Basketball around Harvard usually stirs up about as much interest as the Eastern Massachusetts Chinese Checkers tournament, Class B division. And with good reason: Harvard usually has a terrible basketball team. In over 50 years of competition against Ivy League rivals the Crimson has finished in the first division four times, and has never won the championship. With a record of 152 victories and 329 losses before this season, including a 25-60 performance against Yale, Harvard ranks second only to Brown in futility over the years.

Thus it was with disbelief, nay astonishment, that the few basketball fans Harvard has left realized last week that for 24 hours the Crimson was tied for first place in the Ivy League. The bubble was dented the next evening when Penn defeated Columbia to advance its record to 4-1. But at the semester break the Crimson was tied with Yale for second place, each having 3-1 records.

Now a championship team this is not. The crimson does not have the depth, the speed, nor the shooting ability of the Quakers or the Elis, nor does it have a star the likes of Princeton's great sophomore Bill Bradley. And on a given night it could have trouble with P.S. 37, to say nothing of Cornell, whom it has defeated once, Columbia who inflicted its only league loss and Brown.

Yet there is a feeling among the faithful that for all its obvious limitations this year's Harvard basketball team could well become the fifth varsity squad in the last half century to have more teams finish behind it than ahead of it.

The prime reason for this optimism is that all of a sudden it seems as though a Harvard basketball team is taking pride in its performance. This is especially noticeable when watching the team play defense. This year the Crimson has been using a tightly-knit 2-3 zone which places Gene Augustine and Leo Scully a bit beyond the foul line, and the three deep men--usually Len Strauss, Vern Strand, and Dennis Lynch--in a line in front of the basket.

This formation puts a premium on energy. The defenders must move quickly to avoid being overshifted by a quick-passing attack. The guards also have to drop back to defend against a pivot man, since the middle man in the back of the zone plays closer to the basket than the foul line.

Thus far it has been successful, and the team has evidently worked hard to perfect the pattern. Of course it helps that Scully and Lynch, among others, have very quick hands and are consistently picking off passes and loose balls.

That brings up the second important reason why basketball at Harvard has something of a "new look" this season--Leo Scully. As they used to say back in New Jersey, where kids used to learn basketball early in life because it's hard to play baseball or football on cement "the kid can do it all."

Wondrous Things

Indeed, Mr. Scully, class of '65, can do all sorts of wondrous things with a basketball. He steals it, he dribbles it, he posses it, he grabs it away from fellows several inches taller than his 6 ft. 1 in. stature, and he throws it through the hoop, which after all is the object of the whole affair. For the first few games he was a hit hesitant about his shooting, but in the Crimson's four Ivy games Scully has been the first or second leading scorer in all of them.

From his position on the outside of the some Scully is a nemesis to opposing ball-handlers. He does not appear to be moving very swiftly, but manages to steal a goodly number of passes every game. And perhaps most amazing of all, Scully is the team's leading rebounder, having snared one more than Strand and five more than Lynch.

Other Major Roles

As pleasing as Scully is to watch, other Crimson players have also played major roles in the team's victories over Cornell and Dartmouth (twice). Len Strauss took over the spot vacated by Pete Kelley, and has turned in consistent performances as a rebounder and scorer. Dennis Lynch has scored well while getting need to a new set of contact lenses and should be even better, especially from long distances, once he gets used to them. Captain Gene Augustine's constant haranguing is the key to the success of the some defense, and Vern Strand is, according to one startled onlooker, "the strongest rebounder I've ever soon."

Bob Inman's ankle should be mended soon and he could provide the outside shooting the Crimson has sorely lacked. Frank Martin and Merle McClung, the two tallest players on the team, have provided good reserve strength under the boards, and Alan Bornheimer like McClung a sophomore, is gaining poise and confidence in the backcourt and reportedly has an excellent outside shot.

Most Excellent, But Good