Remember the Titans

1. Remember Theo Ratliffe? The Pistons signed him, to play professionally. The rest of the League holds its collective breath, waiting for Joe Dumars to yell, "SIKE!!!" Keep waiting, this is real. "It's been a great journey, I've been on a lot of bad teams," Ratliff said. Hmmm, I wonder what made those teams so bad? Dumars has also added Maryland champ Juan Dixon, a rare black man with Spanish name. His parents were drug addicts, so no one holds that against him. If I could have picked my name, it would have been Elton.



2. Remember D Miles? I barely do either, except that he had a sweet "antlers" type celebration with Q Richardson when he was on the Clippers roster ... and those overweight years in Cleveland. Word is he has played his last game for the JailBlazers. Count me as not surprised. The Blazers seem to be doing fine without him (except that they still pay have to him), I doubt they would take any chances screwing up their team chemistry. Where will he land next? Safe bet: the Knicks.



3. Remember Robert Swift? Seattle's honkey high school center and 12th-overall pick in the 04 Draft? No one does. Not even Seattle. "Swift is currently the only white player to ever be selected straight out of high school to the NBA." Thanks Wikipedia! Well, he had a successful surgery, but when it's your 3rd, I wouldn't start calling them successful. He is only 22, but at some point, pro teams need to start looking at how all these big men fare at such a young age in the League. (more Oden, anyone?)



4. Remember Tony Battie? He's the guy who saved Paul Pierce's life after that stabbing incident in Boston. (Paul was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck and back, Battie drove him to the ER) Tony's set to return to the Magic here very soon. He's under the radar, but he's actually a pretty good Big. He'll add some depth to Orlando's front court before their playoff run. And if nothing else, you know he's got Dwight Howard's back. And if DW is Superman, is Battie... Jimmy Olsen?



5. Remember PJ Brown? excuse me, Collier Brown Jr.? Everyone's still talking about how the Celts picked up Sam Cassell (38), but they also landed PJ (also 38). PJ was a 3-time NBA All-Defensive Team (is that real?), and his favorite actor is Denzel Washington. He said Paul Pierce and and Ray Allen talked him into coming back. Last year the Celtics were one of the youngest teams in the league. This year... "seasoned" maybe? Venerable? How about just plain old?