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Let's get that ring, Theo. Timmy & Co. have done it for others, no reason this coming season will be different. Especially with the at ude all you new Spurs are showing. I see some damn fine team chemistry come playoff time.
Nice article. Thx...
Ratliff hopes quest for ring ends with Spurs
Jeff McDonald
The newest Spur was in San Antonio on Monday, steeled to endure the typical battery of physical tests that comes with arriving in a new NBA town.
By now, Theo Ratliff is used to the drill. At various other points in his 14-season pro career, he has also done the turn-your-head-and-cough routine in Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Portland, Boston and Minnesota.
The welcome-to-the-team physical has been roughly the same in each locale, as thorough as it is monotonous.
“Lots of checks and balances,” Ratliff said with a chuckle after his latest exam ended late Monday afternoon.
Well-traveled and well-heeled, Ratliff arrives in San Antonio in search of the one significant bauble that has eluded him.
A championship.
Ratliff, the 6-foot-10 center who signed a one-year, veteran-minimum deal with the Spurs last week, did so because he believes the team gives him the best chance of putting an exclamation point on his long and winding career.
“Just to be in a position going into the season where you know you have a chance to be playing in that final game, that's something I haven't had in a long time,” said Ratliff, 36. “That's more important than anything.”
The Spurs could truthfully sell Ratliff on a le shot after an offseason in which they traded for scoring swingman Richard Jefferson, signed veteran forward Antonio McDyess and drafted All-American big man DeJuan Blair out of Pittsburgh.
Tabbed as a backup to Tim Duncan and McDyess in the Spurs' frontcourt, Ratliff — who spent last season on a second tour of duty in Philadelphia — is the final piece of that summer remodeling job. Now, he hopes to be more than just window dressing.
Ratliff has always been regarded as one of the NBA's best shot-blockers. In three consecutive seasons from 2000-04, he led the league in blocks per game.
Though well past the prime of his career, Ratliff still believes he can contribute around the rim. He averaged a block per game while backing up Samuel Dalembert in Philadelphia last season, despite logging fewer than 13 minutes an outing.
For the Spurs, the NBA's fourth-worst shot-blocking team last season, Ratliff represents a low-cost gamble. Just as the Spurs are hopeful Blair might single-handedly help them improve one statistical shortcoming (rebounding), they believe Ratliff might help them upgrade their shot-blocking.
“I think I'll be able to make the team a little better,” said Ratliff, who is on his fifth team since leaving Portland after the 2005-06 season. “What I can produce, in terms of knowing the game, playing defense — that's something a lot of teams aspire to have.”
Ratliff, meanwhile, aspires to have an elusive le.
He has been playing professional basketball since 1995 and has called nearly every NBA time zone home.
The closest Ratliff came to a championship was in 2007-08, his second stint in Detroit. That Pistons team — which also included another future Spurs big man, McDyess — lost to Boston in the Eastern Conference finals.
Adding insult to defeat, Ratliff had played for the previously moribund Celtics the season before.
When Boston went on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA championship, there were those who joked that perhaps Ratliff deserved a ring as well. After all, his $11.6 million expiring contract was a key component in the preseason trade that brought Kevin Garnett from Minnesota to Boston.
Ratliff doesn't know if this season will represent his last chance at an NBA le. The ultimate call on his retirement, he says, will come from his wife, Kristina, and his six children.
He does, however, realize time is running out.
“Having had that taste, getting so close to a championship, it definitely puts a bad taste in your mouth,” Ratliff said. “It makes you want to get back in a situation like that.”
His latest physical passed, his Spurs contract made official, Ratliff believes that he has.
Notebook: The Spurs on Monday finalized a preseason game against Euroleague power Olympiacos Pireaus. The Greek team, highlighted by former Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Childress, will visit the AT&T Center on Oct. 9 as part of the Euroleague American Tour 2009.
Let's get that ring, Theo. Timmy & Co. have done it for others, no reason this coming season will be different. Especially with the at ude all you new Spurs are showing. I see some damn fine team chemistry come playoff time.
Nice article. Thx...
Always liked the Rattler. Would love to see him get a ring along w/ Dice.
To make my wish complete, get Jerome 'JYD' Williams to come out of retirement, and get him a Ring too!
We're playing preseason against a Greek team? Oh, this should be forum gold.
October 9, Olympiacos Piraeus at Spurs.
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132180
Hmm. Does McDonald know something that we don't?
It's the 2nd time he's mentioned that Ratliff is the final piece of our rebuilding summer.
I doubt he knows anything and is only guessing that the Spurs are done for now.
And DeJuan Blair ?????
Lies...
We're playing preseason against a Greek team? Oh, this should be forum gold.
LIES!!!
The Greeks will teach Pop and Duncan a thing or two about basketball.
Good luck for Ratliff. Hope we can Jerome Kersey him.
Why are we taking on another guy at the absolute end of his career? He won't get anythin but garbage minutes because as much as Pop talks about vets, he rarely plays them (remember Willis) and if we lose the two centers ahead of him we'd still be as well off playing someone younger. (Ian)
HAHAHAHA i ing love the junk yard dog. hes my main man, got his rookie card and everything. i would take him on the spurs over sjax right now
Veterans lusting after rings and rookies with chips on their shoulders are good things to have.
Since Ratliff is signed to only a one year deal, at the end of the year, is there trade value as an expiring contract?
CAN'T WAIT!!!!! QUITE LITERALLY CAN'T WAIT!!!!!
(my wife can however....) I've never been more stoked about a Spurs season than this one up coming.
They got Finley one, they can certainly get one more for the others. Git r done Spurs!
Always good to have hungry vets on the team!
He is signed to the veteran minimum. It's tradeable as an expiring until the deadline, but he took the minimum, so what else do you want to match a salary that low? We got a bargain price on a defensive big, yes at the end of his career. Where is there any gamble though? If he sucks, don't play him, or cut him and bring in another minimum player. Personally, I don't think there is anyone that we could get so cheaply that could possibly help us as much. It's the final piece of the versatile combination of bigs we now have on our roster. We got the smaller guys that rebound well in Blair and McDyess, now Ratliff is the guy capable of swatting shots and clogging up the paint. We have to remember that Ian and Haislip must prove themselves NBA worthy in order to see late season action this year. If it happens, great, we have extra injury protection. If we can't count on them during the playoffs, we at least know that Ratliff can make scoring at the rim a little tougher. I think it's a smart move and not a gamble at all, simply because I don't see us risking anything.
I hope Theo is a contributor next year, whether hes tutoring Ian and Blair or blocking shots during garbage time, I hope he makes his last season count.
i do see that theo had decent blocked shots stats ...does anyone know if he defended any capable, all star bigs well last year? i know i saw him have a couple of good games for philly, but was his one on one defense any good at his age?
Bauble?
The Spurs seriously lack rim protection when Tim isn't in the game. That's why.Though well past the prime of his career, Ratliff still believes he can contribute around the rim. He averaged a block per game while backing up Samuel Dalembert in Philadelphia last season, despite logging fewer than 13 minutes an outing.
Olympiacos Pireaus is not the best. They are the 2nd best team in the 3rd best league with the 4th best coach playing the easiest schedule of the upper division over 35 league. Therefore, they will be playing for the bronze, not the gold. You are a liar. Everyone on this forum has no clue how to eat stuffed grape leaves. Liars!!!!
We're playing preseason against a Greek team? Oh, this should be forum gold.
KBP
We are glad to have you Theo. Hopefully we can get you and Dice your rings.
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