<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">WALTHAM -- At 6 feet 10 inches, Theo Ratliff cuts an imposing figure at Celtics practices -- when he stands in the doorway of the room leading from the floor to the locker room. That's as close as he gets to real basketball these days, and his prolonged absence may compel coach Doc Rivers to adjust his thinking about the roster. Ratliff is bothered by a sore back. He has played in only two exhibition games, a total of 29 minutes, and he did not make the trip to New Jersey for tonight's game against the Nets. He also is likely to miss tomorrow night's exhibition finale against Toronto at the Garden. And, yesterday, Rivers suggested Ratliff might not even be back for the Nov. 1 season opener. "I would be surprised if he made it for the start of the season," Rivers said. "That stuff [injuries] happens. There's nothing you can do about it. I thought it was a bigger problem last year when Al [Jefferson] and Tony [Allen] went down. This year, I think we can get around a couple of injuries." That's because Michael Olowokandi has been sufficiently efficient to earn a roster spot as one of three centers; Ratliff and Kendrick Perkins are the other two. Rivers may decide he doesn't need all three -- the operative theory of small ball means Jefferson could play center -- but he also knows an injured Ratliff and a waived Olowokandi rob the team of precious veterans. "That can be scary," Rivers said, contemplating a Ratliff-less, Olowokandi-less center position. "Perk and Al and Leon [Powe] and Ryan [Gomes] are playing pretty well. But they haven't seen the real guys yet."</div> Source
He was doing good for a while, 02-03 and 03-04, he played 81 and 85 (trade) games respectively, but that past two seasons, he's played 63 and 55 games, and considering he's getting older, these things don't get better. I felt Perkins would start a lot anyways, just due to the fact that Theo is not capable of staying on the floor right now.
I think they are actually interested in putting Big Al into the center position, so you have Perk, Al, and possibly Olowokandi so in my opinion a few weeks into the season- if all goes well with those guys, I dont see Theo contributign too much. But who knows
Al would be nice, his lost weight seems to have helped him improve as a shot blocker, and obviously we know he can rebound and score.
<div class="quote_poster">og15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Al would be nice, his lost weight seems to have helped him improve as a shot blocker, and obviously we know he can rebound and score.</div> Exactly, I think he needs a change too. Everyone had such big expectation for him and he hasn't really performed to that level, though he has had some injuries. But this might be the right move to get him back on track. He may feel more comfortable at center for a bit during games.
<div class="quote_poster">og15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Al would be nice, his lost weight seems to have helped him improve as a shot blocker, and obviously we know he can rebound and score.</div> I don't think it's that obvious. The guy hasn't done jack doodly, nor has he really improved in any way since he's been here. Last season he looked embarrassingly slow when he did play, he's totally clueless on defense, and he didn't look very hungry on the boards. At least he doesn't look as hungry physically this year, but he still doesn't have much to recommend his actual game. I would love to see him block shots, but more than that, I would like to see him at full speed for more than eight games at a time.
