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Yao Ming: Uncle Mutombo Will Return For the New Season

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by pryuen, Mar 27, 2008.

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pryuen Member

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Read this latest article of Wang Meng of Titan Sports covering the win over the Minnesota Timberwolves and the celebration ceremony of Uncle Mutombo.

Just hope that Wang Meng is not making up this story again, particularly on what Yao Ming said about Uncle Mutombo's return for the new season.

ENJOY !!!

http://sports.tom.com/2008-03-27/0424/22233821.html

Reporter Wang Meng of Titan Sports reports from Houston

In this NBA league, there are many fascinating big men who attracted the eyeball attention of everyone, not merely because of their tall and huge appearance; not because of their dominance on the court, dunking and blocking left and right down in the interior low post. On their huge bodies, we discovered too many characteristics and things which are irrelevant with basketball but somehow fascinating and attractive. Yao Ming is one of such examples; Shaquille O’Neal, another; and Deke Mutombo yet another.

And Deke Mutombo is the most fascinating one out of them all, that even when there is still an opportunity for him to return yet for another season, the Houston Rockets still decided to hold a celebration ceremony for him. Uncle Mutombo said: “This has nothing to do with my retirement. This is just to celebrate and recognize my 16-year career in NBA.” Uncle Mutombo is already too old; he is such old that no one can really tell or estimate his real age. Yet, he is still playing and competing on the court as before; he is still grabbing the rebounds; he is still blocking out shots; and once in a while, he is still throwing down a few dunks. He is a living legend, a NBA history pictorial that is being updated on a daily basis.

As far as his age is concerned, there was this beautiful hearsay. It was said that according to a customs back at his hometown (Congo), whenever a new child was born in the family, a tree would be planted in front of the house of that family. So the age of that tree will be the same as that child, and therefore no one needs to worry or to remember that child’s age. All that is required to do is to teach the child how to check the growth-ring of that tree.

So sometimes later, some people wanted to inquire into Deke Mutombo’s real age, and went to his hometown to look for that tree; but they were told that a fire had burned down and destroyed that tree which was the only evidence that can prove Uncle Mutombo’s real age. Therefore Deke Mutombo’s age, one of the 10 NBA mysteries will remain unresolved forever. (We can heatedly debate what the 9 other mysteries are or how they should be ranked, but Uncle Mutombo’s age definitely occupies a slot in the 10 NBA Mysteries.)

Yet, last year, at an NBA official announced age of 40, Uncle Mutombo could still grab 22 rebounds in a competition. Yao Ming, now in his 6th NBA season, had also managed to grab 22 rebounds once in a game, but that was already his career highest number of rebounds grabbed. That was probably why when Uncle Mutombo (who often bellows hoarsely) completed his magnificent feat, Yao Ming could only just nod his head in approval repeatedly and said: “Heroic!! He is a true hero!!”

So on this special night to pay tribute to Uncle Mutombo’s professional career, everyone had made the effort to come.

So Bush Senior had come; this former US President, body-guarded by 2 secret agents, walked staggeringly and leisurely around the court; he sat and watched the game for the first half, and left after the celebration ceremony was held by half time. He will have to come again tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the day for fund raising for Deke Mutombo Foundation.(Note: the Annual Houston Rockets’ Tux and Tennies Charity Gala). Bush Senior will come as a honorable speaker.

David Stern had also come. The NBA Commissioner seldom leaves his office, and rarely goes to competitions that feature poor teams with low winning ratio like Minnesota Timberwolves. He had also come this night specifically for Uncle Mutombo. David Stern said: “We held the NBA Cares campaign/ activities in NBA, but I thought this campaign should be renamed to Deke Mutombo Cares. He is a great person; He has traveled around the globe to the 5 continents to promote basketball, and spread love and care. And on the NBA basketball court, one would not mistaken who is Deke Mutombo: his elbow, his wagging finger, and the way he runs up and down the court. We are happy (and feel proud) to have such player like Deke Mutombo in this league.”

