This 1979 SWC Game of the Week between the Texas Longhorns vs. SMU Mustangs has a special place in this lil ole chiweenie Sportsphiles’ heart….for this game took place during one of the 6 season span where Bone Daddy had a personal and business relationship with Longhorn Coach Abe Lemons…..as he knew all the Texas players on this team on a first name basis….as Bone Daddy fed most of these boys at Madison Square Garden, The Sports Place at 302 E. 6th Street in Austin, Texas throughout most of this 1979 – 1980 season.
This team featured a starting five of G Fred Carson 5.5 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 4.5 Ast, G John Danks 15.7 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 2.3 Ast, F Ron Baxter 17.8 Pts, 7.6 Reb, 2.4 Ast, F Henry Johnson 9.3 Pts, 5.0 Reb, 1.5 Ast and C LaSalle Thompson 12.8 Pts, 9.7 Reb, 0.4 Ast….. along with reserves G George Turner 8.5 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 2.0 Ast and F Ken Montgomery 7.3 Pts, 1.9 Reb, 1.2 Ast….on a team that ended the season with a 19 – 11 record…. coming in 3rd in the Southwest Conference with a record of 10 – 6.
The stating 5 on this team as a group would come to Bone Daddy’s bar at Madison Square Garden least two times a week to eat….as BD’s kitchen staff would swear they had never seen customers that could eat as much in quantity as this group….especially LaSalle Thompson and Ron Baxter….who could pack away 3 x MSG Specials….which were double meat, double cheese and double bacon hamburgers with a large side of french fries and/or tater tots with cream gravy. Bone Daddy had a agreement with Coach Abe Lemons that his boys could eat pro-bono at MSG on any occasion that the regular players training table at the athletic dorm was closed…..and since these guys would come in after a Coach Abe 3 hour practice in the late evenings….they would be starved.
I have many many that I have written which will be published in our L E;s Stories section of Ima Sportsphile after I get to 2000 videos posted on Ima Sportsphile….cuz I have some wonderful stories about Bone Daddy beating F Ron Baxter in h*o*r*s*e….plus Coach and comedian Abe Lemons speaking at MSG on Thursday noon luncheons during 6 entire UT basketball seasons, including G Johnny Moore going head to head with Bone Daddy in 8-ball on a Brunswick SportKing regulation pool table….and MSG house champ Pop A Shot competition with UT sharp shooting G Jim Krivacs….and so much more….but that is for another time.
Any way you cut the pie, this Texas mens basketball team was fun to watch…..for their “up-tempo run and gun offense”….to their “shut down match-up zone defense”….they were well worth the watch….and this game verses the SMU Mustangs with outstanding C John Koncak is no exception.
