DENVER. Dec 11 : Although Dikembe Mutombo insists it is "still too early to Judge me as a player," the ratings are in. and they're glowing, reports AP

The Denver Nuggets' rookie tlmldatlng defender and shot blocker and a fierce rebounder—which most scouts expected him to be. But he also has been a surprisingly ef fective scorer — which few predicted.

The 7-foot-2 (2.18 meter) Mutombo. supposedly too "raw- to make an Immediate impact in the National Basketball Association, leads the Nuggets in scoring (19.2 per game), rebounding (13.9) and blocked shots (2.78). League-wide, the so-called "project" ranks third in rebounding behind only Atlanta's Kavin Willis and Detroit's Dennis Rodman. and he stands eighth in blocked shots.

The scary thing is. everyone who hM seen him play believes he's far from being the player hell eventually become.

Patrick Ewing

"He's g'ing to be a stud," said the I .dladelphla 76era' Charles Berkley

After being outplayed by Mutombo Monday night. Boston Celtics center Robert

Parish said. "Once he gets some different shots and once he learns to mix it up he's going to be a force."

To be sure. Mutombo is not polished. He still lacks a roll able shot, although he has be gun to develop a hook shot and a turnaround Jumper of modest dependability He's still team Ing—sometimes painfully — the moves and tendencies of opponents.

And he's still prone to the maddening 'mistakes that plague ail rookies. Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, he dribbled into a double-team and turned the ball over on the Nuggets' final possession of a 102-100 loss

As his coach. Paul Westhead, notes. "Every possession is an experience for Dikembe. Its an endless learning process."

But Westhead has never met anyone quicker — or more ca ^Westhead has found it diffi cult to calibrate Mutombo* improvement “because M's so daily.' He cites Mutombo s "resiliency." saying the rookie "will not crack" when obstacles are thrown his way.

“He'll Improvise, he'll do clever little things on his own when something comes up he hasn't seen before." Westhead says.

One reason for the 25-year-old Mutombo's rapid progress la his limited background in the sport.

"He has no bad habits, so he doesn't have to unlearn anything." Westhead says." He never played on the playground as a 14-year-old and never took those crazy, wild shots. Pretty much all he knows Is what he was taught tn college by (Georgetown coach) John Thompson — he was well taught there — and wlmt we've tried to teach him."

Growing up In Zaire. Mutombo never touched a basketball until he was 18. Most of what he knows he teamed from Thomson in three seasons; he sat out his freshman year at Georgetown to learn English, one of ftve languages he speaks.

Although he enjoyed some success on the court tn col-it took a conversation with fortner Celtic great Bill Russell and workouts with Ewing this summer to persuade Mutombo that he had an NBA future.

I m still making mistakes every night." he says. There's so much to team. But I know one day I'll be better."

How much better?

Listen to Westhead : The basketball world said before the draft that maybe he'd be a

future bill Russell. When we worked him out late In the summer and saw that he was much more advanced on offense. we thought he might be a future Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. This may sound greedy, but maybe he's both."

Mutombo has already earned some honours. He required only 15 games to earn both NBA Rookie ofthe-month and the NBA Player-of-the Month honours for November

Westhead notes that Mutombo has become a marked man, too, not a rookie who has sneaked up on the competition.

In the Nuggets second exhibition game, he scored 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. In the fifth exhibition game, he had 38 points and 16 rebounds. He quickly got everyone's attention, and has kept It.

"Not only is he playing 40 minutes a game, but he never gets an easy play." Westhead said. 'He's treated like The Men by our opponents

Its not like we re an expe rienced team where the op our shooter, leaving Dikembe to get an easy basket He's the hub — the guy we've built our offence and defence around — and everybody knows IL