AJC Article on Theo

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PRO BASKETBALL: 'I'll never be 100 percent'

Ratliff's aim is to avoid further injury

Jeffrey Denberg - Staff

Saturday, October 5, 2002

Columbia --- Theo Ratliff catches the ball at the right edge of the hoop, but he appears to be too deep to do anything with it. Not so. The Hawks center wheels in a 180-degree turn and slams the ball through the hoop. Then he races downcourt and meets free agent Mario Bennett, going up for his own dunk. Ratliff leaps and swats the shot away.

Is he back?

"Getting there," Ratliff said. "Getting there."

Is he 100 percent?

He smiles, shakes his head and says not exactly. Therapist Alex McKechnie, whose rehabilitation teachings have changed Ratliff's body and put him back on the court, months ago delivered a caveat to Ratliff.

"I'll never be 100 percent of who I was," Ratliff said, acknowledging the care he must take with his abdominal muscles, and the pain that lingers in his surgically repaired right hip. "But I can be 100 percent of who I am, and that's what I'm working on. If I start to feel discomfort or I have some pain, I have to be smart and take some time. I've got to know when to back off, when I can go full speed."

That said, the fragile centerpiece of the Hawks' defense is not going to back away from his position of responsibility. "I'm going to be out there," he said. "I'm going to do my job and help this team win."

Hawks coach Lon Kruger will give Ratliff every opportunity to play and allow him to use his judgment on when to back away.

"We're going to have him go about half a game in the exhibition season and see how that works out and then go on from there," Kruger said.

Ratliff's participation, Kruger agrees, is essential.

"His presence defensively, his ability to score on jumpers down close and get offensive boards, those things are critical to us," Kruger said. "The mindset of security he gives us when he's on the floor can't be measured."

Ratliff said monitoring his body is just as important as going full speed.

"I can't be afraid to back off a little when it's necessary, especially during two-a-days. But at the same time, I have to be out there to help the team," he said. "Sometimes that makes me a little too aggressive. But all in all, I've made very good progress. I've done the things I need to do."

After a year and a half of idleness --- first the cracked scaphoid bone in his hand, then the tear in his hip socket, and finally the abdominal problems that required heavy rehabilitation --- Ratliff said what he deals with now is minor by comparison.

"No problems," he says, laughing. "Feeling good. Right now, I just want to jell with my teammates and help the team develop. I'm comfortable on the floor, especially with the guys."

The role he wants to assume? "I try to be the captain back there and direct people in different areas,'' he said. "Playing in the back, I can see everything going on up front, so I try to get guys to be aggressive because they know I'll be there to help out."

And Ratliff makes this early assessment of his squad: "This is a very good group. I think we're going to be better than even we expected. If we continue to work hard, we can be very, very good," he said.

"I think our goal by the end of the season won't be just to make the playoffs, but to see how far we can go in the playoffs. I think we have as good a chance as any team in the East.

"The goal is to get there, and anything can happen after that."