A tide of graduations and leaves of absence has left behind it something of a problem for this year's Harvard basketball team. In what must be termed a rebuilding year, the lockerspace left by the permanent departure of Bill Carey, Doc Hines and Mufi Hanneman, and the temporary absence of Brian Banks and Glenn Fine, has been filled. The question that remains is how well.

In Coach Tom Sanders's quest for "team play," ball control is the essential element. Sophomore Bob Hooft and senior Marty Healy will try to lend their expertise in this area in their first years with the varsity.

Healy, who left Harvard's asphalt wonders, the Classics, to join the varsity as a guard, will use his 5-ft., 10-in., 150-lb. frame to slide unnoticed into the world of giants and hopefully cause problems for opposing teams.

Coach Sanders characterized Healy as "A very quick young man. He's a scrambler and when he's in there he'll be extented to gamble, causing charging fouls and in general pressuring the other team."

A major part of the burden of establishing a Harvard style of team play will fall on the ample shoulders of the 6-ft., 6-in. Hooft. Last year's leading hero of the freshman squad, the forward from Winnemucca, Nevada must change his style of play this year to compensate for the Crimson's lack of height.

"Last year I was mainly a small forward, sometimes guard, on thefreshman team. I was the pop man who scored points mainly from the outside. But this year I'll have to play more of an inside game and improve my rebounding, scoring on layups and short jumpers rather than bombs," he said.

Sanders reiterated the importance of team rebounding, and thus Hooft, when he remarked, "We'll be looking to Bob as a strong forward, maybe strong guard because of his ballhanding ability. He'll be expected to get his share of rebounds."

While Hooft is the only first-year starter on the squad, newcomer cornermen Chuck Bergen and Alex James will also be called on to snatch their share off the glass during the upcoming campaign.

Both forwards are 6 ft. 7 in., and while the senior Bergen is cast more out of the "tough" Jerry Lucas mold, sophomore James is a strong offensive threat, whom Sanders terms "a good shooter who we're looking for continued improvement from during the season."