THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Zags, others try to keep their rhythm during COVID interruptions

Where are the Harlem Globetrotters when you need them?

Gonzaga is looking for a game.

Really, REALLY looking.

This jar of “instant hoops” must be ready to open in the next few days.

And the biggie…

A network has to love the match-up enough to make the whole effort profitable.

Sure, I’m joking — at least about the Globetrotters — but this matter of day-to-day timing is quite serious.

Unfortunately so, since…

This craziness is exactly what the entire basketball landscape has become in the universe of COVID-19.

Things are so scrambled that Gonzaga actually might have a game set for this weekend by the time you read this.

And that’s not a joke.

Not at all.

If you don’t mind one wacky piece of the Covid hoops puzzle, consider…

The Zags don’t know whether or not they’ll be playing on Saturday — well, they didn’t by dinnertime on Tuesday — but an exciting bout with Duke has been locked in for NEXT season.

MEANTIME, Washington State will play at Oregon on Thursday night.

Hopefully.

That assumes no positive tests crop up overnight, and you have to forgive the Ducks for saying they’ll believe a couple of normal weeks when they see ‘em.

If Thursday’s game goes on as scheduled, it will Oregon’s first in 11 days, and just its second since Jan. 9.

Coach Kyle Smith chuckles when discussing how the Wazzu schedule might play out going forward.

“I think we have five games in 10 days somewhere,” Smith said, admitting that he’s only sure there are a ton of home games coming up.

Sorry, we should remain cautious and add…

Possibly coming up.

After visiting the Oregon schools this Thursday and Saturday, the Cougars will have played eight Pac-12 games on the road and just four at home.

Perhaps for his own sanity, Smith insists he pays no attention to the shifting schedule, sticking strictly to what’s happening on the court and merely taking his team to any assigned event.

During a media Zoom call on Tuesday, Smith did mention that he has a staffer who works with analytics.

A 10-day break offers you a good breather, Smith said he’d been told, but no competition for 14 days makes you rusty.

Explaining all that, Smith simply laughed again.

A pretty good wrap-up of hoops in the Covid era, when you think about it.

GONZAGA’S struggle to manage scheduling around quarantines could have national ramifications.

Obviously.

Mark Few has always been a relentless champion of top-tier games, for the overall good of college basketball.

But now, there’s another issue at play.

Staying in rhythm as you reach the business end of a season means something special when you’re unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the nation — while aiming for a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

And look…

For the sake of honesty here, let’s admit that a true “deep run” would have just one conclusion — hoisting that trophy to the strains of “One Shining Moment.”

Few and the Gonzaga staff, therefore, were/are hoping to fill this weekend’s unexpected open slot with a quality game for national TV.

In the past 36 hours, there have been rumors matching the Zags with No. 3 Villanova, UCLA, USC and several other ranked opponents.

CBS apparently had a game against No. 5 Houston pretty much locked up.

Until it didn’t.

At this precise (and non-shining) moment, Gonzaga hasn’t yet found a dance partner for what a network could bill as a Saturday extravaganza.

There’s still time, which is good news.

When you consider the changes, the cancellations and all the moving parts that have gotten us to this situation, the fact that there is still time could also be considered…

I’m guessing…

Bad news?

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.

Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published each Tuesday.