Mar
15, 2001 NBA
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Mt.
Mutumbo Should Help Sixers Scale the Heights By
JERRY MITTLEMAN
Despite
a humdrum regular season, this year’s NBA playoffs promise to be really
special. Now the Philadelphia 76ers may have gone and blown it all. The
acquisition of Dikembe Mutombo at the recent trade deadline strengthens
the league’s strongest team by several nth powers.
The
addition of Mutombo gives Philly the league’s most dominant defensive player,
just as
Iverson
emerges as the dominant offensive force in the NBA. Talk about being able
to get it done on both ends of the floor!
Despite
averaging less then 10 ppg, Mutombo this season has once again demonstrated
what a huge impact he has on his team. During a summer visit to his homeland
of Zaire, Mutombo contracted malaria and as a result, spent the first three
weeks of the current season on the Atlanta Hawks’ DL. His teammates looked
even sicker on the court, barely managing to win a game in his absence.
Within a few weeks of his return, the Hawks, a weak team with a rookie
NBA coach, were playing respectable, competitive basketball.
Mutombo
only strengthens the Sixers in an area where they already were one of the
league’s strongest. Excellent defense has been one of the main components
of the Sixers’ huge success this season. Now with Mutombo, they could prove
unstoppable.
Mutombo
replaces Theo Ratliff, a young, talented center who was sent to Atlanta
as compensation and whose block and rebound stats are practically the equal
of Mutombo’s. But with a casual glance, the difference between the two
becomes apparent. Ratliff, with a thin, wiry build, accomplishes what he
does through agility, while the much bigger Mutombo is a wide-bodied physical
presence. In addition, Mutombo is as mentally intimidating as he is physically
intimidating. He’s a tough, veteran competitor, willing to wag that finger
in anyone’s face (or at the crowd, at least).
They
say the playoffs are all about matchups and by obtaining Mutombo, the Sixers
have made themselves playoff primed. They now have a huge, talented, big-bodied
center who can match up against Shaquille O’Neal, Arvidas Sabonis, Vlade
Divac or Tim Duncan and David Robinson in the NBA Finals. In addition,
he clogs the lane against penetrators and alters many more shots then he
blocks.
Iverson
and Mutombo give the Sixers a one-two punch that no other team has today
and the Sixers as a unit are as mentally tough as any team in the league.
With Mutumbo around, Philly will be a tough mount to climb.
