Mutombo among graybeards turning back the clock

	Rockets center Dikembe Mutbomo (right) has filled in capably for the injured Yao Ming. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Also in this column:
• The NBA's up-and-down nature
• Big key to the Clippers' playoff hopes
• International prospects to watch

There is no doubt that the NBA is a young man's league, but that doesn't mean an old man can't step forward and teach a few lessons to the young men once in a while.

There are just four active players who were playing in the NBA when Indiana president Larry Bird last played in the 1991-92 season: Houston's Dikembe Mutombo, 40, New Jersey's Clifford Robinson, 40, Miami's Gary Payton, 38, and Detroit's Dale Davis, 37. Throw in Chicago's P.J. Brown, 37, and you have the NBA's oldest possible starting five.

Something about those old guys, though: They've still got some game left, as each member of the Feisty Five (only a less charitable soul than I would call them the Fossilized Five) has shown in the last couple of weeks.

Mutombo has been nothing short of a revelation since being pressed into the starting lineup after Yao Ming went down with a broken leg. Mutombo has grabbed double-figure rebounds in 12 of his last 13 games, including 19 apiece in wins over the Jazz and Lakers this month. In the past 13 games, he is averaging 13.3 rebounds.

After the 19-rebound effort against the Lakers, which also included a memorable Mount Mutombo block of 19-year-old center Andrew Bynum, the league's youngest player, the league's oldest player received some praise from Rockets star Tracy McGrady.

"I had to pull him to the side and tell him how great he looked," McGrady said. "Night in, night out, the big guy is playing great basketball for us. With Yao going down, the old man is getting it done out there."

Here are some other exploits from the league's oldest quintet:

• Robinson beat the Knicks on Friday when he reached over the much bigger, much younger Eddy Curry and tapped in a miss by Vince Carter to hand the Nets a 101-100 victory. "With Cliff, you never say age," Nets coach Lawrence Frank told the New York Post. "He may hit you. Cliff still thinks he's 30."

• Davis got a rare start on Jan. 12 against Atlanta and produced a 12-point, 10-rebound game. With Chris Webber now on board in Detroit, the Pistons will likely trade either Davis or Nazr Mohammed. But it's to Davis' credit that he showed he still has value after playing very little during his 1½ seasons in Detroit.

• Payton has struggled with some physical ailments this season, but the future Hall of Famer has two 14-point efforts in the last two weeks, and he has 21 assists to five turnovers this month, a better than 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

• Brown, who fell out of Scott Skiles' rotation for part of the season, is back in good graces in Chicago, even starting a few games recently. "I've been too inconsistent for P.J. in finding him his minutes," Skiles told the Daily Herald. "I need to do a better job of that. P.J. has been our best interior defender. He's our longest player. He's been a very good defensive rebounder for us. He's a conscientious box-out guy. He does a lot of things out there."