sound so smart’ for such a ‘highly educated’ school

THAT SMIRK, THOUGH.

Gonzaga senior big man Drew Timme is originally from Texas and was one of the highest-rated recruits in the state back in 2019.

He had a big matchup against a team from his home state, the TCU Horned Frogs, during the Round of 32 on Sunday. During this game, Timme was matched up against several players that he played against in high school or who he trains with during the offseason.

Timme led Gonzaga past TCU and clinched a berth in the Sweet Sixteen at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But before he did, he heard some trash talk from some TCU fans.

Here is what Timme said when reflecting on what he heard:

“I saw some nice things on the internet before maybe taking some shots at us, me, and our program. Throw lighter fluid in the fire if you wish. I thought TCU was a highly-educated school and they didn’t sound so smart with their comments pregame.”

These were strong comments from Timme, who stayed poised during the post-game press conference. He had the perfect insult sandwich, using a compliment about TCU’s academic prestige before ripping those who were insulting him.

But that wasn’t the best part of the exchange! Once he was done with these comments, the big man revealed the cheekiest grin imaginable.

This is the kind of stuff that we love to see during March Madness.

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Drew Timme let a casual F-bomb fly on live TV after Gonzaga beat TCU

Drew Timme let an F-bomb fly on national TV after Gonzaga’s win.

It was a year ago — literally! To the day! — that we wrote about Drew Timme and his legendary facial hair — getting interviewed by Andy Katz and talking about how Gonzaga advanced to the Sweet 16 while avoiding dropping an F-bomb on live TV.

On Sunday, he did not, in fact, avoid dropping the F-bomb.

There the Gonzaga legend was after dropping 28 points on TCU (who delivered an all-time bad beat in the last second), talking to Katz about how Gonzaga is on a streak of making Sweet 16s and that he didn’t want this to be Zags team that “[expletive]s this one up.”

See below and WARNING: NSFW LANGUAGE AHEAD!

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What a few minutes of college hoops action, right? And that came after FAU’s Johnell Davis let a swear fly hours earlier.