|
|
|
Keys to Theo's art: Sweet timing and lots of sweat By
Ashley McGeachy Friday, February 9, 2001 Bennie Dees saw it, and he knew. In a stuffy gym in a tiny Alabama town smoldering in the summer heat, Dees marveled at the kid, a string bean with high pockets and willowy arms, with huge hands that could palm a basketball but had never touched a barbell. The kid was raw, a teenager still, with limited offensive skills. But he had the gift, the instinctive and unteachable gift. And when Dees saw him play, he instantly, desperately, wanted the kid to play for him at the University of Wyoming. "He was a big ol' skinny kid that could run like a deer and jump out of the gym," said Dees, now retired from coaching and tending to his cows in Georgia. "And, boy, could he block shots." Dees had no idea that the kid would sprout three more inches to reach 6-foot-10 or that, once in college, he would fall in love with the weight room and vigorously sculpt his body. He had no idea that the kid would block so many shots, set so many school records that stand more than five years later. And he had no clue that Theophalus Curtis Ratliff would become an NBA all-star for the 76ers.
It starts with the core. Every time Theo Ratliff crosses the lane to leap at an opponent's shot, every time he goes up strong with two hands to thwart a would-be dunker, it is because of his core. It essentially was his core that got him voted onto the Eastern Conference all-star team by the conference's coaches, although the stress fracture in his right wrist that turned up on an MRI yesterday will prevent him from playing in the All-Star Game on Sunday in Washington. He will miss the next four to six weeks - a critical loss for the Sixers, who enter the all-star break with the NBA's best record - 36-14. Through 50 games, Ratliff has blocked a league-leading 187 shots, an average of 3.7 per game. Many of his rejections have come because of his innate ability to not jump until just after the shooter has committed to his shot. Many have come because of his dedication to studying game film and knowing a scorer's preferences - left or right, one hand or two. Many have come because he is patient and will wait while a teammate smothers the offensive player, who becomes distracted, oblivious to Ratliff lurking, poised for a block. But all 187 of Ratliff's blocks have come because of his core - that ripped midsection, back and front. "All of your strength comes from your core," said James Lloyd, the Sixers' new physical conditioning coach. Ratliff works on his core - his abdominal muscles and lower back - daily, doing sit-ups and crunches, stretching, working with weights and a medicine ball. Of all the Sixers, Ratliff's core is the strongest, which allows him to jump higher, to go up strong against a penetrating player. "If you've ever seen him without his shirt on, you'd know how strong he is," Lloyd said. "He has an exceptionally strong core." Or if you saw him play in Houston two weeks ago, you would know. At one point in the second half, Ratliff was the only Sixer back on a Rockets fastbreak. Forward Maurice Taylor drove into the lane and, with the ball in both hands, jumped off both feet and hurled his 6-9, 260-pound frame toward the basket. Taylor meant business, but Ratliff was waiting. Just after Taylor left the ground, committing to a dunk, Ratliff, with both arms extended overhead, also jumped off both feet, heading slightly toward Taylor. "Theo has already figured out in his head that Taylor's coming up with some power," said Randy Ayers, a Sixers assistant coach, while watching a videotape of Ratliff's most impressive blocks of the season. "So he says, 'I've got to go up with some power, so I'm going off two feet with two hands.' This may be the best one we've seen." Taylor has the power and size to dunk over most players, but not Ratliff. With both hands, Ratliff stuffs him, and in a blur, Allen Iverson scores an uncontested lay up at the other end. "That's a great block," Ayers said. "And to avoid the contact and not get a foul is amazing. This guy's coming right at him right now, and then we convert it to an easy basket." "That was a classic, big-time play," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "He really has an effect on the game, and I think our game in Houston was evidence of that. We had fastbreaks - three-on-ones and two-on-ones - and he turned the play around. "In the half-court game, he's going to be a factor. He's so athletic and rangy and quick. It's demoralizing to play against guys like that, because you think you've beaten