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Throughout the season, The Athletic senior writer Sam Vecenie will interview and watch tape with some of the best prospects across college basketball, Europe, Overtime Elite and the G League. Together, they’ll dive deep into what makes them such an interesting prospect and analyze some of the best parts of their game. Today, Sam chats with Gonzaga big man Drew Timme. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

There is arguably no more decorated player returning to college basketball this season than Gonzaga big man Drew Timme. And he could not care less about any of that.

Yes, Timme is incredibly grateful for the honors he’s been bestowed, which include multiple All-American teams, a WCC Player of the Year honor, the Karl Malone Award, which goes to the nation’s top power forward, and plenty of other accolades. But there isn’t anything Timme cares about beyond winning. The awards are for his parents, not for him.

“That stuff is great, but as long as we’re winning, that’s the best version of me,” Timme told The Athletic. “I feel like one of the strongest things that I bring to a team is that we win. Making winning plays, doing whatever it takes to win, I feel like that’s something that might be undervalued that I bring to the table. At the end of the day, it’s the results that matter. I think throughout my career, I’ve shown that we just get results. Whether it’s me fighting through a screen or scoring or whatever, we find a way to win. I feel like I’ve been a part of that.”

The Texas native is on track to be one of the most successful players in college basketball history in terms of wins and losses. In Timme’s three years, Gonzaga has finished No. 2, No. 1 and No. 1 in KenPom’s ratings, earning two No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and reaching the title game in 2021. The Bulldogs’ overall record in that time? An outrageous 90-7. Timme has been a significant part of that, and he’s added to his game along the way. Timme often gets sugarcoated as merely a scorer. But I think he actually doesn’t get enough credit for being an amplifier of talent around him. He’s a terrific screener and clears pathways toward the rim for his guards. He passes really well. He’s not an awesome defender yet, but he’s getting better, as he tells it, by being engaged more often.

All of this very easily could have led to Timme deciding to turn pro after his junior year. Outside of a national title, there isn’t much left for him to accomplish. Indeed, it was a difficult decision — especially after Timme had a terrific final NBA Draft Combine game in which he made four 3s and had 21 points. Timme was the last player to announce his intentions regarding whether he was staying in school or turning pro. “Contrary to popular belief,” he says, “it really was a decision that took that long to make.” He got home from his final workout at Golden State on decision deadline day — his eighth workout to go along with the combine — and needed to decompress and think through all of the angles.

“It came down to being able to work on things in the league, or I could work on things (I need to improve) in college,” Timme said. “Either way, I had to work on certain things that I felt I needed to work on and get better at. It could have worked out, it could have not worked out. But also, you could get cut, waived if it doesn’t work out right away. Or, I could stay in college, keep working on it, keep developing, keep playing a lot, also get your degree and also make some more money (through NIL).”

Below is the full tape deep dive with Timme, where we broke down his game. And check out other recent film breakdowns with UNC’s Caleb Love and Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II.

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Elite pick-and-roll big man

Vecenie: Gonzaga’s attack is so pick-and-roll heavy; you guys run that ball-screen continuity offense, and you’re an important linchpin of it. Particularly, I love your short-roll, pick-and-roll game, your ability to catch the ball at the foul line and make decisions based off that. So first clip, you’re going to set a screen for Andrew (Nembhard). And you’re not even going to wait for him to go around it. You’re just going to leave early, and he sees this little pocket pass for you. You pound dribble and go straight through the chest of the guy in front of you. … What is your process on plays like this?

Timme: If you see when I start to go up, the guard, he gets into an ice position, and the big gets under the point guard. So right before I set (the screen), the guard shuts off that lane for (Nembhard) to use the ball screen. (The defensive guard) has pointed the big to get down, so right away, you already have a little pocket of space right there. And also, I have a straight line (to the rim) because the big is obviously going to be on my side because he’s playing the lane, so the point guard can’t go down there. That’s just a cue for me to find that pocket where he can pass the ball right between the guard and the big. And I know I have an advantage, especially because San Francisco doesn’t really stunt out of the weakside corners heavily, so I know right away I have a clear line; all I’ve got to do is just muscle them up a little bit just to get them off balance, and I can just get to an easy right-hand layup.

Vecenie: The big thing for you is just your comfort handling the ball. You’re a 6-foot-10 guy who can put the ball on the deck. Not every big is capable of executing something like this. That’s what makes you as special as you are, not only in terms of the footwork, but the comfort of being able to put the ball on the deck once or twice and make a decision while also still being able to process all of that in your head. How did that skill set develop?

Timme: My dad was always big on versatility. He played at SMU and overseas for a little bit. He was always like, “Why limit yourself to doing one thing?” I also used to play point guard a little bit in junior high and high school, so I think I’ve always just kind of been able to read the game and make the right play most of the time, you know? Obviously there’s times I don’t, but I think doing that stuff when I was younger really translates now to being able to read the game out of whatever situation I’m thrown in.

