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Can't wait for him to stuff someone as a Spur. If it's in the first reg season game, or even preseason, that'd be great. But if he does so in preseason, then I might not get to see it.
Spurs can't wait to see Ratliff at the rim
Jeff McDonald
The path to the basket was clear, or so Marcus Haislip thought. He took one dribble, then two, then lifted off to attempt the sort of teeth-chattering dunks that had made him a YouTube mainstay during his 31/2 seasons in Europe.
A funny thing happened on Haislip's way to the basket during a recent Spurs intrasquad scrimmage.
“Somebody came out of nowhere,” Haislip said, “and blocked it.”
It took Haislip a few moments to figure out who that somebody was. In retrospect, he probably could have guessed.
“That's been my calling card my whole career,” Theo Ratliff said.
Ratliff, a 6-foot-10 reserve center and former NBA shot-blocking champion, was an under-the-radar acquisition for the Spurs this offseason. Certainly, he was not as fawned-over as fellow newcomers Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair.
Yet if Ratliff has just a few more blocked shots left in his 36-year-old hands, he will have earned every cent the Spurs spent to get him here. The 14-year veteran is poised to bring to San Antonio something the Spurs haven't had since David Robinson last hung up his Nikes: another intimidating rim defender to complement Tim Duncan.
Less than a week into training camp, Ratliff has already made his presence felt — and not just by Haislip.
“He makes you change the way you shoot,” Manu Ginobili said. “We haven't had that in the last few years, ever since 5-0 (Robinson) left. It's good to have a shot-blocker like that.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich hopes Ratliff's come-from-nowhere block on Haislip is a sign of things to come. The Spurs were the league's fourth-worst shot-blocking team last season, averaging four per game.
“It was nice to see,” Popovich said. “Timmy needs somebody else to be doing that. He can't be the only guy doing it all the time.”
The additions of Ratliff and McDyess, another respected low-post defender, were part of an offseason makeover meant to restore the Spurs to the realm of elite defensive teams.
The Spurs finished ninth in the league in field goal percentage defense last season (45.3), their lowest rank in 11 seasons under Popovich. Popovich has made it a professed goal this season to get back into the top two or three in the league.
Though not quite the player he was in his prime, Ratliff could play a significant role in getting the Spurs there.
As the Denver Nuggets proved last season, a shot blocker or two can improve a team's overall defensive outlook significantly. Almost overnight, Denver became a top-5 defensive team thanks in large measure to the shot-blocking work of Chris Andersen and Nenę.
Ratliff's eyes twinkle when told of Popovich's plan to re-emphasize defense this season.
“That's my forté,” said Ratliff, who logged 47 blocks in 46 games with Philadelphia last season. “That's been me my whole career. I know that's what I'm good at, and what they brought me here to do.”
Just in case there was any doubt, however, Ratliff showcased as much in one of his first training camp practices with the Spurs. A few days later, Haislip was still disputing the legality of Ratliff's block.
“I think it was goaltending,” Haislip said, “but Theo's a veteran, so he's going to get those calls over me.”
If Haislip was surprised to see Ratliff get to the ball, well, so was Ratliff.
After all, Haislip is one of the top athletes the Spurs have in camp this year. Ratliff is a creaky vet still in the “getting warmed up” phase of his preseason.
“I guess I've still got some hops in my legs,” Ratliff said. “I didn't know I'd be able to do that this early in camp.”
If the Spurs get their wish, it won't be the last time Ratliff surprises somebody at the rim this season.
Can't wait for him to stuff someone as a Spur. If it's in the first reg season game, or even preseason, that'd be great. But if he does so in preseason, then I might not get to see it.
“He makes you change the way you shoot,” Manu Ginobili said. “We haven't had that in the last few years, ever since 5-0 (Robinson) left. It's good to have a shot-blocker like that.”
his health in the postseason is important
Yes. Manu's health is very important. He's one of the best players to grace the game..
Haha!!! Just ING with you, ducks!!!!!!
No wait. He really is that good.
was talking about ratliff
he is the shot blocker
block kobe
manu health is important though to
Pretty poor example when they've had the likes of Camby, Martin, Nene, Anderson before last season..As the Denver Nuggets proved last season, a shot blocker or two can improve a team's overall defensive outlook significantly. Almost overnight, Denver became a top-5 defensive team thanks in large measure to the shot-blocking work of Chris Andersen and Nenę.
They became a better team defensively, and overall, because they acquired a genuine floor leader that gave them structure and accountability on both ends of the court.
