Spurs center Theo Ratliff, gesturing after scoring a basket, will get to open Christmas presents with his wife and their six children before he heads to Milwaukee with the team.
Spurs' Ratliff dreams of cheap Christmas
Jeff McDonald
With no game to play on Christmas Day this year, Spurs players, coaches and staff members have the rare opportunity to spend the morning with their families before boarding a late afternoon charter flight to Milwaukee.
For reserve center Theo Ratliff, that means approximately a metric ton of torn wrapping paper. Ratliff, 36, and his wife Kristina have six children, ranging in age from 13 to 21/2-year old twin girls.
He said he can't wait to watch Adonia, Darius, Stacia, Yasmeen, Alexis and Sasha tear into their Christmas goodies this morning.
“It's always crazy,” Ratliff said. “But it's good.”
Ratliff jokes that most of his NBA earnings have gone to pay for large family Christmases. When he plays Santa, the price tag can get expensive.
“That's the only reason Theo Ratliff is still in the league,” teammate Richard Jefferson said. “To pay for those kids.”
A vote of confidence: At least one NBA coach predicts the Spurs will soon return to their winning ways, even after a 15-11 start.
“We were going through the same things, earlier, with chemistry and the new players,” said Portland coach Nate McMillan, whose team beat the Spurs 98-94 on Wednesday. “Some people expect things to happen right away, but it takes time. They've been able to stay afloat. They're a good team, and they're going to be OK.”
Saving Theo: Ratliff did not play against Portland, marking the 14th time this season Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has not used him in a game. He is averaging better than a block a game in the 12 games he has played.
“Theo's played well every time I've put him on the court,” Popovich said. “He's been great every single time.”
Ratliff is averaging 10 minutes per game this season. Despite his productivity, his playing time has been limited both by age and by Popovich's desire to get Antonio McDyess and rookie DeJuan Blair better acclimated to the Spurs' rotation players.
“We wanted to get the players on the court who are going to play the most minutes during the season,” Popovich said, “and we want Theo to be available for certain teams and at the end of the season. There have been certain games he's come in for certain reasons and helped us.”
A notch higher: With 24 points in the loss to Portland, Spurs forward Tim Duncan passed Hall of Famer John Stockton for 35th on the league's all-time scoring list.
Duncan, in his 13th season, has produced 19,724 points. Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki holds the 34th slot with 19,816.
Duncan also needs 19 more rebounds to pass Jack Sikma for 27th on that list.
Last edited by duncan228; 12-25-2009 at 01:10 AM.
THERE IS A GOD. this makes me feel a little better actually seeing it in writing. Faith is back. Hopefully pop doesn't play into other teams way with small ball constantly. there is a time and a place for that kinda play and it isn't for constant use.
damn theo ratliffs been putting in work
It's good to see Pop say what most of us have speculated..Ratliff will be big down the stretch..
I'd still like to see him play some more right now though..at least to spark the team sometimes..
Yep, seems like we're all hoping he makes an impact down the stretch. But why does Pop play him against scrub teams? Don't understand why he isn't saved for the big games like Utah, Nuggets and the Blazers.
what? Dirk's all-time scoring is already higher than Tim's? That's quick
When you take as many shots per game and play as many minutes he does, it's not that hard.
His performance on the offense is better than Duncan's. But I think the reason is obvious that Duncan need to play a way bigger role in defense than Dirk.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
