Don Burke of the Newark Star Ledger reports that Dikembe Mutombo know he has to step up his game. The bulls were able to nullify his effectiveness with their superior athleticism. Mutombo didn?t play the final quarter for the Nets.

While coach Byron Scott said that the matchups dictated Mutombo?s playing time, the fact remains that if the 7-2 center were doing what he was brought in to do, he would not have watched the final quarter of the game from the bench.

The Nets eventually lost to the Bulls. Mutombo isn?t the sole reason for the loss, but he didn?t do much to prevent the loss in his 23 minutes on the floor. He realizes his ineffectiveness was a factor in the defeat.

"I think I just didn't play the way I wanted to," Mutombo said yesterday. "I feel a little bit disappointed in myself the way I played. For some reason, I just don't know how come, I couldn't get into the game. Watching the game, watching the film, today was tough. There were a lot of defensive errors that we made as a team and I wish I could have done a better job with that. ... As a team, we just didn't talk defensively. There was no communication at all."

He didn?t sit on the bench and fume like some NBA stars would. He recognizes a bad game when he has one. "That was the coach's decision," Mutombo said. "I'm not sitting down night after night and trying to complain about minutes. I think I'll leave that to Byron Scott to decide what he wants to do."

Scott didn?t say he?s been disappointed in Mutombo?s performance thus far (9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds so far this season) but he did say there is room for improvement. "I think we can get a little bit more," he said. "His familiarity with the offense has to be better because there are times when he's still thinking (about what he's supposed to do). ... Now, after watching for about seven games, I can really start to expect a little bit more from him, put a little bit of pressure on him to be more offensive-minded, especially on the low post."