Shot-blocking isn't always the greatest indicator for defense, especially when your first line of defense is a couple of turnstiles and the last line sacrifices fundamentally sound, disciplined defense for the glory of a blocked shot.
That being said, I'm definitely pleased with the Ratliff addition.
I've said he'd be this year's Willis in prior posts, mainly because of the advanced age and expected limited role, but a better comparison might actually be Mutombo; someone who, regardless of age, still changes and altars shots with his mere presence on the court.
And if the Rattler can give the Spurs anything close to what Mutombo gave the Rockets over the last couple of years, it'd be quite the coup.
Hopefully that back of his will hold up and he'll give the Spurs a handful of turn-back-the-clock moments along the way.
haven't seen any of these around..
this made me all that much more EXCITED for this upcoming season.
It's gonna be fun having a guy besides Timmy that can actually block shots. This dude ain't what he used to be, but he still has some solid shot blocking in him. I just wonder how many minutes per game he's gonna get and how good of a tandem him and TD will make guarding the rim.
Yeah, that's the first thing that stood out to me too. The Nuggets had way more blocks two years ago than they did last year. They actually lost shotblocking but improved their defense ... mostly due to Marcus Camby being a vastly overrated defender.
As for Ratliff, it'll be really interesting to see how much he has left in the tank. Pop may lean him on him a bit more than expected if Ratliff provides a healthy amount of shotblocking. Considering that the Spurs can easily put four scorers around him, his defense alone should be able to earn him minutes.
We'll see but Ratliff could be more important to the 2009-10 Spurs than we are expecting.
Image a line up of:
Hill
Hairston
Haislip
Duncan
Ratliff
wow.
Just so incredibly bittersweet that the spurs finally get us a shotblocker when he's old, and probably doesn't have anything left, and a legit bigman next to duncan when he is pretty old, and playing year 1 of what will probably be his last decent contract.
bitter sweet.
Latif!
We need to trade all of our trading assets for Jeff Foster so he can make this article irrelevant. Jeff Foster would be so much more effective than Ratliff in the whole 12 minutes he would play.
Last edited by MaNu4Tres; 10-03-2009 at 04:24 AM.
sounds like ratliff will be on the floor whenever duncan isn't. his blocks per 40 has hovered around 3 for the last few years so hopefully he maintains that stat. this will give popovich the capability to play potential defensive liabilities like blair or mahinmi more. i love how the spurs at least attempted to fill all the holes and weaknesses on the team. other than the uncontrollable factor of health, this spurs team has no weaknesses.
I see Pop playing TD and Ratliff at the same time against Pau and Bynum
lol He smacked Yao's twice!
One of the side-benefits of having a proven, veteran, big like Ratliff, is that he can mentor some of the younger bigs - particuarly Ian. I hope Ian watches and learns the true technique of shotblocking from Ratliff. If that happens, it will benefit the Spurs as much as Ratliff's actual on-court contributions.
Last edited by SenorSpur; 10-03-2009 at 09:29 AM.
If only it were possible but Foster just signed an extension.. he wants to retirre a Pacer and he's Larry Bird's kind of player.
I think the Spurs are hoping he has something left and will probably get more minutes than what most of us are thinking he will.
But, I agree, if nothing else his mentoring and leadership off the court should valuable to the young bigs during the season.
sarcasim? Have you heard of it?
Last edited by MaNu4Tres; 10-03-2009 at 11:56 AM.
Give me some of this
After playing 63, 55, 2, 26, and 46 games the last 5 years, I was just thinking that in a secondary defender role and fewer minutes, Ratliff might be more likely to make it through the season relatively injury free; but it looks like he never played more than 27.5 mpg during that stretch. I don't know enough about him to know the particulars of all the injuries - I think he took a year off until he signed w/ Boston towards the end of one the 2 game season - but I worry about his durability.
Hopefully, Pop is smart enough to add Ratliff to the list of players who they are being extra careful with about wear and tear, even though he can be such a defensive beast.
I think with two young guns like Blair and Mihinmi to soak up their combined wisdom, Duncan and Ratliff should be in good shape to lead the bigs to a standout year defensively and also get the young guys some valuable floor time - even starters minutes on b2b games. Throw in Dice's professionalism and consistancy and a wildcard 3/4 in Haislip who seems to have a serious chip on his shoulder to prove his worth, and it is incredibly hard not to be excited about how good the frontcourt can be this year. On paper this is the strongest, most versatile frontcourt in the Duncan era.
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