Tag: Pat Connaughton

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: Nov. 11-17

A couple of solid games for the two former Irish players.

Notre Dame’s two NBA representatives turned in some fine performances during the past week. While they didn’t happen concurrently with each other, they still happened.

After six-point showings on back-to-back nights, [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] delivered his scoring and rebounding high for the young season with 10 points and seven boards Nov. 16 against the Charlotte Hornets. It also was his fifth consecutive game with exactly two assists.

Over three games for the past week, Connaughton averaged 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. This was despite shooting 36.4% from the field.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] turned in a couple of scoreless performances during the week. However, he did have 10 points and two assists in a Nov. 13 win over the Washington Wizards. For his four games during the week, he achieved a scoring average to 4.0 and an assist average to 1.0.

You might be curious how about how these two players looked over the course of the week. Well, here they are:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: Nov. 4-10

How did the two former Irish players do this past week?

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] didn’t play in the San Antonio Spurs’ first game this past week. He more than made up for that though with his best game of this young season Nov. 7.

In a win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Wesley made all four field-goal attempts and both free throws he attempted for 10 points, his first double-digit scoring game of the season. He also dished out a game-high eight assists. Those aided a week in which he averaged 6.7 points and 4.0 assists a game.

[autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had his best game so far this season in the Milwaukee Bucks’ Nov. 4 loss to the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers. He scored seven points, grabbed four rebounds, had five assists and recorded his first two steals of the season. That allowed him to average 4.8 points and 2.5 assists a game for the week.

Here are photos of Notre Dame’s two NBA representatives in action over the past week:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: Oct. 28-Nov. 3

Not the best week for the former Notre Dame players.

After winning their first game, [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] and the Milwaukee Bucks have lost every game since. Connaughton tried to play his part with five points and two rebounds in an Oct. 30 loss to the defending champion Boston Celtics. But he followed that by shooting 1 of 7 from the field in a three-point, three-rebound, two-assist effort against the Memphis Grizzlies on Halloween. He wound up averaging 2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists a game over the course of the week.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] did not fare much better over the past week with the San Antonio Spurs. He started out all right with five points and two rebounds in just under 13 minutes while losing Oct. 30 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. But he played only half that number of minutes over the next two games combined and didn’t register a single meaningful statistic. The result was a scoring average of 2.8 and a rebounding average of 0.8 over the three games.

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Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: Oct. 22-27

Basketball season is underway.

(This story was updated to change a photo.)

The 2024-25 NBA season has gotten underway, which means it’s time to watch Notre Dame’s two representatives. Neither player has exactly had a glowing start though.

[autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] began his 10th NBA season by scoring nine points and grabbing four rebounds in the Milwaukee Bucks’ Oct. 23 season opening-win over the Philadelphia 76ers. He followed that up by shooting a combined 2 of 10 from the field in losses to the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets. He’s averaging 5.0 points and 4.0 rebounds a game in this young season.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] now is in his third season with the San Antonio Spurs. He tipped off his campaign with six points and two assists while losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the Oct. 24 season opener. He had a single field goal and two more assists in six minutes during an Oct. 26 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Wesley is averaging a mere 4.0 points and 0.5 rebounds a game over two contests, but he has the Spurs’ second-highest plus/minus through two games. Granted, that came entirely during the Mavericks game, but still:

Here’s to decent seasons from both Connaughton and Wesley.

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Utah Jazz sign former Notre Dame guard Dane Goodwin

Good luck, Dane!

For the past couple of years, the only NBA representatives Notre Dame has had are [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] and [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag]. But we now at least have the possibility that a third name will be added to that list for the 2024-25 season.

[autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag], who played 14 games last season with the Sacramento Kings’ G-League affiliate in Stockton before playing two games for the Kings in this past Summer League, has signed with the Utah Jazz. This news dropped two days before the Jazz were set to start training camp.

In all likelihood, Goodwin’s signing is to provide the Jazz with enough players to evaluate over the course of camp and possibly during preseason games. Goodwin, for better or worse, hasn’t made a huge impact in his professional career so far. But the Jazz signing him should indicate he’ll at least start the season in the G-League.

