1. This was a good day for contacting friends and classmates and making plans. Deborah, Scott, and I will meet for lunch in mid to late April in Spokane. Terry, Roger, and I are on the verge of nailing down a plan to watch the men's NCAA basketball championship game in early April. If we do, we'll be turning back the clock (in a way) to 1986, the last time the three of us watched a final game together. That evening we watched Louisville defeat Duke. I also had several helpful and warming exchanges with Class of '72 classmates. I secured more contact information, sent out more notices that the reunion is happening July 15-17, and at least one more classmate told me she plans to come.
2. It was time today to remove the litter and scrub the interior of Luna and Copper's most frequently utilized litter pan. Each time I do this job, it gets easier and I am more efficient. Cleaning out that pan today was a snap -- and I won't bore you with the details!
3. I hadn't watched the Gonzaga's men's basketball team play for several weeks when I tuned in at 6:00 this evening to watch the Zags take on St. Mary's for the WCC tournament championship.
Teams that play hard-nosed, determined, physical defense are referred to by some in the sports media as Junkyard Dogs -- you know, like mean, mean LeRoy Brown: "Badder than old King Kong/And meaner than a junkyard dog."
To me, St. Mary's plays defense like Jim Croce's junkyard dogs.
Their junkyard defense was successful about 10 days ago when St. Mary's defeated Gonzaga, 67-57 on the Gaels' home court.
Tonight, I wanted to see if St. Mary's could assert its junkyard will on the Zags, slow down the game, make timely shots again, and get stellar performances out of their splendid guard tandem, Tommy Kuhse and Logan Johnson.
St. Mary's succeeded in making life miserable for the Zags' two inside standouts, Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren, giving them little space to operate, forcing them into some bad shots, and frustrating them.
Tonight, though, Gonzaga clearly demonstrated that they are capable of racking up points even when the two big guys get shut down.
Andrew Nembhard, Rasir Bolton, and Julian Strawther each had hot scoring streaks from beyond the three point line and on floaters and mid-range jumpers.
Their sharp shooting kept the Gaels at bay and compensated for the hum drum offensive output of Timme and Holmgren and factored mightily in Gonzaga's 82-69 victory.
I don't think of Gonzaga as playing junkyard dog defense, not the raw-boned scrapping kind that, say, Texas Tech plays or that St. Mary's lays on opponents.
But, I will single out one Zag, Anton Watson, for junkyard dog potential. Unless Watson gets in foul trouble, he plays some not very flamboyant lock down defense, plucks valuable rebounds, and makes quiet contributions on the offensive end. Last night, Watson scored ten very valuable points for the Zags off the bench on short jumpers and timely cuts to the basket. He only took six shots, made five of them, and played with great energy and intelligence.
Footnote: Did St. Mary's guards perform well? I'll say. Tommy Kuhse and Logan Johnson combined for 36 of St. Mary's 69 points, making some very impressive drives to the tin, scoring with savvy knowledge of angles, shooting with deft touch, and occasionally swishing shots from three point land.
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