Vecenie: This one is going to be a second short-roll action, where … you’re going to do the dribble-handoff here and then you’re going to flip the screen. I’d imagine that flip is a set play for you guys?

Timme: No, that’s the nice thing about our offense. It’s just how they guarded it. What happened is, it’s a read at the top. I looked down at my partner, he’s not down there. I just come over, and he shoots right under. So if he goes under, especially on a guy like Rasir (Bolton), if he doesn’t immediately take a shot, I’m flipping it because he’s so fast. … I flipped it because he went under to give him the guard a better angle to drive, and obviously, it’s hard to guard one ball screen, but it’s even harder to guard two ball screens. So just getting that big moving more just makes it easier to get him open, and then when he gets open, it gets me open as well.

Vecenie: He goes under the dribble-handoff, but he actually tries to go over the ball screen here that you’re running after you flip it. And you just set a monster screen. This is one of another one of my favorite skills for you. You are a very, very good screen setter. You always try to make contact. What are some of the little tricks and tools that go underrated in terms of making a good screen setter?

Timme: Knowing when to screen and when not to screen is important. He goes under, so I made sure to get lower on the court on my second screen so he has to go over the screen. Because if you go under that second time, you see my bottom foot is almost to the elbow. That is, what, six feet of separation almost for one of the best shooters (in the country). He shot like 50 percent last year (from 3). So just making him go over. And then I kind of leaned into it a little bit. Not going outside of my frame, but just enough to hit him a little bit to give (Bolton) that little extra second of separation and make the big have to commit and help. Because if you set a good screen, it gets you open at the end of the day. That’s going to cause help because the ball is the most important thing to stop. The better screen you set, the more likely you are to get the ball.

Vecenie: This is another one of my favorite skills of yours, just this short roll floater. This is something you’ve added over the course of your career, and it’s just such an important skill set not only at Gonzaga, where you’ve used it to great effect, but also as you’re moving up to other levels. This is just the way to beat drop-coverage defenders, isn’t it? Look at the way guards use it, look at the way bigs use it across the NBA. It’s just such an effective tool, and you hit this shot in an incredibly high clip. How did you go about developing this little short-roll floater that you have?

Timme: Always playing against my dad when I was younger. He would never take it easy on me. And then he’d always (make) me play up. So, (I was) always playing against bigger, stronger dudes. I just had to find other ways to score, and I credit that to how I use my creative (for example) under-arm finishes, floaters. … I think just doing those things, it just became such a keystone part of my game. I think it’s something that only will help me obviously at the next level. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to shoot a floater; you don’t back anyone down. It’s just a quick, efficient, easy bucket and just practicing every single day to make it as much muscle memory as possible.

Vecenie: It’s so efficient in terms of the energy transfer. This is why, long term, I really buy you as a jump shooter. The touch is so natural for you; you made a couple of jump shots last year at Gonzaga.

But for me, it always felt like at Gonzaga, you were shooting on the way down, right? But I pulled some tape from the NBA Draft Combine where you drop four 3s in this one game. The energy transfer looks a lot cleaner, (and) you’re not shooting it on your way down. Is that something that you really worked on throughout the course of the pre-draft process?

Timme: A lot, yeah (laughs). Yeah, I would just get stuck holding on to the ball too long, tthen I’d run out of arm to really get that arc on my shot. So sometimes it’d be kind of a laser beam and just, getting that continual flow and rhythm, getting comfortable with that out there. It really has made all the difference. At the combine, I felt really comfortable. That’s a tough shot off balance, having to plant and change and shift your body weight. You got to go straight up because you’re leaning. Just working on a continual flow and comfortability out there, that’s something I’ve really been continuing to work on because it is something that you have to have in order to play at the next level. Obviously I still need a lot of work on it, but it’s something that I think is trending upwards for me and going to be a be a weapon for me in the future.

Vecenie: I don’t know if (Coach Mark) Few is going to love me saying this, but I would feel good about you taking 3s right now. Running slip actions like this, you being able to plant your feet and just go. It just feels like this is something that can be very natural for you, even if you’re still working through it at a high level.

Timme: Yeah, no, Coach has all the confidence in the world in me. Even last year, it was just my confidence in myself, I just felt way more comfortable down low. It was something like, I’m scoring at will for the most part down there. Why stop? I’ve just been working on continually looking to shoot first because I’m shooting the ball so much better and stuff. … If it’s there, he has all the confidence in the world in me. Obviously, I have got to post up and do that because that’s my bread and butter. Not getting away from that by any means, but having that there is a serious weapon. And it’s definitely something that Coach is more than happy with because I put the work in and he sees the confidence. He believes in me more than anyone.

Vecenie: If you make maybe 10 percent of teams switch that action more often than try and play drop against you and end up with the big on you, it’s going to create more mismatches for you on the block.

Timme: Yeah, just another dimension to this multi-dimensional offense.

Vecenie: This next one here, we’re going to talk about your passing. I really love what you can do as a passer. This is going to be the short-roll action again. You immediately see that this is a tagger who is pinching in off of a shooter. This is a very good shooter here. What are you reading?

Timme: Just knowing the tendencies of BYU, especially when I’m in the short roll, they love to just come and try and take the ball from me. They’ve taken it a couple times from me before, but just knowing that they really like to stunt out of that weakside corner, I know that that guy in the corner is going to be wide open, or he’s going to cut for a layup usually. I don’t even want to drive. I just knew. It’s kind of predetermined. I just saw out of the corner of my eye him put his weight forward, so I knew he couldn’t change direction and just had to make sure I threw it over his arms that were reaching for the ball.

Vecenie: This next one here … you’re going to roll and get the entry pass from Chet (Holmgren). This is the thing that I love here. You’re going to immediately look to that dunker-spot cutter, but you see you don’t have the angle here for the pass because Patrick Tapé, a very long defender, has come down and cut that off. And you just process it, work through your reads here, and you’re going to find Andrew for the wide open 3. … What are you reads here as you’re processing all of these things at once on the court?

Timme: That guy’s behind me, so I know I gotta eat that space up. The more space I can take up, the more eyes are going to be on me. I know I attract a lot of attention from defenses. Even No. 10, he’s ready to come rake the ball from me if I put the ball on the floor. So I know that people are going to collapse. I know something’s got to give because there are two guys on me, so it’s all about just being able to have the patience to find whatever the defense has given me in that situation.

Vecenie: So you’re just reading, “Two on the ball here; someone has to be open”?

Timme: Yeah, I mean, if there’s two guys on me, there has to be one guy who is open, mathematically (laughs). 

Best post moves in college basketball

Vecenie: This starts to get into your post game. I don’t think there’s a better post player in the country. I think that that is something that is well established about your game. We’re gonna go here to the Texas game, which, man, you being from Texas, this one had to feel good, 37 points. You do this … backspin face-up move, which is very quick. And I don’t know if I’ve seen it all that often. How did you kind of develop that move?

Timme: Just feel (laughs). I really just play, honestly. … Texas kind of invites you to the baseline. You see that man right there at the hoop? They kind of invite you to go down baseline because you have a third defender with the baseline, so they kind of want you to go that way. If I go down there really quick, then I know he’s going to naturally shift his weight that way, so if I come back really quick, then I know he’s gonna really be off-balanced. Then that guy in the charge circle, he’s going to go back to his man thinking I’m going middle, so then I know that I’m gonna have the baseline back.

Vecenie: And then obviously the celebration, which is something that you have become very well known for at this point. How important is it to you to bring that kind of energy to your team? It feels like more than wanting to rub the other team’s face in it; you’re doing it to bring your guys energy.

Timme: Oh, it really is not to be a dick to the other team or anything; it is just to be that fire, that spark plug. I mean, there’s times like — I would say even like against Memphis last year — we were struggling to get energy in the first half, it is what it was. And you know, just coming out being fired up and being just a charger for the battery, I think is something important. That’s one of the most important things I can do for my team, making sure that we’re always pumped up. And I think getting the crowd involved, getting my teammates hype, it makes us play even better.

Vecenie: When did you start doing this?

Timme: I’ve always done it. It’s kind of just a joy. Basketball makes me so happy. It makes me so happy. And I just like to show appreciation, celebrate the good. I just have so much fun with it.

It’s a game. Just having fun with it, and I think the joy and just the happiness,  it’s contagious, and it makes other people happy and energetic. You see Andrew getting excited too. It just gets everyone going. And that’s what makes me the most happy is when we’re all having fun like that. And that really just makes the game a lot better for me and everyone else, I think.

Vecenie: This is going to be a post against Jaylin Williams, a top-35 pick last year, very good post defender, one of the best charge takers in the country. He’s a complicated guy for you to be up against. What are you reading here in terms of his weight? Because I feel like nobody times those spins better than you. Nobody times those little step-throughs better than you.

Timme: Well, first I’m like, “Please don’t pick up a cheap foul right here.” (laughs)

Vecenie: (laughs) I think Jaylin Williams took like 45 charges last year, so you would not be the first.

Timme: I knew once he kind of gave me that space, I felt like he was set up for me to lower my shoulder and really hit him right there. Because as you can see, I’m low-key about to hit him, get to my hook. He backed up, and I’m like, “Oh god, he’s about to take charge.” So I just spun really quick because I knew his weight was going to be off balance for that. So just thank God that dude in the corner did not come harder. I just felt like he was ready to take a charge. I was like, “Crap, I’m off balance.” I just got to a quick spin move real quick, and it happened to work out.

Vecenie: The funniest thing here is you saying you’re off balance. You being off balance ends up in this balletic spin move that just looks unbelievable.

Timme: Not like off balance, but … it’s controlled. It’s like, I’m off balance, but I’m in control of it. Like, I can change my direction quickly like that, because that’s how I play. But like, I’m off my center of balance, I would say. But I’m strong enough where I can pivot off my feet and do that stuff like that.

Vecenie: Yeah, and this is where the footwork stuff comes in. I feel like the thing about your dad playing at SMU is well-established at this point, but your mom also played tennis at Stephen F. Austin. I feel like you kind of post up as someone that has the picture perfect footwork of someone whose mom played tennis while also having that strength and physicality of someone who grew up playing for a dad that was a big man in college, right?

Timme: I think that’s the cool thing. I played every sport growing up as a kid. Playing stuff like tennis, even joking around and soccer. I think all those things just helped me with just my balance and footwork just because it’s different types of movements with those sports. I think combining those and putting my own flair on it that’s kind of how naturally my footwork kind of just came all into one.

Clearing pathways for guards to finish

Vecenie: The last thing I want to talk about on offense with you is one of my favorite things that you consistently do. You are better at this than anyone in college basketball: Creating pathways for your guards as drivers in order for them to get clean looks. This is not about getting something on the stat sheet for you. This is not about any little notice that you’re going to get. This is just you pinning this man from Pepperdine way up high and stopping him from even being anything resembling an impediment for Andrew at the basket. What are you reading here?

Timme: I just see him coming and I’m like “All right, I’m gonna try and make a lane.” Really, I mean, that’s just something that we always try to do within our offense. Get stuck in and occupy the other team’s big. And Andrew’s smart. He saw it too. Right when I saw he beat his man, I knew I just needed to create a lane for him because he’s already got a full head of steam. And obviously he’s such a smart player, he knew right away what was going on, and it’s just perfect. I mean, maybe I should get a hockey assist for that (laughs).

Vecenie: Like you’re a fullback leading blocking.

Timme: Yeah, no, it’s just a way to get an easy basket. And there’s nothing more I love than easy baskets. … That’s as easy as they come. If we get a million of those. I’d love that.

Vecenie: I think that is an incredibly important thing as you translate to the NBA because you’re not going to have the ball in your hands as much as you do. Once you get to the NBA, it’s these little things like this that create pathways for someone like Damian Lillard. Driving in, these are the things that are going to endear you to the superstar on the team as you become the young 23-year-old entering the league. The guy who stayed in the league who I always think about that used to do stuff like this is Nick Collison. You might be too young to have grown up watching Nick Collison.

Timme: No, I know all about Nick Collison (nods head and smiles). 

Defensive upside

Vecenie: Nick was a great defender, and I think you have potential to be a good defender. You get maligned on that end. Do you kind of hear that, people saying that you can’t defend a bit regularly?

Timme: (laughs) All the time. All the time. And it’s something that I do need to get better on. And I’ve been working on a lot, and I’m excited. I think this year I’ll really get to show all the work I’ve put into that, and it’ll be good. … Even just being engaged on defense all the time, I think that’s something that I’ve not been as good at. Sometimes it’ll be like, “I’ll just score some points, I’m good on defense.” Seriously. So I think just taking that next step and just being engaged and really pushing myself is really paying off for me right now. And it’s a something I’m looking to continue to grow.

Vecenie: I pulled a clip from the Memphis game where I thought you were actually quite good defensively. … I think that you’re underrated in terms of how long you are. You had a 7-foot-2 wingspan or something like that at the combine last year. It’s harder for people to get clean looks against you than what I think is often portrayed in these circumstances. Take me through this play.

Timme: Like I said earlier when talking about Texas and how they use that baseline as a third defender, that’s also an extra defender for me. (At the baseline), that’s a tough shot to get right there. If he’s gonna come back and throw one up, there’s a good chance I block it or at least contest really hard. And then I’m just trying to keep my feet above the 3-point line initially just not to give him an easy dribble walk-in 3. And then just trying to be as big as possible, like you said. On offense, my footwork is really good. But I think I’ve just grown confidence in my footwork on defense as well like being able to push off and contest. Like, I did drop step, but I was able to push off that back foot to contest and keep my balance. So I think just continuing to grow my confidence in my defense, because it’s there and it’s something that I’m not awful at, I would say. Obviously I need work, but I think I’ve gotten way better at it, and I’m more focused and more eager and more excited about it as well. I think that’s one of the biggest growths of my game right now. And it’s something that I think can be a solid weapon.

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(Photo of Drew Timme: Kelley L. Cox / USA Today)