Court Vision and Awareness:
Ratliff’s defensive successes can also be partially attributed to his excellent court vision and anticipation of plays as they happen. This ability makes him a talented big capable of hedging screens, as the ball-handler makes his way through the play. It also gives him a high success rate of defending the play completely through the shot attempt.
However, Ratliff’s vision and strong on-court awareness extends to the other side of the court as well. Putting on a skills clinic, he has repeatedly shown the ability to quickly recognize double and triple-teams in the post and finding open perimeter options for his team to score. He doesn’t force shots in this case or draw offensive fouls, but makes the easy and high IQ plays to help keep opponents on their toes.
Yet, his attentiveness is also very productive catching difficult or low passes in traffic from teammates. He has quick hands and very coordinated movements at his position increasing the scoring opportunities afforded to him in games.