I don't know about you guys, but DEKE's hook shot is rapidly becoming my favorite shot in basketball. You can see that shot coming 3 seconds before he starts it. He has perfected that shot that everyone of them looks exactly the same, no matter where he is on the floor. It's comical to me that he has so much confidence in that shot. I find myself smiling everytime he does it. I cheer wildly when he makes it. He shouldn't shoot too many of those, but in a blowout game, he should do it a lot to keep fans happy. Hook'em Deke.
Mr. Feigen seems to love Mutombo too... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2915046 Mutombo no longer starts, but he remains as fierce as ever with the Rockets By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - With other players, it sounds foolish. When others refer to themselves in third person, it almost never works, seeming as supercilious as every fighter calling himself "Champ" or every student council election winner insisting on being known as "Mr. President." With Dikembe Mutombo, it works. Offering more than just the poetic sound of the second of his many names, "Mutombo" conjures images of blocked shots, a wagging finger and even a proud, dignified manner. That part of Mutombo never left, even as his career took him from defensive greatness in Denver and Atlanta through stops in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York and Chicago into Houston. And now that he is excelling again, third person makes sense. Despite a revised role at age 38 as Yao Ming's backup, Mutombo has happily found a niche and, a dozen games into the season, when he says "Mutombo" it sounds right. "It's working," Mutombo said after putting up season-highs of 15 points and 11 rebounds against the Trail Blazers on Monday, his first double-double since he had 10 points and 10 rebounds in Boston last January with the Knicks. "It doesn't matter to me if I score. I will get rebounds. I will block shots, and I will change shots. I will bring fear on the court. "Guys think twice because they know Mutombo is there." At peace with himself Rather than sounding haughty, Mutombo comes off as if he is simply reciting job requirements, and that even describing his own excellence is something he has earned. The scolding finger no longer wags at beaten opponents, though he did flash it at his friend Alonzo Mourning last week, but he seems to have made his peace with his decision to make this the way to end his career. "I have a chance to accomplish things I said from Day 1 when I started to play the game," he said. "I wanted to do my best so by the time I walk away from this game, I can be remembered as one of the best shot blockers and one of the best rebounders. I was able to accomplish that. "It really was a personal decision I made this summer to go into a situation where I know my place where some days I play and some days I'm not playing." Mutombo has taken a regular shift against teams that employ traditional centers and likely will get his usual minutes against the Sacramento Kings tonight should Greg Ostertag come off the bench behind Brad Miller. Against teams that go smaller with jump-shooting centers, Mutombo might not play at all. The team concept When the Rockets made the move for Mutombo, Van Gundy's only concern was how Mutombo would accept limited minutes. "No one, myself, fans or media, should ever judge players on their name or what they've done previously," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said before the season. "They should all be judged by what they do in the coming year. I think Dikembe, like all of us — myself included — has a lot to prove. ... One of the hardest adjustments for the older player is how to come off the bench and impact the game right away after sitting." After a dozen regular season games, Van Gundy offered the highest compliment he could — a comparison to Patrick Ewing. "I've had two experiences with Georgetown centers that I've coached, Pat and Othella Harrington," Van Gundy said. "You never know until you coach them, but I knew Mutombo was a man of great pride and work habits. The one thing I was a little concerned with was it seemed he spent a lot of time complaining about playing time in the past couple stops. But other than that, he had been competitive." Mutombo said the key to that has been Van Gundy's efforts to explain his role. "Now, Jeff keeps telling me, 'Do what you do best,' " Mutombo said. "I don't think there will be a problem in the middle of the season thinking, 'That game I didn't score,' (or) 'That game I didn't take a shot.' I will do what Mutombo does." And somehow, after all his years in the league and coming from a voice akin to gravel rolling out of a dump truck, he made that sound just right. jonathan.feigen@chron.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rockets Summary Whistle watch The Rockets saw one of Yao Ming's trends continue against the Trail Blazers on Sunday: continuing to draw more fouls and playing fewer minutes on the road than at home. Yao, who drew five fouls and played 26 minutes against the Blazers, has averaged 4.7 fouls and 28.7 minutes in road games. At home, he has averaged just three fouls per game, allowing him to play an average of 34.6 minutes. But another trend did not hold up. While Yao was called for five fouls, he remained assertive and drew the fouls that Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said have not been going his way. "He got to the free throw line when we desperately needed to get Tracy ( McGrady) some rest," Van Gundy said. "He posted strong, and I think that was the first night he's gotten a decent whistle in the second half. They were dislodging, which is supposed to be called no matter what your size, and he got calls that he earned by posting up strong. "I think it was good officiating and also good post play." Yao had been averaging 13 points and taking an average of 4.3 free throws in road games (compared with 25.4 points and 9.2 free throws attempted in home games). But Sunday, Yao took five free throws and scored 19 points. Mum on suspensions Jeff Van Gundy did not want to share his reaction to the record suspensions levied against Pacers and Pistons players for their roles in Friday's fight in Auburn Hills, Mich. "I have strong feelings, but I'll just keep them to myself," he said. He did, however, share his empathy for Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who will have to make do without top players for long periods. "I feel for Rick Carlisle, and I worked with a guy on his staff, Kevin O'Neill; I feel awful for them," Van Gundy said. "To put so much into their jobs, to do it so well. I think they're still going to make the playoffs, I think they're still going to be dangerous. "But championship? That's probably out now. I just feel awful for them. "You see what a great coach (Carlisle) is. You see the effort of those six guys (in Saturday's game) ... against a really good Orlando team. "I mean, that guy is an unbelievable coach," Van Gundy said. "He really is. "I follow the NBA fairly closely, I think. To be a shot away, that's magical, really. I just feel awful for him, really awful." -- JONATHAN FEIGEN
I loved that article. I love Mutombo! And uh, don't tell anybody, but JVG seemed pretty complimentary of Yao in the summary...
You stole my idea! http://bbs.clutchcity.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86840 Anywho, it's all good. More love for Chewy, the better. Go Chewy!
Man, Feigan totally read this thread before he wrote that article. p.s. Yes. I actually am a 16 year old valley girl in reality.
The Deke/Yao combo when used in ESPN NBA 2k5 is unstoppable. I'm not saying video games mean anything, but we could use Deke like we used Cato last year...at the 4
I, too, will admit that I thought Deke was washed up and done. I was not happy at all with the trade. I liked the way he played hard in Philly, but nothing he has done since then. Thank goodness I was wrong.
I am glad that I am not the only one that uses that combo in ESPN NBA2K5. Those two together in the game are unstoppable. Between the two of them, it's one big block party. Too bad real life isn't like that. The poor lateral quickness that both of them have would not work against the mediocre PFs in the league much less the top tier PFs. We would have to play some sort of zone for both of them to be in the game, plus I am sure that they would tire too easily.
