Chron:Mutombo says he's headed here as backup, mentor

Anyone one else has Mutombo's voice in your head when you read his quotes?

 

Good to know I am not the only one!

 

with 10 seconds left, Spurs got the ball, game tied at 77.....

you want Taylor/Howard or the twin towers?

 

having deke or yao at pf scares me.

 

Only because Kevin Willis isn't playing this year (or is he?).

Willis is a Chemical Engineer IIRC.

 

"C" is for cookie and it's good enough for me!

 

Mutumbo can teach Yao subtle things that go a long way. As a poster's said, like keeping elbows high to protect the ball on offense and after rebounds is an important skill for Yao to hone. Also, while he won't revolutionize his shotblocking, Yao is already decent at it. He could be more than decent if Mutumbo can teach him to be a little more savvy, patience and use his large body like Deke or Mark Eaton use to do--keep his hands up more, wait for the defender--those little things could have a big impact. Actually Mutumbo and Ewing are two of the better models I can think of for Yao. Two guys who got the most out of their physical abilities to be outstanding centers (they were no Hakeem, Shaq, Wilt, Kareem or Robinson in athletic ability) and played to their strengths.

I still take issue with those that think Deke and Yao would play much together. I don't see either Yao/Deke providing much overall advantage on Zach, Rasha, J Oneal, KG, Webber, Miller, etc, than just having JH/MoT play them. The latter have just as strong lower bodies, slightly more quickness and can do a ton more damage offensively than Deke. Very few occasions would Yao and Deke overall be better pair to play at one time than Yao or Deke plus JH or MoT. Maybe a last minute defensive stop where you want Deke on TD or Shaq (who have power and major length advantages over MoT/JH) but also want Yao in there--that is about the only occasions I can think of to play both.

 

But seriously, folks, you can't tell me that Yao won't benefit from having to go through THIS at each and every practice:

 

LMAO!!!

 

By the way, we have a seattle killer for the first time ever.

 

IMO, very few NBA players actually keep up with offseason roster transactions. McGrady is a big name but as far as Howard, I doubt Deke is even aware that he was part of the deal.

 

Not unless we're talking wheelchair basketball...

 

Sura has shown a lot of athleticism over the years - his problem generally has been decision making.

Sura, TMac and JJ is an extremely athletic backcourt. Yao and Mutombo don't fit in with the modern version of "athletic", but they know how to clog the lane, get boards, play defense and Yao has offensive skills. My opinion is that it would be a well-balanced lineup.

 

You're crazy if you don't think that either Yao or Deke are clearly the superior defender to MoT (and I assume JH, but I haven't seen his defense a lot).

More importantly, Deke can still board. He never averaged below 10 boards a game until his playing time went down considerably. MoT and Juwan Howard both are sub-par rebounders. Yao is just an average rebounder. Defensive rebounding is a very important aspect to good defense.

I'm certainly not expecting Deke to get much more than 15 - 20 mpg, but do expect that some of the time he may be on the court with Yao, depending on the match-up.

 

exactly!

some people here speak of a Yao/Mutombo front court is out of the realm of possibilities..... why??? occasionally, that will be a favorable matchup. Deke can still board well.

it's not like people are saying they'll be starting together, only that there will be times when they'll be on the court at the same time. is it really that hard to envision?

 

I say we start Deke and Yao at 4 and 5. We could play a 3-2 zone.

 

Barkley was Seattle killer #1 for us, Deke is Seattle killer #2.

I do agree Mutumbo is the better defender and rebounder than MoT or JH--but you have to look at the overall team defense and team offese. Deke's strengths and weaknesses defensively are very similar to Yao's (and thus redudent if both are in there), and Deke is much worse offensively than Yao, MoT or JH. So it is not that I am arguing MoT or JH are superior defensively to Deke as a individual player, they are not, it is just I can think of very few match-ups where Yao-Mutombo as a tandem would be more effective than Yao-Howard or Yao-Taylor. Like I said maybe if you wanted Mutumbo to guard Duncan or Shaq but keep Yao still in there for a late game stop, but that is about it.

What I like about this move and why I think it was very important is we can take Yao out and play the same scheme of defense--not the possibility of two plodding twin towers. Further given the dearth of power 7 footers even among the 2nd tier of decent centers (Miller is not, Rasha is not), I see MoT or JH playing a lot more 5 (going small & offensive) than I see either Yao or Deke playing the 4.

 

My problem is that neither Yao nor Mutumbo has any degree of lateral quickness. You match them up with the other team's power forward and they will get KILLED on the offensive end. Guys like Stoudamire will eat up that matchup.

It isn't about being big or a good shotblocker. It is about being quick defensively against the power forwards in the west. Nevermind the shooting PF's like Nowitzki. Which one of them is going to chase around a shooter or run out on a jumper?

JVG is big, big, BIG on defensive intensity and quickness to the ball and a Yao/Mutumbo combination would negate that significantly.

In addition, on offense, where exactly do you put Mutumbo? You aren't going to post him up and he isn't going to stand outside and stretch the defense. You need him close to the basket but you need Yao there as well. You can't run a screen and roll with Mutumbo because he is no threat on the outside and doesn't have the quickness to adjust to his defender.

Personally, if he gets more than 10 minutes a night in backup duty for Yao, I'd be surprised.