ON RED ANED GREEN

Ageless warrior Dikembe Mutombo finally made his comeback in the NBA not in a green uniform as many speculated but in his old fiery red Houston Rockets jersey. Months before his re-signing with the Rockets, Mutombo was being seriously courted by the Boston Celtics, who badly needs a veteran presence to back-up the “Big Three” just like what P.J. Brown did last season. But in the end, the 7-2 veteran pivotman just can not turn his back on the team which he had played for in the last four campaigns.

Despite limited minutes of playing time, Mutombo, 42, was an effective back-up to Rocket’s starting slotman Yao Ming last season after posting decent stats of 3.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg and 1.2 bpg in 39 games including 25 starts. Before joining the Rockets in 2004-05, he also saw action for the Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks. He had a career averages of 9.9 ppg, 10.4 rpg and 2.7 bpg in 1,187 outings.

The 17-year vet is happy to return to the Rockets and reunite once again with Ming and Tracy McGrady. He is also excited to play with the team’s two key additions in Ron Artest and Brent Barry. "I feel like it was something I had to do. I was getting pressure from my friends and of course from Yao and Tracy. They wanted me back on the team and I am happy to come back to the Rockets", Mutombo said.

It’s finger-wagging time again for the Rockets!


*****

Talking about color green, the defending champs Boston Celtics are presently on a crisis. Not the global economic crunch but in the way of an unexpected slump. They had won only five of their last ten outings and lost their last two games against lowly teams.

The Beantown's tailspin all started with the heartbreaking defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas day. Then they won only one game in their four-game western road swing and the recent setbacks to the New York Knicks and Charlotte Bobcats are bitter pills to swallow for this proud franchise. The losing spell brought down the men in green to a 29-7 win-loss card and surrendered the over-all league leadership to the Lakers and the surprising Cleveland Cavaliers, both with 27-6 slates.

The Celtics must make their move now and put their acts together. They better do something quickly to arrest this losing skid before anything else becomes too late, which may put their bid for a back-to-back title run in jeopardy.