I Love Deke but this post begs the following answer-- what we would do without deke? we would have had that center spot open to use for developing a young center or at least explore options that could have taken some off the "stress" off Yao that has fractured his success the last few years. Young talent could have been developed. But still, it's hard to think of another NBA player that has brought more joy and laughs to my life. His play is awesome, his facial expressions and the things he does are hilarious, his interviews are great, he asked an entire bar "who wants to sex mutombo?" one time, he speaks 54 languages, built a hospital, etc, etc I liked him the first time I saw him and I wear his jersey and think he should be president of the world. He has certainly had a positive EV for the rockets, and we failed to develop a power forward for years that could have accentuated Yao just as well and threatneed in the low post and on D in the paint with yao out. But we've had a lot of busts there...Maurice Taylor, Stromile Swift, Kenny Thomas, or undersized/shooting PFs that couldn't post well like Bullard, Nachbar, Eddie Griffin, or dinosaurs like Juwan Howard, C. Weatherspoon, Charles Oakley. Out of all those guys to try to accentuate or backup Yao, Mutombo has done the best and despite putting more effort into this "but what I really think is.." paragraph, I felt I to put that mean thing about Deke out there. Main idea: Deke rules, but he's not a most improved player candidate, which is exactly the kind of guy we want at our PF/center (Landry!?!, 2bad he's not 6'11) and the JVG-into-Adelman system is ready!
We have Chuckwagon, Landry, Scola, harris or someone else to man c-pf, dekembi is insurance/cheerleader.
Even at 42 years of age, Mutumbo is one of the best backup centers in the league. Talented 7 footers just don't grow on trees. There aren't enough quality centers for everybody to even have a quality center as a starter, much less a back up. I think anybody who isn't grateful for the contributions of Mt. Mutumbo need to get their head checked.
*Rafer alleyoop pass to McGrady for the facial over Dwight Howard and the crowd goes wild* Bill: OOOhh!! McGrady with the throwdown over Howard! Deke: Yes, dey fuhfskl jafaosfj dpfoig dunk dslfji boom! Bill: ..... Clyde: ..... Clyde: ha ha ha, and it's only getting worse for Howard.
I hope he comes back one more year. Before Yao went down he wasn't even playing; he can do that next year. Yao will play 35 minutes a game with Scola and Landry taking up the majority at PF. Chuck will see limited action (hopefully to hold big leads) Deke will be a great mentor/insurance 5th option big man just like he was this year. This "insurance" thing has worked out the last 3 years and Deke has come up big, helping us stay in the playoff race the last two seasons! It would be a slap in the face if we didn't resign him. That's if he even wants to return. Hope to hear something soon about his future.
Deke played GREAT all series long. Loren Woods is your reasoning for Deke retiring give me a break. If we had someone who was worth developing maybe, but not Loren Woods...
Maybe if Deke were replaced with a younger backup center, Yao wouldnt have to play so many minutes...
they might not keep woods next season, might trade him this summer he was only signed for the remainder of this 07-08 season....
Wonder if we can pry Ely away from the Hornets in the offseason. He has had some decent numbers in the games he played over the season and they Hornets don't use him nearly enough and they like the Armstrong kid alot more than Ely. If it is possible, I wouldn't mind seeing Ely a Rocket next season.
Mutumbo is not a good fit to backup Yao...not physical enough...no offense. 3rd string another story. But few teams carry 3 bigs. I say sign him for vet minimum...sit and teach.
I wanted Deke gone after last year, now, I don't. I think his influence in the clubhouse is immeasurable. I hope he stays at least one more year. DD
My opinion is Yao can't be replaced from the bench so might as well go for a guy who can cover PF/C and is another unique option to either Scola and Landry at the 4 be it 3p shooting, length/size, shotblocking, etc... Could that player be Woods? We'll find out in pre-season. This is where an international pick could also prove to be handy. Not NBA ready after pre-season keep him OS. Scola and Landry are going to take the majority of the reserve minutes at C so they can afford to do this. If needed trade for that reserve C during the season, then cut Woods and his useful non-guaranteed contract.
Deke..we gotta get him his ring. He be back..only no guarantees this time. Just work hard and win it all. Which with Yao back and not going down with some freak accident we should be favored to win it all.
Deke re-signed to be a solid backup to Yao, not a starter, and stepped up and produced when Yao went out for the season. I wonder if some people even watched games this season.
