South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-12-18


Christmas vacation term. Coach
Walter Halas, having brought his
squad Of basketeers back from the
pre-vacation trip, Will drill them un-
til Wednesday when they Will dis
perse to their homes until a day or
two after Christmas, when basket
ball practice will be resumed. Mean
while, the hockey rink will be as
Stunning shape A fence will be erect
ed around a space on the Badin hall
campus which has already been
scraped and cleared For a num-
Der of nights the ground in this in
closure will be watered slightly un-
til a hard pan is formed With this
as a foundation the actual flooding
can be carried on.
The activities Of the basketball
squad during the holidays Will be
watched with special interest. In the
week preceding the Illinois games at
Urbana, Halas Will be able TO give
his squad the first real practice they
have had so far. With waiting for
the football stars TO be released from
the moleskins. and then disrupting
his squad at the news of the San
Diego game. Halas has had a diff
cult job to get his team together.
The nine veterans OF a year ago
were practically all football men and
these viii be enabled 10 work into
basketball form during the holidays.
Mchrc Recovering Fast.
Harry Mehre's arm may be healed
by that time, and the return of big
Jumbo" will strengthen the Irish
squad materially. The arm was bro
| ken three weeks ago in basketball
practice and has been in a cast ever
since Other members Of the squad
are in good physical condition right
now and as soon as Halas gets them
working together the Irish viii dis
+ play neat little quintet. Besides
/ the old monogram men, the inter
/ hall squads have yielded some pretty
material, and with a solid week in
which to drill these men the coach
may throw a surprise into the Hint
/ on Jan. .. Notre Dame Will go to
Urbana on its training trip, which
includes two games with Illinois on
Jan. and and one with Butler
on Jan s. The team will meet no
other opponent until Jan. IL when
/ Kalamazoo opens the regular sched-
I ule in the gymnasium.
! Reports from Urbana indicate
that the Suckers have been going
/ great guns on the court so far. Pos
/ sessing q few veterans and 4 wealth
of speedy material from the fresh
men. the Illinois coach has a mighty
promising team. Just what Notre
Dame viii be able TO do against
+ them cannot be judged from the
performance Of the Irish on the
/ recent trip. Then they We're playing
without the aid Of several regulars.
/ The team which Halas viii take TO
/ Urbana will be vastly better than
the squad which faced DePauw, Ar
mour Tech and Northwestern last
I week.
Late Starters.
In recent years Notre Dame bas-
/ ketbau teams have earned the repu-
tation Of being late starters. For two
I successive seasons the Irish have
lost early games TO opponents whom
they were able TO defeat decisively
later in the winter. Perhaps the
most notable example Of this was
/ the Wabash game, the last on the
Notre Dame schedule a year ago. AT
the start Of the season Wabash wal
Hoped Notre Dame by a large score
The Little Giants from Crawfords-
willie went on and practically cinched
the middle western title. They de-
feated Indiana and Purdue, leading
conference teams, and when Notrt
Dame met Wabash the second time
the down-state Hoosiers were ex.
pected 10 win easily. Notre Dame
pulled the big surprise Of the mid
western basketball season by turn
ing in a VIM against Wabash.
The reason the Irish were able
to win that game is easily seen. For
/. the first time during the season th'
men were playing together, sacrihc'
ing individual play for team work
Man for man the gold and blue bas
keteers could hold their own agains
most squads IN The country, but they
did not work together until that
final game with Wabash. when in Z
last spirited effort 10 whip the cream
Of the country they forgot individual
play and displayed the grandest has
ketbau form that has ever been seer
in the Notre Dame gymnasium
Now Halas' whole problem this
winter will be 10 pull his bunch to
) gether. 70 get them playing as thel
, played against Wabash. The mem
bers OF last years quintet have re
. turned. INTERNAL teams have sen
. in possible monogram material.