Evening star., 1949-12-21
Game Is First
Of I in 8 Nights;
Dillon in Debut
New Player Makes
Timely Arrival; Mikor
Heading Invaders
By Bill Fuchs

py put uSHS
The Washington Caps begin
their struggle to remain among
the top four teams of the Eastern
Division of the National Basket
ball Association tonight when
they oppose the Minneapolis
Lakers at Uline Arena at $3.50
o'clock.
Bolstered by the addition of
John (Hook) Dillon. the Caps fig
ure to need all the help obtain
able to keep ahead of the fourth
place onrushing Baltimore Bull
lets and the tail-end Philadelphia
and Boston clubs.
Starting tonight, the Caps
must play seven games in eight
nights, a schedule that might de-
termine whether they will land a
playoff berth. Only two teams
from the Eastern Division will be
left out of the money-making
playoffs and their arduous sched-
ule may leave the Caps so worn
that they will be one Of the two.
Visit Bullets Tomorrow.
The Caps play the Bullets In
Baltimore tomorrow night and
return here against Boston Friday,
spend Christmas at st. Louis
against the Bombers, play at An
derson the following day. at
Rochester the 9th and wind up
the breath-taking pace here
against Syracuse next Wednes-
day.
BY that time the Caps may be
trailing Baltimore and struggling
to keep Philadelphia behind them.
A victory tonight against the
Lakers, to whom they've lost twice
this season, would be a great psy-
Geological boost.
With the exception of the Bull
lets, there is no team the Caps
would rather beat than Minneap-
oils. which bounced them around
in the championship playoffs last
season.
The Caps carry 1910 record
into tonight's contest and whether
they lift themselves past the 500
mark may depend on the debut
of Dillon. a former University of
North Carolina hook-shot artist
who. incidentally damaged q
finger in practice last night.
Was McKinney's Teammate.
The 6-foot 3-inch, 180-pound
Dillon flew here late yesterday to
sign a contract. He was a team
mate of Bones Mckinney with the
Tar Heels in 1856 and that sea-
son averaged 81 points a game in
the NCAA tournament at Madison
Square Garden. The Oklahoma
Aggies beat Dillon, Mckinney and
Co. in the final game. Dillon has
been playing with Hanes Hosiery
Mills in North Carolina.
Only "a years OLD, Dillon will
give welcome relief to the Caps
who seem to be firing. Mckinney
is over 80 and doesn't seem to
have the zip of former years. Bob
Feerick, over % and suffering
from a knee injury. may be over
the hill. Chick Reiser at IS
doesn't appear to age. but can't
go on forever.
The Caps again will be con-
fronted with Big George Mikan
and the smooth Jim Pollard, the
Lakers' one-two punch. They to-
tailed A points last night. as Min
neapolis bowed to Rochester.
Mikan, 6-foot-10-inch scoring
wizard, is the NBA chief point
getter at this stage. He carries an
average of more than % points q
game.
While Mikan is the basket man
Pollard is the smooth, clever op-
orator. He held the ball for 40
seconds and then fired long one
handler to give Minneapolis a
last-second victory over Washing
ton in the first game between
these clubs here this season. The
Lakers won 17-point victory over
the Caps in their last meeting at
Minneapolis.
Tonight's activities will get under
way with a game between the
Pat O'Briens and the Naval Re-
ceiving Station at 7:15.