Mark Monteith of the Indianapolis Star chimes in on the Mutombo trade. He claims that some people spoke too soon. After a 6-0 preseason and a 4-0 start in the regular season (which included an impressive win over the Pacers) many had tagged New Jersey the runaway winners of the East. The Addition of Mutombo had pushed them over the top.
Since the 4-0 start, they are just 7-6 and they are threatening to be undermined by what may become known as the Mutombo fiasco.
When the Nets traded Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch to the Sixers for Dikembe Mutombo, the expectations were that Richard Jefferson would fill in for Van Horn and Mutombo would give them the defense and rebounding that they lacked last season and allow them to compete against Shaquile O?Neal and the Lakers.
Monteith writes, "It was a nice theory. But Mutombo, whose age is listed as 36 but often seems closer to 63 as he creaks around the court, isn't playing up to expectations and finds himself at the center of the discontent surrounding the Nets."
He?s averaging career lows of 7.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 25 minutes per game. He is also complaining about his role on the team. He says he would play better with more minutes. Nets coach Byron Scott says he?ll get more minutes if he played better.
Scott has said all along he'll limit Mutombo's minutes until late in the season so that he'll be fresher for the playoffs. Mutombo, however, has aggravated the situation by showing poor hands as the Nets try to run their offense through him -- an offense he's been slow to pick up. "All of us are trying our best to get Deke to come along a little bit quicker offensively," Scott said. "We are going to have to put more time into it."
The Sixer meanwhile are very happy with the results of the trade. They are leading the Atlantic Division with a 13-4 record and Van Horn and MacCulloch are producing quality minutes for their new team.
"Honestly, I think we're a better team than we were when we went to the Finals (in 2000-01)," Sixers star Allen Iverson said. "It's like we're 10 strong. On the Finals team, we relied so much on Dikembe, put so much pressure on him to bail us out (defensively). Now we don't have that luxury inside any more; we just have to rely on each other, just do better as a unit. It helps us, because we just don't put pressure on one guy."