Here’s hoping Goodwin does enough that actually playing in the NBA becomes more and more of a possibility.

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Most recent Notre Dame players to be NBA draft selections

All of these players did the Irish proud before making the jump.

Nobody on Notre Dame’s veteran-laden team from this past season will be selected in Thursday’s NBA draft. In fact, given the inexperience across the board on the upcoming season’s roster and under a new coach no less, it could be quite a while before we see another Notre Dame player drafted. On the bright side, that means no early departures except via the transfer portal. Then again, it sure would be nice to have NBA-ready talent in South Bend.

The only way to deal with a challenging present and short-term future is to look to the past. In this case, the way to go about that is to look at former players who heard their names called on draft night over the past several years. Of the 62 former Notre Dame players who have suited up in the NBA or ABA, 41 have entered professional basketball via the draft. Here are the most recent ones:

Former Notre Dame guard Pat Connaughton becomes father

Beautiful baby.

The season might be over for Milwaukee Bucks guard and Notre Dame legend [autotag]Pat Connaghton[/autotag], but he still is winning at life. Ryan Gareis, Connaughton’s fiancee and a player for the NWSL’s Houston Dash, has announced on Instagram that the two have become parents after the birth of their son Crew Leo. Look at this post and say these two aren’t thrilled to have a baby:

https://www.instagram.com/ryangareis/p/C6o9_YdPYHI/?img_index=1

Not only is this kid is going to have some serious athletic genes, but he will have some loving parents to bring him up. While they will continue to be professional athletes for as long as they are able, he will be their top priority from now on. You can see the love in their eyes.

So congratulations to the happy couple as they embark on this next stage of life’s journey. Some things are more important than sports, and this is a perfect demonstration of that.

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Photos of Notre Dame alumnus Pat Connaughton in 2024 NBA playoffs

The season is over for Planet Pat.

For the second straight season, the Milwaukee Bucks have been eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs. That means Notre Dame alumnus [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] will have to wait at least another year to see if he can repeat the championship glory he did with the Bucks in 2021.

During the Bucks’ six-game first-round loss to the Indiana Pacers, for which they were without the injured Giannis Antetokounmpo, Connaughton averaged 4.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists a game. His best contest came when the Bucks held off elimination in Game 5, the second of two straight games missed by Damian Lillard. Connaughton had nine points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in over 31 minutes.

Connaughton is signed with the Bucks for next season and has a player option for the season after. He’ll hope his play in 2024-25 will be enough to have that option picked up. In the meantime, here are some photos from his play during his brief playoff stay this year:

Bucks’ Pat Connaughton Seemingly Unfazed by Patrick Beverley Drama

It all came undone for the Bucks Thursday night

The Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers last night in the first round NBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs.  As things were spiraling on the scoreboard for the Bucks, they took an even worse turn on the bench.

Bucks point guard Patrick Beverley was clearly disturbed by the happenings of the game as I’m sure the home crowd Pacers fans were letting him hear it.  He decided to whip a basketball into the stands at a group of fans while having to be restrained by teammates.

A short video of the clip is posted below.  In it be sure to watch former Notre Dame star Pat Connaughton who seemingly could not have cared less about any of the happenings around him.

Connaughton looks like he’d make a spokesman for Southwest Airlines in their next “Want to Get Away?” commercial series.

For what it’s worth, Connaughton averaged 4.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists over the six-game series.

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Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: April 1-7

Here’s how Notre Dame’s two players fared this past week.

Even though the Milwaukee Bucks are on a four-game losing streak, [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had a great start to the past week. His 15 points April 2 against the Washington Wizards were one off his season high, and his eight rebounds tied his season high. He followed that with six points and eight assists the next night against Memphis Grizzlies. For the week, he averaged 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game.

Despite shooting 1 of 8 from the field over his first two games of the week, [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] had four and five assists respectively. He collected six points and four rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs’ double-overtime loss April 7 to the Philadelphia 76ers. That brought his averages for the week to 3.0 points and 3.0 assists a game.

Photographers on hand to cover Connaughton and Wesley’s teams during the past week got plenty of shots of Notre Dame’s two current NBA players. Here are some of the best ones: