Say ‘RYE,’ not ‘RAH,’ for GU guard

As a true freshman last winter, Gonzaga’s Derek Raivio did plenty of pine time as the backup to point guard Blake Stepp. But the 6-foot-3, 168-pounder has started all 11 of GU’s games this season and is second to Adam Morrison in minutes played.

Raivio, whose father Rick was a 6-5 forward at Portland University, and still holds the Pilots’ career rebounding record, sat down with the Spokesman-Review on Wednesday for a brief question-and-answer session.

S-R: Coming into the season, pundits everywhere were predicting Gonzaga would not be able to handle the graduation loss of Blake Stepp. As the heir apparent to his point guard position, did such talk bother you?

Raivio: You always hear people talk about that kind of stuff, but it’s the people who are closest to you and know how you can play and have faith in you that you should listen to.

S-R: About this name thing. How is it really pronounced?

Raivio: RYE-vee-oh.

S-R: But a lot of people spent all of last season pronouncing it RAH-vee-oh. How did the confusion start?

Raivio: I didn’t really care about it before. Everyone was saying it that way, so I figured it was probably easiest just to let it go. But now it’s starting to get annoying.

S-R: You’ve grown a couple of inches since last season. Do you still hope to be as big as your dad?

Raivio: I don’t know if I’ll ever get that big, but I still have plenty of room to grow, especially muscle-wise. I gained a few pounds eating and lifting weights during the summer and it paid off.

S-R: How big is your mom?

Raivio: About 5-6, but she’s really thin.

S-R: What’s been the toughest thing about your role change from a backup to a 35-minute-a-game starter?

Raivio: The first couple of games I had to find my game legs.

S-R: Game-winning basket or game-winning assist?

Raivio: Game-winning assist.

S-R: Honestly?

Raivio: How about, I’ll take whatever the defense gives me? There.

S-R: Who’s the best defender you’ve faced this year?

Raivio: Probably (Illinois’) Dee Brown, but I don’t know if it was so much him as it was just being my first big game.

S-R: How good is this team?

Raivio: We’re still trying to find out. We’ve got some pieces that are starting to come together. The main thing is that we just keep playing loose and free, because that’s how we play best.