Soviet Team to Play Crimson Five, Dec. 3

The National Russian basketball team will meet the Harvard varsity in the second game of the Russians' scheduled tour of the United States, it was learned exclusively yesterday.

Believed to be the strongest team the Soviet Union has ever produced, the Russians will play the Crimson the evening of December 3, in the I.A.B. The contest will probably be listed on the varsity schedule as an exhibition.

The Soviet team will open its U.S. tour by meeting Springfield College, December 1. At least four other games have been scheduled so far--two against North Carolina State, one with Butler University, and one with Kentucky.

Negotiations for the visit have been going on constantly for the past few years, but this summer, after Geneva, the Soviet government invited Frank Walsh, a San Francisco sports promoter, to help arrange the tour.

Walsh, formerly associated with the Cow Palace, a sports arena in San Francisco, has traveled through the Soviet Union, observing the different teams in action. He secured the Russian Sports Federation agreement to send over it top team.

In the last Olympiad, the Russians finished second to the United States, and many members of that squad are expected on the present team.

The official announcement of the tour is expected to come from the State Department, but the official release will probably be withheld until visas are issued to all the Russians.

According to Walsh, all receipts from the games, minus expenses, will go to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Russians will be heavy favorites to win their games with Springfield, Harvard, and Butler, but should have stiff competition in the games with North Carolina State and Kentucky.

Differing from the "run and shoot" style of play as practiced by many American teams, the Russians use a very deliberate style, setting up plays, and relying on a very close man-to-man defense to win their games.