Not Everyone is afraid of Theo Ratliff

[Blunt91]

I love Theo's shotblocking ability but not everyplayer in particular every "bigman" is afraid to take it inside. The clippers Ely and Wilcox werent' afraid and Amare Stoudamaire sure as heck wasn't afraid. There was one play were Stoudamire took off from the freethrow line and was going to slam over Reef & Theo but Reef fouled him before he could get the ball near the hoop.

[swolehawk2]

I bet you money that one would have been a block...had Reef not fouled him...when Theo gets time to measure you I don't care who u are it is going to be a block..

[Lrenfro]

I think it is more less the Hawks that they are not afraid of. I think while Theo retains his fear factor, he is more so the last man standing. Players and coaches feel if they can run over the rest of the team it just leaves Theo. If they through 5 or 6 guys at him all night he will 1) get tired 2) foul out. Either way they eliminate the fear factor. If the rest of the team will not let people run over them then Theo would become a game changer. If there are a lot less people coming at him then there is a lot less chance of him getting in foul trouble air go he is able to take more risk and be more effective.

[Weez]

it's not the inside players so much as the pg/swing men that penetrate that fear theo...

also, how'd amare foul out last night?

[swolehawk2]

A bunch of touch fouls in the post...his post defense is not very good at the moment he wants to use his hands instead of his lower body.

[Blunt91]

Good synopsis Lrenfro. You are correct in the strategy that teams throw at Ratliff, I never thought of it like that.

[Traceman]

I think the biggest problem we hacve is that NO ONE has Theo's back when other teams aggressively attack us and get physical with us. Usually, the primary source for protecting a Center like Theo would come from the PF but Reef is not big enough, strong enough or tough enough to consistently provide protection to Theo. The next source would be the SF but Jax is no enforcer either. Maybe Boris can develop into that role as he gets more experience. Realistically though, I just don't think we have the right personnel mix on this team. We need a banger in the frontcourt in the worst way. Did you see big Jahidi White in the paint last night? We had no answers when he decided to be aggressive. Poor Theo, if he had some help like he did back in Philly, he'd wreak even more havoc on the opposition.