your guy and you've got daylight to get it in the basket and you let it go and, all of a sudden, it's gone." Gone but not forgotten. One of Ratliff's gifts as a shot-blocker is keeping the ball in play. Some players, especially in college, will swat the ball so fiercely that it sails out of bounds. The block looks impressive, but it does nothing for a team offensively. Sometimes, Ratliff will merely deflect the ball. Other times, he will tap it to another Sixer. Rarely, if ever, does he swat the ball out of play. "To be able to keep the ball inbounds is crucial," Ayers said. "A lot of times, we've converted his blocks into easy baskets at the other end." Ratliff's biggest advantage as a shot-blocker comes when he leaves the man he is guarding. That was evidenced in a game against the Washington Wizards. Tyrone Hill was in the low post, guarding Juwan Howard, who was working mightily to get halfway past Hill before lofting a short jumper. But as soon as Howard released the ball, Ratliff crossed the lane, elevated, and blocked the shot. He does it all the time. "If you can't see me coming, I have a better opportunity to block a shot, because you're not able to change your shot," he said. "He's much better as a shot-blocker when he goes to help someone else," Ayers said. "He has trouble when guys are able to adjust the ball." Few players can make that adjustment. The great ones, of course, can. Vince Carter. Kobe Bryant. Iverson. But even the great ones can become rattled, and Ratliff relishes inflicting a psychological toll on an opponent. Earlier this season, Seattle guard Gary Payton had the ball 10 feet from the Sonics' basket, looking for a shot, but once he saw Ratliff come out on him, he passed to a teammate well beyond the three-point arc. Another time, Cleveland forward Clarence Weatherspoon was on the left side of the lane, looking to drive. But with Ratliff looming, Weatherspoon looked rattled, and he traveled. "I love basically just knowing I'm getting in people's heads when I block their shot," Ratliff said. "As soon as I block it once, it's always on their mind when they try to come to the hole. "If a guy comes in and he sees me and he knows I'm there to block his shot and he's trying to pass the ball out or pump-fake me and he shuffles his feet because he's anxious, that's just as good as blocking a shot." And to Ratliff, who is averaging 12.4 points and 8.3 rebounds, a block is as rewarding and invigorating as a dunk. "It gives the team - and me - a spark because, to me, blocking a shot is just like getting a dunk," he said. "It's all a part of the flow of the game."
As a high-schooler in Demopolis, Ala., Ratliff, now 225 pounds, weighed in at 160. But even then, he was a shot-blocker. He used to marvel at how the Rockets' Hakeem Olajuwon could move, how "The Dream" could position his body perfectly for a block. Olajuwon was Ratliff's model, and, at 38, he still is to an extent. "I always looked at Hakeem and [San Antonio's] David Robinson as complete players and definitely guys who intimidated on [the defensive] side of the ball," Ratliff said. "Wow, that's a great compliment," said Olajuwon, who entered this season, his 17th in the NBA, with 3,488 career blocks. "You can block a shot and it can be very basic. When you start blocking stuff that's complicated, like in traffic, where it's not just an average block, it takes a lot of timing, accuracy and leaping ability. That's complicated. When I started seeing him get those kinds of blocks, I had a new respect for his ability as a shot-blocker." Ratliff is eight blocks shy of 1,000 as a professional. As a sophomore at Wyoming, he averaged 4.43 per game to lead NCAA Division I. With 425 career blocks at Wyoming, he is sixth on the all-time NCAA list. Halfway through this season, Ratliff has more blocks than everyone else in the NBA - more than Shawn Bradley, Jermaine O'Neal, Shaquille O'Neal, Robinson, Dikembe Mutombo and Tim Duncan. Unfortunately, though, he will have to watch the All-Star Game instead of making his first appearance in it. "I really wondered if he'd be good enough offensively to play in the NBA," said Dees, the former Wyoming coach. "But that part came around. What got him in the league and in the All-Star Game was his defense. "But, nope, I'm going to tell you the truth: I did not think I'd ever see him in the All-Star Game. He's come a long way." "It's great," Ratliff said the other day. He was so excited, so proud of his path from Alabama to Wyoming to the NBA to all-star status. "It's definitely a testament to hard work," he said.
|