Houston Rockets’ boss, Leslie Alexander has also come. He had gifted Deke Mutombo a huge cheque of US$ 500,000, and Uncle Mutombo was so impressed and happy that he grabbed and almost crushed his boss’ hand.

Yao Ming has also come on his crutches. Ever since he completed his surgery, Yao Ming had not walked that much with his crutches. Even when he came to Toyota Centre for his rehabilitation, he often relied on the working staff’s vehicle commuting between the training hall, gymnasium and the parking lot. But on this night, he had covered a lot of mileage on his crutches to and fro by the courtside. Yao Ming said: “I may have to skip some of the competitions, but definitely not for tonight’s competition. Tonight is an important event for Uncle Mutombo. It would be unreasonable (and I would look bad) if I no-show in tonight’s event.”

Prior to his disappearing into the changing room, some people pulled aside Yao Ming and inquired about his feeling about the celebration ceremony of Uncle Mutombo. Yao Ming shook his head and said: “I knew this is very important to him, but this is not real. This only serves as a rehearsal. It is not yet time for him to retire. He will return (for another season) next year.”

Every of the Houston Rockets players, including Yao Ming, hoped Uncle Mutombo will return and play for another season next year. It is indeed a very interesting experience to be a team mate with him. You can learn a lot of things from him, and simultaneously, he is very funny and entertaining and can make you laugh.

Luckily the Houston Rockets managed to beat Minnesota Timberwolves in tonight’s game, or else it would have spoiled the fun and joy of the celebration ceremony of Uncle Mutombo. But what an ugly game and win it was. It seemed as if Minnesota Timberwolves were deemed too weak; the entire Houston Rockets were playing sluggishly with low fighting spirit, intensity and energy level. They played as if they thought they could win at half strength.

Because of the above, the Houston Rockets were merely leading by 4 points by the end of half time. During the intermission, Rick Adelman had this briefing with his players in the changing room, and told them: “If we want to win this game, we have to play better with higher intensity and energy level. Our performance for the first half was no good, and we looked completely abnormal.”

In the second half, right after the celebration ceremony of Uncle Mutombo, the Houston Rockets finally looked they had returned to normal; they started to go all out on their defense, fought for every of the rebounds, and started to penetrate and take it to the hole, and more importantly, Tracy McGrady also started to attack and make his shots, making 17 points of his 23 points in the second half. The Houston Rockets grabbed 20 offensive rebounds throughout the game, and finally demonstrated their superiority over the Timberwolves in the 4th quarter.

So the Houston Rockets finally did enough to win this game; but in fact they had done very little (against the weak Minnesota Timberwolves). It is always good to be able to win, but given how sloppy the Houston Rockets were playing in the first half, it makes one suspicious and wonder how they will fare against some of those much more stronger teams, and whether such a short-circuit team can advance deep comes the playoff time.

Very soon, the Houston Rockets will start another road trip. And counting from now to the end of the regular season, the Houston Rockets still have to play another 10 games, with only 3 of them at home. Of course, this should not be of much concerns and problems, since for the past 2 years, the Houston Rockets had shown better results playing on the road. And in the remaining games, the Houston Rockets still have to play against San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Sun and Utah Jazz. And that is also unimportant, because as long as the Houston Rockets can win in the remaining 7 games, they can still sneak into the playoff and maybe even guarantee a good playoff spot/seed.

But on the day once the playoff truly starts, all these (results of the regular season) would have vanished and evaporated into the thin air. It will be just like entering into another world, and all the money you have will become useless, and you need to start earning them again. But from what we saw and felt on the current Houston Rockets, we have yet to see too many good signs for them to become successful comes the playoff. It looks as if winning Round 1 to advance further into Round 2 is as difficult as prior seasons.

But, at least, they have won tonight, and can let Uncle Mutombo walk off from the court a proud and happy man. After the game, Uncle Mutomobo again summoned all his Rockets team mates and offered to wine and dine them at a famous steak house in Houston. And Uncle Mutombo was very happy and shuang 爽 for this night.
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#1 pryuen, Mar 27, 2008

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Does Yao actually call him Uncle Mutombo or is that a translation thing?

