Aging Theo Ratliff Has Sparked Bobcats' Playoff Rise

ORLANDO -- The future of the Charlotte Bobcats belongs to guys like Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw and Raymond Felton.

For now, it's the old war-horse Theo Ratliff who may have become the key to their run toward the first playoff appearance in franchise history.

The Bobcats have younger big men like Tyrus Thomas and Tyson Chandler. They have bigger guys like DeSagna Diop and Nazr Mohammed still on the roster. Yet it's the well-traveled Ratliff, still viewed as an undersized center, who has become their anchor in the late-season drive.

Ratliff, who is playing for the ninth different team in his 14-year NBA career, was obtained from the San Antonio Spurs Feb. 18 in a cup-of-coffee trade (actually, for a 2016 second-round pick) at the insistence of coach Larry Brown, who was looking for someone he could trust.

Ratliff, who turns 37 next month, hardly was playing for the veteran Spurs, but Brown quickly put him into his starting lineup. The Bobcats have won seven of his 11 starts, including the last six consecutive games.

He was especially instrumental in their 96-89 victory Sunday over the Orlando Magic -- a potential first-round playoff opponent -- and particularly down the stretch when he thwarted a potential home-team comeback.

He had 10 points and nine rebounds in 32 minutes, but statistics never have been his forte. In the last six minutes: he blocked a shot by Vince Carter, who tried to drive on him. He changed two driving layups, by Jameer Nelson and Mickael Pietrus, that became misses. He also grabbed an offensive rebound to keep another possession alive.

"Theo looks like when I had him back in Philly,'' said Brown, who coached Ratliff from 1998-2001 with the Sixers. "Only thing, he never got any shots back then. Everyone just told him to rebound the ball.''

Magic center Dwight Howard had another big game, getting 27 points and 16 rebounds, but only five points in the fourth quarter when the Bobcats took control. In those final six minutes, Ratliff was more of a factor than Howard.

"Theo always has done what he does best -- defend, rebound, be incredibly unselfish,'' Brown said. "He's doing things now that we really need. Thank God (San Antonio GM and coach) Gregg Popovich is a good friend of mine. We needed him (Ratliff).''

If the Bobcats (34-31) meet the Magic in the first round of the playoffs, it will be the third consecutive year Ratliff will have faced Howard at playoff time. He was back with Philadelphia last spring for their six-game series, which gave the Magic some surprising problems. He was with Detroit two years ago when the Pistons blanketed Howard and beat the Magic in the second round.

"I'm just enjoying this whole experience because I still love to play, and I try to play the right way,'' Ratliff said. "You can see the hunger here (in the locker room). They all want to be the guys who get this team to the playoffs for the first time.''

Ratliff sounds almost like a Larry Brown disciple. He does the blue-collar work that guys like Chandler, Thomas, and Diop are reluctant to do. It's no coincidence that they are winning now with Ratliff as the starter. He has been around enough teams to know what works. And he has seen the results that Brown always seems to get.

"I could see it when I got here. Larry is constantly pushing guys to get better, constantly demanding perfection from them,'' he said. "You can see the discipline he brought. You can see the mark he put on this team.''

Ratliff might be one of those centers who plays until he is 40. As usual, he has no guarantee beyond the end of the season, working again on a one-year contract with no promises that he will return to Charlotte next season.

"I've been year-to-year for the last three or four years. It's always possible (that I'll be back),'' he said. "But right now I feel real good physically. There's no reason why I can't keep playing at this level.''