Men’s basketball notes: CU Buffs’ Danny Manning mourns the loss of Dikembe Mutombo

Danny Manning missed being teammates with Dikembe Mutombo in Atlanta by a couple of years.

The pair had plenty of connections, however, as their NBA careers overlapped throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

Manning, the former No.

1 overall pick in the NBA Draft who is beginning his first season as an assistant at Colorado, was good friends with former Nuggets player Joe Wolf from Mannings first few NBA seasons with the Clippers, years before Wolf became Mutombos teammate in Denver.

Manning also was part of the 1988 US Olympic team, the last one comprised entirely of collegiate players which was coached by Georgetown legend John Thompson.

Mutombo, then just going in to his freshman season at Georgetown, was part of a contingent of college players Thompson brought in to scrimmage the US squad team ahead of the Olympics.

Although Manning and Mutombo were never teammates in the NBA, the pair battled as mutually respected foes in the NBA for more than a decade.

Manning joined the basketball world in offering his condolences to the family of Mutombo, who passed away at 58 earlier this week due to brain cancer.

Its sad.

Its disappointing from the aspect of losing a friend, Manning said.

It also helps to put things in perspective.

When you get to be my age, Tad (Boyles) age, you want to pour into these guys as much as possible.

But you know what? I want to make sure I spend time with my family, too.

Asked if Mutombo, one of the greatest shot-blockers in NBA history, ever had reason to unleash his signature post-block finger-wag at Manning, CUs new assistant laughed and replied, Mutombo blocked a lot of shots.

Im pretty sure he blocked one of mine at some point.

Theres no shame in that.

None at all.

He was a great player.

Tense moments CU guard RJ Smith understood how to deal with an injury.

But the blood clots that started in Smiths leg, ending his season last year after playing the first seven games off the bench, proved more harrowing to deal with.

Blood clots can be life-threatening in certain parts, and for me I had the worst of it, Smith said.

It wasnt just in my leg, it went up to my lung.

I had to take medication for it for six months.

I couldnt play that whole time.

Not with contact.

I could still do everything else, exercise, work out.

But I was cleared in May.

It was a long process, but Im excited and ready to get going.

Role call It remains to be seen which CU Buffs player will have the ball in his hands with the shot clock ticking down, or who will be most capable of grabbing a critical rebound.

Yet as the Buffs complete their second week of preseason workouts, there is a hope the teams collective versatility will help uncover those roles.

I feel like were all so versatile and super good at doing different things.

Everybody brings something different to the court, CU sophomore forward Bangot Dak said.

I think were going to be one of the most versatile teams in the Big 12.

Notable The Big 12 basketball media days will be held Oct.

22 (women) and Oct.

23 (men) at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

...

Former Arizona forward Oumar Ballo, now at Indiana, was named to the Big Tens preseason all-conference team.

Oregons Jackson Shelstad also landed on the preseason All-Big Ten team..

This article has been shared from the original article on dailycamera, here is the link to the original article:

https://www.dailycamera.com/2024/10/04/mens-basketball-notes-cu-buffs-danny-manning-mourns-the-loss-of-dikembe-mutombo/