Well, one of the few bright spots on the roster, if there is any http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2943417 Dec. 12, 2004, 12:31AM Mutombo shines on dismal night Backup center shows fight, skill and a finger wag against Mavericks By MEGAN MANFULL Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle COMING UP Wednesday: vs. Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. TV/Radio: Ch. 51, KILT (610 AM) Dikembe Mutombo stood at his locker shaking his head. He wasn't supposed to be wagging his finger after blocking shots anymore, but he got caught up in the moment Saturday night. In the second quarter with Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki driving on the baseline, Mutombo blocked Nowitzki's layup and sent it sailing at the Mavericks' bench. The 7-2 veteran then turned toward the fans and did his trademark finger wag. After the 102-78 loss to Dallas, Mutombo waited to hear from coach Jeff Van Gundy, who made it clear earlier this season that he no longer wanted to see Mutombo's finger. "Coach is going to say something about it, especially when we got to the point where we didn't win the game," said Mutombo, who played only nine minutes but finished with six rebounds and five points. "I don't think he's happy with me doing the finger. I usually don't do it. I don't know what made me do it today. "I had a talk with him and he doesn't want me to do it. I made sure I did it to the fans so I could not get a technical foul." Play exonerates him Mutombo likely picked a good night to forget Van Gundy's restriction. After the game, Van Gundy did single out Mutombo, but not for wagging. The coach said his veteran center was the only player who brought any sort of energy to the game. "I thought in the second quarter we had some good moments centered around his efforts," Van Gundy said. "He's pretty consistent in his efforts. His energy could be different just because of his age, but his mental awareness and alertness in how hard he tries is pretty constant, and he's a great rebounder still. "So on a night when we got beat to most every rebound and/or they jumped over us, he stood out in that. In traffic, he was able to rebound the ball." Mutombo did everything he could to spread his energy to the rest of Rockets' lethargic lineup. In the third quarter, the game was getting out of hand. But Mutombo didn't seem to notice and continued to play as though the team was trailing by two instead of 22. With 4.3 seconds to go in the third quarter and the score 77-55, Mutombo said he accidentally knocked Shawn Bradley to the floor. Bradley was angered by what he felt was a no-call by the officials and retaliated by shoving his right elbow into Mutombo's back, dropping him to the floor. Mutombo continued to show the same fight he had throughout the game by jumping up and yelling at Bradley, who was hit with a flagrant foul. "He threw some elbows; I threw some elbows," Bradley said. "We talked some trash. Just like it's been the last 12 years. It's like fighting with an older brother. I love him." Bradley went to the Rockets' locker room after the game to see Mutombo, and the two hugged and laughed about the incident. Mutombo continued to say his shove was an accident, though Bradley was a little skeptical. No hard feelings "He felt the refs saw something and let it go, so he tried to do the same thing," Mutombo said. "We're good friends. We've been friends for so long. "He had a chance to come with me in Africa last summer. We spent a lot of time together this summer. That's why you saw us talking. We have a bond." Explaining that incident was much easier for Mutombo than trying to pinpoint what happened amongst his teammates on the court. The team is becoming notorious for showing little emotion or energy, something Mutombo continues to have plenty of. "That's my job. I'm supposed to go in and change the game," Mutombo said. "That's what coach is asking me. "Somehow we have to find a way to motivate ourselves at the beginning of the game. We have to have the mentality that the other team cannot come into our house and take the game away from us. "We have to find a way to come out with more energy. We're making the same mistakes and we have to understand that." megan.manfull@chron.com
I guess he is afraid he might get a Tech. Maybe he doesn't like ANYONE to say anything to the refs for fear of them getting mad. I don't know, JVG is an idiot
JVG is so pathetic. He always talks about same energy cliche after every loss as if energy can solve everything. Energy can't teach your players how to put ball in the basket, JVG! When your team shoots the ball around 35% in many games, and your team always has a hard time to score more than 80pts every game, they lose energy, period. That is human nature. I had ugly losing basketball enough, fire JVG!!!
Yeah, what is wrong with the finger-waving, espeically in the case like yesterday? Great way to motivate your teammates and crowds IMO. Didn't that energy guy know this? Crowds were loving it yesterday. NBA don't have problems as long as Deke doesn't do that to players. Why do you have problems, energy guy?
I guess he's working on eliminating the finger wagging in practice because he sure ain't working on shooting and running. Why would we want to motivate the players and the fans anyway? This is Grumpy ball man.
I'd rather have a bunch of listless players who are shooting lights out than a bunch of fools running around the court trying to lay up or dunk the ball. If everyone knows the Rockets are only good at layups and dunks, it's almost always a guarantee that the defense will be geared against post ups and penetrations. JVG's teams are so easy to defend.
