The Crimson has historically been a poor team during the pre-Ivy season. Two years ago, Harvard went a mediocre 6-6 out of conference then proceeded to record the only undefeated, 14-0 Ivy season in the history of the Ancient Eight and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

In four of the six seasons that Harvard has won the Ivy League title, it has compiled a non-conference mark of 25-22, barely above. 500. Last season's 10-2 pre-Ivy record was the exception, not the rule, and even then the Crimson was not playing good basketball.

But it did have an ace in its collective pocket--one Allison Feaster '98, who is only the greatest women's basketball player in Ivy history. Maybe if Feaster were still around, Harvard would be 5-2. Then again, maybe not. She would probably in UHS with whooping cough.

The reality is that there is no superstar on this team, and that hurts when injuries and illnesses strike. But if the Crimson can get healthy by January, it has plenty of talent to win a fourth Ivy title.

That will not, however, be an easy task.

Harvard has skill in abundance, but it is still a young team. Five freshmen came in this year to replace five graduated seniors, and while the Class of '02 is probably a more talented unit than the Class of '98, it is difficult to replace experience quickly.

This team needs to start winning the close games, and it will. The only question is can it start pulling out the nailbiters in time for the 1998-99 Ivy League season?

Once these players get healthy, I have a feeling they will.

Harvard has a good corps of veterans in its four seniors and two juniors that have carried much of the load thus far. And they, along with their teammates, are only starting to get healthy.

Nunamaker was released from UHS on Sunday and Gates will be out tomorrow. Russell and Miller are both finally healthy, Janowski is back at practice and Kowal was cleared to play yesterday by a cardiologist. Even Delaney-Smith has made a triumphant return to practice.

Harvard will play four games over the winter break, beginning this Friday night in Miami against defending Trans-America Athletic Conference champion Florida International. Don't expect a miraculous turnaround immediately, although a victory over FIU would make quite an impression on the NCAA Tournament selection committee come March.

More importantly, these games should help the Crimson regain its old form and pull out at least a couple of wins before the Ivy season begins on Jan. 8 with a home game against Cornell.

And if Harvard is running on all cylinders by the time the Big Red comes to Cambridge, it could be another pleasant winter for the Crimson.