After playing a poor game and winning and playing a good game and losing, the Crimson basketball team will open its home season against Brandeis tonight at the Indoor Athletic Building at 8 p.m.

Many followers of Harvard basketball were prepared for another long, hard season at the bottom of the Ivy League, but the first two games at least have given them cause for a bit of optimism.

No one is yet ready to consider the Crimson a serious threat to Pennsylvania or Princeton for the Ivy League title, but sophomore dominated teams have ways of suddenly jelling into solid ball clubs.

It is the youth of the present team (only one senior and four lettermen) that is its biggest advantage and also its biggest liability. Huntling sophomores, hungry for regular positions, can give a team the spark that often makes up for a lack of talent, but they also make many mistakes that lose ball games.

The sophomores on the team have refrained from making any vital errors while producing some good performances, and the Crimson is therefore 1-1.

Bowditch High Scorer Against Bowdoin

The first game, an overtime win over Bowdoin, belonged to sophomore Denny Lynch and the one lone senior, captain Bob Bowditch. Bowditch scored 19 points to keep the Crimson in the game so Lynch could come off the bench and score the tying and winning baskets. Despite these good points, sloppy ball-handling had coach Floyd Wilson's crew in trouble all night. Yet the team still won.

In the second game, the Crimson ran into Eastern powerhouse Holy Cross and played surprisingly well in a 79-66 defeat. Since the varsity was not very hopeful of victory in the face of the Crusaders' frightening reputation, the well-played contest gave even more cause for hope than the win over Bowdoin.

Borchard Returns to Form

Gary Borchard, who will have to do a big part of the Crimson's scoring if they're going to win many games this year, regained his touch with a 14-point night. Joe Deering, the speedy backcourt man, also had 14 against Holy Cross and now leads the team with 24 points.

Pete Kelley, the other half of the sophomore duo of Lynch and Kelley, has not done too much scoring but throws his powerful 6 ft., 3 in, frame around under the boards and leads the team in rebounding. His vigorous play has been another bright sign for Wilson.

For tonight's game, Wilson will probably go with Bowditch and Deering at guards, Tom Tangeman who has been doing some slick ball bandling and Borchard at forwards, and either Lynch or Bill Danner, who turned in a strong performance against Holy Cross, at center. Besides Kelley, no other player has seen action thus far, but Wilson might go to his bench for sophomore Gene Augustine to help spell the backcourt.

Brandeis, a team that thought enough of its captain three years ago to hire him the next season as coach, has played only one game--an 36-35 loss to Bridgeport. Coach Rudy Finderson is rebuilding at Waltham, but a team that scores 35 points one night can do it again. The Judges should give the Crimson plenty of trouble.