Rockets bring in Mutombo for Yao Ming
(Huston Chronicle)
Updated: 2004-09-17 10:46

Dikembe Mutombo thought back to those wonderful, heady days when he learned how to play center in daily offseason boot camps with Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning. Ewing was his "friend and brother." They all would go on to become NBA stars.

Former All-Star Dikembe Mutombo promises to make life "very interesting" for Yao Ming in practice. [Huston Chronicle]

This, Mutombo said, is what he can bring to the Rockets and, more specifically, Yao Ming.

Mutombo will bring the Rockets a leader and a rebounder, a role model and a shot blocker. He also will provide Yao with a stubborn 7-2 nuisance to test and help develop the Rockets' 24-year-old star center in practices.

"It's going to be very, very interesting for him," Mutombo said. "For the first time in his life, he will have someone almost looking at him in his face and going against him, up and down and back and forth and challenging him in a different kind of way."

In Houston on Wednesday for the first time since being traded to the Rockets last week, Mutombo spoke about the prospects of working with Yao with his usual eloquence and nearly as much passion as when he talked about the hospital he built in his native Congo.

"I think competing in practice will help him learn a lot," Mutombo said. "Some of us got a chance to work alongside ... Patrick and Alonzo every day in practice. That's where I learned the game. By Patrick being here, someone that taught me so much, I think Yao can learn a lot from both of us.

"He mentioned I would be a good example for Yao to follow when it comes to blocking shots and rebounding. There are a few tricks he has to learn. Some of us took it from somebody else, like Bill Russell, who got a chance to spend a lot of time with me to teach me a lot of tricks about the game. I think I'm going to use that same technique to teach my boy Yao."

Last season, his 13th, Mutombo was a more efficient shot blocker than Yao, averaging 1.89 blocks in 22.9 minutes per game to Yao's 1.9 in 32.8 minutes. Mutombo's career average of 3.22 blocked shots is third in league history behind Mark Eaton and Manute Bol, and with 2,996 career blocks, Mutombo trails only Hakeem Olajuwon (3,830), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (3,189) and Eaton (3,064).

Mutombo, an eight-time All-Star, is the only four-time Defensive Player of the Year in NBA history.

After praising the move and describing the value of having a quality backup center, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was not as convinced that practicing against Mutombo would be that beneficial to Yao.

"From last year, Yao crushed him, so I think it will help Yao's confidence, unless (Mutombo) guards him better than he did last year in those two games," Van Gundy said. "I mean, Yao wore him out."

Yao had 15 points and nine rebounds in 27 minutes against the Knicks in New York. Two weeks later, he burned Mutombo and the Knicks for 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting and had 10 rebounds in 29 minutes.

"It's more the fact ... to see where his career has gone, it's been through hard work and diligence," Van Gundy said. "Whenever you add people that are committed and serious and professional ?he also has a great sense of community ?you can't go wrong. You also can't go wrong practicing against that guy, because you know what you're going to get everyday."

In that case, perhaps Mutombo, 38, will be in a position to improve or at least recapture some of the defensive prowess of his prime by working against Yao.

"I practiced against Patrick and Alonzo, but since then, I never got a chance to compete against nobody like Yao on the practice court," Mutombo said. "But I'm looking forward to it."

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