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

Wow, i can't believe we have added this type of player as a back up....Amazing what a year makes...A hell of a lot better than cato...

 

Yao's lateral quickness is not good. However, he is still very tough to back down and his height has given problems to guys who want to post him up. There were instances during the season in which JVG put Yao on the stronger power forwards like Zach and Amare. If guys like Duncan and Randolph are just killing Juwan and Mo, I see no reason not to put Yao on those guys late in games like JVG did last year. However, Dikembe would have to be the weakside defender because Yao isn't going to be defending against slashers and boarding if he is focused on stopping the guy posting up. Juwan is average at best in rebounding. Mo is below average for a power forward at rebounding. If Yao makes the posting power forward miss, someone needs to clean the glass to make sure there aren't any 2nd opportunities.

In other words, it depends on how Juwan and Mo are doing at power forward defensively.

 

Jeff,

I agree that Yao and Deke have no lateral quickness and would get abused when trying to defend 90% of the PF's in the league. However, it is very unlikely JVG will overlook that aspect and have them trying to defend PF's from the center position. Granted, Howard and Taylor are average defenders (at best), they are still both quicker/more agile despite the fact that they will get abused---given the fact that they are PF's they belong defending the PF position. Of course there will be instances where we double team, switch briefly for matchup purposes, etc. but the good thing for Yao and Deke is they will spend the majority of their minutes defending slower centers.

Unfortunately, I don't see much changing when it comes to us defending against the 4. We get lit up there every year and with a Howard/Taylor/Spoon rotation, that isn't about to change anytime soon. All we can count on is the production (or lack there of) at the 4 will get offset by the favorable matchups of T-Mac and Yao versus whomever is trying to defend them. JVG is a preacher of defense and discipline, hopefully he can light a fire under Howard and Taylor but i'm not holding my breathe.

 

I think you leave Mutumbo on the defensive end to contest fastbreaks. Why have him waste energy to get to the other end of the court when he won't be doing anything to help you there anyway?

 

That's right. Deke isn't a true center -- he's more of a goalie.

 

I'm surprised noone remembers the Suns game in which Yao was guarding Amare late in the game and basically shut him down. It was Mo who was getting torched by Amare. Mo is good for taking charges, but his man defense is very porous. In Portland, JVG stuck Yao on Randolph late in the game shutting him down. If Damon Stoudamire hadn't lit up Steve like a Christmas tree, the Rockets would have won the game. Yao cannot handle Duncan yet as seen by Yao fouling Duncan in a pivotal play late in a game. However, JVG didn't want to put Cato or Mo on Duncan. I think Howard's better on defense, but Duncan averaged around 30+ points against the Magic last year. I think he had some crazy ass game in which he got 35 and 20. To think that Yao is going to severely outplay the opposing center while letting the opposing forward run right through a matador defense is asking for a shootout. JVG plays ball control and defense, and he's not going to allow Juwan or Mo to get abused by guys who post up with impunity. Controlling the paint is like controlling the line of scrimmage.

 

I just don't see how our remaining weakness is at PF, if anything, it is at PG. And our depth is better than it has beenfor a long, long time.

OK, Howard may not be the player he use to be, but he is still a 17/7 guy who keeps himself in shape. While Chandler would be awsome, he has been working hard this summer and I doubt Chicago trades him this season.

Ward-Lue
TMac-Sura
Jackson-Nachbar
Howard-Taylor
Yao-Deke

There are so many different combinations we can put on the floor. And unless there is some miraculous trade offered to us, I think our roster is pretty much set.

 

Although you'd think we wouldn't need a sonic killer anymore. But last year was not encouraging.

 

A truly outstanding analysis! Mutumbo is simply too limited physically to really be that much of a factor beyond giving Yao a rest every now and then. God forbid if Yao goes down and they are forced to use him as the primary center...

 

i think the point is when we are playing the bigger front court teams, we would use that lineup. Given most teams have one or the other (a good pf or good c), we will hardly ever use them together. WHen we play the Suns, we aren't going to put Mutumbo in there. It's simply a bad matchup. Amare is so different in every way. One's atheletic, one's a cripple. One has explosiveness, the other has not. I would not want us to have more than 5 games with them both on the floor at the same time.

 

my opinion...if deke can show yao how to give that finger that he does after blocks than this trade is more than worth it!

 

I don't see why we should make this more complicated than it appears to be. We need somebody to play Yao's role, at least on defense and the boards and setting picks, while Yao is on the bench with foul trouble or fatigue. You don't need a lot of minutes for this job. Mutombo fits. End of story. No need to start biting nails about him and Yao being on the court together.

 

This is the last time I shall ever post this... I promise.

 

Can someone explain to me this whole, "Who wants to sex the Mutombo" thing. Where'd it come from?

 

wierd trade, we need a pf, not a back up center...and how much is he getting paid?

 

So I guess it's true: enough monkeys on enough typewriters will produce Shakespeare.

Or someone will say a team with a roster breakdown as such:
Yao
Howard/Taylor/Weatherspoon/Padgett
Jackson/Nachbar
McGrady/Gaines
Sura/Ward/Lue

has a need at PF, not backup center.


Wow.

 

The point isn't that JH/MoT can't handle some 4s like Duncan, Randolph, J Oneal, Amare, Brand, Webber, KG, etc. Lets say you do decide to put Yao on them, in few cases will the other team paired bigman not be handled about as well by MoT/JH as Deke. JH/MoT should be able to guard Brad Miller OK (more outside shooter than power center), ditto for Rasha, or Ratliff. What little you might gain having both Yao and Deke to cover opponents 4 & 5 you would more than lose offensively versus almost any opponent.

The only cavout I can think of is if you wanted to protect Yao from foul trouble or had a single play you were trying to stop Duncan/Rasha (if the Spurs decide to keep in Rasha for a last play), Webber/Miller, or KG/Kandi (if Kandi returns to any kind of form). It is not going to happen much having both JH and MoT available for all the 4 minutes, Deke will be almost exclusiverly used to keep Yao fresh (like 36MPG) and even then we might give some of those back-up C minutes to MoT or JH depending on macth-ups.

Way to be a party pooper.

 

Has anybody photoshop a pic of Deke in a Rockets jersey???

 

From what someone told me (I don't know how accurate), Deke went to a bar after winning a game at G-town. I don't know if he was drunk or just happy because he stood in the middle of the bar and yelled, "Who wants to sex Mutombo?!?" I don't think any ladies came up to him

 

I think people are reading to much into the comments. I'm pretty sure that Mutombo and his agent knew he would be a back-up. That's why he said he was willing to play whatever minutes was necessary and he would be a mentor. He said he talked to Patrick Ewing, you know that Van Gundy relayed info to Mutombo that he would backup and Dikembe knows there. There will be some points in the season when Yao and Mutombo will be in the court at the same time, it makes sense. If Yao and Cato can play at the same time why couldn't Yao and Mutombo?