Of all the Philadelphia teams that Harvard could play, they picked the only decent ones--the college basketball teams. And it is this unfortunate choice that has brought the Crimson into Philadelphia for its opening match against Temple in the Quaker City Tournament December 26.

It is not enough that Temple (4-2) has a strong squad with its usual 6 ft. 10 in. 'er, center Joe Newman, and hot-shooting shrimps from local high schools Ricky Trudeau, John Kneib and Kevin Washington. They also have the fortune of playing in the Palestra. Everyone within a 200-mile radius of Philly knows that the only time a Big Five team (Temple, Villanova, LaSalle, St. Joseph's and Penn) drops one in the Palestra, it's only to a rival Philadelphia team.

But if Harvard should defeather the Owls, they will still have a tough time ahead, playing the winner of the first game of a doubleheader between Cincinnati and St. Bonaventure.

The Bonnies will probably come into the tournament with only one loss--UCLA December 21--and Cincinnati is no fallen timber either, sporting a 5-1 log and a fine center, Ron Hightower.

The night before Harvard squares off against Temple, Penn (3-1) will battle California (2-3) and Fordham (3-2) will take on Penn State (3-3).

Safe Bet

All things considered, the Quakers with big man Ron Haigler, 6 ft. 8 in., and sophomore sensation John Engles, appear to be the safe bet to take the tournament.

Coach Chuck Daly's performers lost by ten on the road against Wake Forest, dashing Daly's hopes for an unblemished season early in the year. But the Quakers are a much improved outfit compared with last year's 14-7 squad.

Against Temple, Harvard's Tony Jenkins and Lou Silver will have to watch Newman, who grabbed 22 rebounds in a win over Navy, 52-41, last week. However, Newman is a hack artist and if Jenkins and Silver get too close, he will definitely let the axe fall.

In the backcourt, Harvard's Ken Wolfe will have his hands full with good dribblers Kneib and Trudeau, and fine outside shooter Washington.

Temple's guard unit's most amazing feat to date was its remarkable slow-down game against Tennessee in the volunteer classic last Saturday. In that battle of boredom, Tennessee sleep-walked to an amazing 11-6 triumph.

Temple's man to glance at is Joe Anderson, a forward who springs into action immediately after Newman fouls out, usually early in the third quarter. Anderson, a.k.a. "The Leaper," gets off his feet, but has a tendency to come down with handfuls of air, losing the ball to the opponent's center.

Outside Shot

If it weren't for the presence of the Quakers and St. Bonaventure, Harvard could rate an outside shot at sweeping the tourney. Impressive wins against Brown and Holy Cross give the Crimson decent credentials. However, if the tournament goes as it has in past years, with Philadelphia's schoolsmonopolizing the trophy case, those newly-established credentials just might not be good enough.