#2 dntrwl, Mar 27, 2008
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wat? he will return for the next season?

#3 fayesun, Mar 27, 2008
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If he does actually call him uncle, then knowing the Chinese culture, it's a playful label. It's just his way of mocking his age. Chinese people tend to throw the uncle label on anybody much older than them.

#4 RiceDaddy7, Mar 27, 2008
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RiceDaddy7 said:

If he does actually call him uncle, then knowing the Chinese culture, it's a playful label. It's just his way of mocking his age. Chinese people tend to throw the uncle label on anybody much older than them.
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Mocking? I thought calling an older person "Uncle" was supposed to be a show of respect.

#5 durvasa, Mar 27, 2008
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dntrwl said:

Does Yao actually call him Uncle Mutombo or is that a translation thing?
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Well, I think it is not just a translation thing.

Yao Ming mentioned that in a very recent interview by Fox Sports.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/p...n=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=6.1.1

The 41-year old Mutombo is one of Yao's closest friends on the team.

"In China if you are 12 years (older) than me I should call him Uncle," Yao said. "I told him already. Uncle Deke."
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#6 pryuen, Mar 27, 2008
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It could be in either way. In this case, I believe Yao is showing his respect.

durvasa said:

Mocking? I thought calling an older person "Uncle" was supposed to be a show of respect.
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#7 rocketmsm, Mar 27, 2008

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I think Robert Parish and Kareem were in there 40's when they retired.

#8 smoove shoez, Mar 27, 2008
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Where is the quote that Yao flat out said Deke will be back next year?

#9 YallMean, Mar 27, 2008
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YallMean said:

Where is the quote that Yao flat out said Deke will be back next year?
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Prior to his disappearing into the changing room, some people pulled aside Yao Ming and inquired about his feeling about the celebration ceremony of Uncle Mutombo. Yao Ming shook his head and said: “I knew this is very important to him, but this is not real. This only serves as a rehearsal. It is not yet time for him to retire. He will return (for another season) next year.”

#10 smoove shoez, Mar 27, 2008
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durvasa said:

Mocking? I thought calling an older person "Uncle" was supposed to be a show of respect.
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By mocking, I mean playful mocking.

#11 RiceDaddy7, Mar 27, 2008
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Pryuen, can you tell me the literal translation (in phonics) of Uncle Mutombo in Chinese? Thanks.

#12 MD_in_Training, Mar 27, 2008
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"uncle mutombo"? "big brother"? what is the deal with these names for teammates?

#13 Blake, Mar 27, 2008

pryuen Member

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MD_in_Training said:

Pryuen, can you tell me the literal translation (in phonics) of Uncle Mutombo in Chinese? Thanks.
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Mu Da Shu 穆大叔

#14 pryuen, Mar 27, 2008
Last edited: Mar 27, 2008
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MD_in_Training said:

Pryuen, can you tell me the literal translation (in phonics) of Uncle Mutombo in Chinese? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Moo Dar Shoo

#15 xmw, Mar 27, 2008
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pryuen said:

Mu Ta Shu 穆大叔
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In Pinyin, should be Mu Da Shu

#16 xmw, Mar 27, 2008
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xmw said:

In Pinyin, should be Mu Da Shu
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yea, i want some mu shu too

#17 vtkp99, Mar 27, 2008
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Blake said:

"uncle mutombo"? "big brother"? what is the deal with these names for teammates?
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Don't you get it, they actually respect their elders and show it in terms of endearment.

One of the things I miss about the far east.

Oh...and you can call me Uncle Raccoon.

#18 RocketRaccoon, Mar 27, 2008

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xmw said:

In Pinyin, should be Mu Da Shu
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You're right....It was a typo.

#19 pryuen, Mar 27, 2008
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good article

#20 Hoee Ass, Mar 27, 2008

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