| Theo Ratliff Makes Happy Return to 76ers |
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| Written by Ben Weixlmann | |
| Monday, 13 October 2008 | |
 By no means am I saying that Ratliff is going to make the same impact that Brand is sure to have, but there has to be something said for his off-the-court actions. Ratliff is a consummate professional that plays the game the right way, he is fundamental and works his tail off whenever he gets the chance to check into the game. With an inexperienced player such as Andre Iguodala on his way to super-stardom in the NBA, and Brand already having cemented his place in the upper echelon of NBA power forwards, Ratliff can play an important role as a leader in the locker room. The young talent that this 76ers roster has is absolutely frightening. It’s not just Iguodala, either, he is accompanied by the likes of Louis Williams and Thaddeus Young, who are both athletic freaks. Perhaps the following statistic is the most telling about this signing: The Sixers now have three players who can clean the glass better than Windex, with their hands−all in the top 11 all-time on the NBA active blocks list. There’s not much stopping Brand, Ratliff, and Samuel Dalembert from swatting weak drive attempts and layups, and that defensive setup has got to scare Eastern Conference opponents. I’m not going to lie, I think that at times, the Detroit Pistons should have played Ratliff more than they did. Trust me, I know just as much as the next person how good Jason Maxiell is, but Ratliff corralled almost 8 rebounds per 35 minutes of work last year for the Pistons. That’s just barely under Maxiell’s average, and Ratliff’s acute knowledge of the game is certainly worth at least 20 mpg in my mind. That being said, look for Ratliff to be a nice mentor to new draft acquisition Marreese Speights, as well as a vocal leader in the locker room.         Set as favorite Bookmark Comments
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