Hoopsters Crunch Portuguese

They say--somewhere, somebody says this--that basketball is a game of inches. In the case of the Crimson varsity basketball team, that maxim is particularly true.

The hoopsters made good use of a few extra inches--or rather, a few inches they didn't have last year--to defeat a scrappy Portuguese National Team, 95-86, in an exhibition last night at the IAB.

Most of those inches were somewhere in the 6-ft. 8-in. frames of freshmen Monroe Trout and Joe Carrabino. The yardlings combined for 45 points--with Trout copping game-high honors with 23--to pace the Crimson attack.

All-Ivy forward Donald Fleming chipped in 17 more, and Tom Mannix and Robert Taylor each added eight. Playing a superlative game at guard, Taylor bounced home seven assists.

The first half featured a hard-fought--if mistake-filled--battle, with the margin between the teams never exceeding four points.

It would be difficult, however, to call that first half satisfying, and any member of the Crimson squad would be quick to agree.

Errant passes, travelling calls, and poor timing under the boards--all typical first game of the season, or in the case of the freshmen, first game of the career, mistakes--showed up in the total of 19 turnovers for the game.

"The first half was disappointing," said coach Frank McLaughlin, "but we came out and played well in the second half."

Up by just two points, 47-45, at the midpoint of the game, the Crimson took charge with about 10 minutes left to play. Mannix and Taylor continued to move the ball inside to Trout, who displayed some fancy moves down under for 10 second-half points to add to his total of 13 in the first twenty minutes.

Carrabino, who played well inside for eight first-half points, began popping them in from medium range. The Pennypacker resident hit an impressive 10 of 17 en route to his 22 points.

Overall, the Crimson shot 37 of 66 from the field for 56 per cent, with Trout making the most of his opportunities by hitting nine of twelve, and Fleming nearly as impressive at eight of 13.

The crowd of 350 saw Fleming--used almost exclusively at forward last season--play much of the game at guard. That exception may become the rule this winter in the IAB, as McLaughlin seeks to add height to the forward line and scoring punch to the offense.

With the big freshmen and sophomore Bob McCabe dominating play under the basket, Fleming worked the ball inside by passing and driving towards the basket himself, instead of gunning from long range.

The presence of Trout, Carrabino, McCabe, and Chris Mitchell--another yardling--promises to take much of the pressure off of Fleming and Mannix, last year's offensive stand-outs. If anything, Fleming could be even more effective this season, as opponents take account of the new inside threat.

Few of the veterans saw as much of the ball as they did last year. Co-captain Mark Harris, who fouled out about midway through the second half, took only three shots all night (and made them all), as Carrabino, Trout and Fleming dominated the shot column.

Harris' personal foul problem turned out to be fairly typical of the Harvard squad, which was in foul trouble all evening. The total of 37 personal fouls may to some extent be attributed to first game inexperience, but with six regulars ending the game with four or more personals, McLaughlin may have something to think about.

One area which shouldn't be of much concern is the squad's overall freethrow shooting. The Crimson made the most of the few chances it got from the line, hitting a composite 21 of 26 for 81 per cent. By comparison, the Portuguese took 42 foul shots, but converted only 30 of them.

After an even first half on the boards, the Crimson big men asserted themselves at both ends of the floor, outrebounding the Portuguese 25 to 12 in the second half. Five Harvard players recorded five or more rebounds each, with Trout leading both teams with seven.

If any one aspect of the Crimson play was at all suspect, it would have to be the defense. "Offensively we were okay," said McCabe after the game, "but defensively we were lacking. They shouldn't have scored so many points."

Operating out of an unfamiliar press for much of the first half, the Crimson frequently allowed Portuguese players to get open downcourt or head toward the basket unchecked along the baseline. A few nice passes inside resulted in some easy layups for the Portuguese.

"Their quickness hurt us," McLaughlin said, "We knew we couldn't extend the defense against them, but we felt we wanted to try and extend it." It didn't work, so McLaughlin made the switch to a half court man-to-man defense early in the second half. That seemed to click as the cagers held the Portuguese to just 31 points in the final 20 minutes.