Fire Still Burning for Thompson

Three months ago at the Olympics, John Thompson was taking his lumps. Now, he and his Georgetown Hoyas are ready once more to start dealing them out. Big John took only third at the Olympics. He may do better in the NCAA tournament. Yes, because of Alonzo Mourning of Chesapeake, Va., whom he recruited. But also because of Dikembe Mutombo of Kinshasa, Zaire, who fell in his lap.

Someday, when college hoop freaks debate the game’s best twin towers, Mourning and Mutombo may be on the short list. At least Thompson gives that impression. As he said of Mutombo, “You can’t coach 7-foot-2 ... with athletic skill and a world of confidence.”

Everybody knows Georgetown got Mourning. He’s as graceful and gifted as advertised -- more polished than the young Patrick Ewing though less intimidating. No wonder he almost made the Olympics and survived against NBA all-star teams.

Wednesday night, in his first home game, Mourning not only had a triple double but also, in 22 minutes, had 11 blocked shots to break Ewing’s one-game record. Talk about announcing yourself. “I’m very pleased with his development,” said Thompson. “He doesn’t have to be Patrick. I’ll be satisfied if he’s Alonzo. He works hard. Sometimes he gets really intense. And he doesn’t care how much he scores.”

What everybody in college ball does not know yet is that, in three warm-up games, Mourning has not been the fourth-ranked Hoyas’ biggest or most impressive new giant. Mutombo is not as good as Mourning yet, but Thompson thinks he may be someday.

How raw is the 230-pounder who learned the game in a Jesuit school in Kinshasa? And how great’s his potential? Mutombo showed both on one play. He blocked a shot -- without jumping or even knowing that a shot had been taken -- with his elbow. Then he snapped the ball up quick as a lizard tongue.

“He’s going to be a tremendous impact player by the end of his career.

Thompson never has spoken with such glowing, almost irresponsible, enthusiasm about any player in 17 years at Georgetown. Asked about parallels to Akeem Olajuwon of Nigeria, Thompson said, “That’s a tremendous comparison.” Then he proceeded to give the impression, without actually saying so, that Mutombo might be a bit ahead at this stage of his career.

“He’s going to be great. I sincerely believe that,” said Thompson of Mutombo, who is a sophomore because he spent last year at Georgetown learning English-his fifth language. “He runs the floor like Patrick. ... His arms are so long-the longest wingspan of any player we’ve ever had.

Mutombo’s biggest flaw is one language he doesn’t speak: basketball. “Every game has jargon,” Thompson said. “Our slang stumps him sometimes.”

After the nationwide abuse Thompson took after the Olympics, Georgetown’s class of rookie giants seems like poetic justice. New forward John Turner (6-9), a blue-chip banger who plays bigger than any Hoya did last season, can be overlooked when Mourning and Mutombo play together.

What may make Thompson happiest is that his team now can return to the relentless trapping pressure defenses of the Ewing era-defenses that require a great shot blocker in the rear and work best with another agile giant at the point. Once, Ewing and Michael Graham had those roles. Soon, Mourning and Turner or Mutombo will inherit them.

“We haven’t been pressing people as much as we used to, although everybody thinks we did. They keep seeing those (Ewing) ghosts,” said the coach. “Now we can play like our reputation again.”

Hard as it is to believe, Mutombo got to Georgetown by accident. “You get a lot of pictures of kids standing so it looks like their heads touch the basket,” said Thompson, laughing. “A government employee named Herman showed me a photo like that of Mutombo. ... I asked, ‘Is he really 7-2? Is he as big as this guy?’ And I pointed to (7-0) Ben Gillery.

“Herman said, ‘Bigger.’

“I said, ‘Send him.’ ”

Georgetown lacks a shooter. Olympian Charles Smith is the team’s only leader. And freshmen make mistakes. Also, Thompson’s analytical skills will be tested by a roster with so many interchangeable parts. To jell or not to jell, that is the question.

Still, this Hoyas team looks like a well-deserved reward for Thompson and his coaching principles. Last week, in one final autumn dart aimed at Thompson, Kenny Anderson of Georgia Tech, perhaps the country’s most recruited guard, told the New York Times he picked Tech over Georgetown because Thompson never came to watch him play and because he didn’t like “that shuffling in and out, in and out” that Georgetown does.

Unwittingly, Anderson was underlining why Thompson may be an even better developer of young people than he is a basketball coach. Thompson does not try to seduce teen-agers into his program with guarantees of playing time. In other words, he acts like an adult and teacher. He spends his time with the players he has, not the ones he might get someday. Thompson sends his assistants to do an assistant’s job.

“I never saw Mourning play a high school game,” said Thompson this week when asked about Anderson. “I go (to visit) only if the calendar permits. The thing I resent is all the attention these kids have been conditioned to expect. ... They think, ‘This guy never saw me play. He doesn’t like me.’ That’s absolutely wrong.” Thompson admits that he came home from Seoul a depressed and frustrated man. Many wondered if, after such a long hard grind and such a high-profile defeat, he could revive himself enough to fan his old fires fully this season.

But then the sun rose once more and it was Mourning.

Not to mention Mutombo.