Egg in Your Beer

After coaching three bleak seasons of Harvard basketball, Norman Shepard is understandably cautious in talking about his team's prospects for this year. And although the varsity turned in some excellent shooting against weak Rhode Island University Saturday in the Blockhouse, caution must indeed be used in judging its chances.

For even though the varsity rolled 83 points against the Rhodys '57, it displayed neither a powerful offense nor a tight defense; the final score just proved that Rhode Island wasn't very good. The visitors, unlike the racehorse teams of the Ernie Calverly ear, had no speed and little shooting ability. Despite this, they constantly broke through the Crimson's man-to-man defense, only to miss what should have been easily lay-ups.

Weak on Pivot Plays

The Crimson's offense, though high scoring, depended mostly on long set shots, and didn't work smoothly in plays around Dick Lionette in the pivot. This is fine in a scrimmage against poor-shooting, weak-rebounding Rhode Island; but against high-jumping, deadly Ivy League opponents, it would be disastrous.

But weak opponent nonetheless, Harvard at times played high-powered basketball. Shepard started three sophomores: Harry sachs, Paul Shaw, and Roger Bulger, with junior Bill Dennis, and Lionette, the only senior. The team began slowly, leading 15 to 14 at the first quarter, mainly on Sach's four free throws.

But in the second period, with Shaw particularly deadly, the varsity scored 25 points in less than seven minutes, to go far ahead. Shaw made five field goals in the second quarter, from long over-the-head sets, to an underhand rocket shot that brought laughs from everyone. And although he played only two-thirds of the game, Shaw finished only one point behind Dennis in final totals, with 18 points.

Bulger May Help

Bulger, best set shot on last year's freshman team, sank several long shots and played an alert floor game. The kind of player who doesn't make mistakes, and capitalizes on those of opponents, Bulger should be steadying influence on a team that shows a tendency to be over-flashy. Sachs was about the only one who repeatedly tried to drive through the middle. Tall and fast, he draws fouls, then sinks them--converting nine out of ten Saturday.

Dennis is still an excellent shot, a flashy passer, and too fat for his teammates. Several times, fine scoring plays were wasted because his accurate passes caught teammates as unprepared as Rhode Island. Sophomore Dick Manning, who played a third of the game at center, showed he may help his better-shooting, less aggressive teammates considerably. Still awkward, though vastly improved, the six foot four Manning gathered 15 rebounds--four more than anyone else--and blocked two shots by taller men.

Ed Krinsky, Bob Gremp, and Ed Condon, last year's starters, this year's substitutes, played well when they got in. Krinsky hawked the ball on defense, and set up three nice scoring plays, Gremp battled for the ball, and scored six points, and Condon scored three baskets in a row.

It was a pleasant afternoon; the spectators and the players enjoyed themselves. But if the Crimson depends upon long set shots in regular season it will probably end up with an unpleasant, spotty record, brightened only by several big upsets on really hot nights. Shepard has a week to form a pivot attack and strengthen the defense. In any case, strong attack or weak one, good record or poor one, Dennis and Shaw together are worth the price of admission.