By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
He may have been absent for the past seven years but the impact and dominance that Ricardo Ratliffe brings is still top-notch.
In his first game back in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since 2017, import Ricardo Ratliffe showed he still has a deep bag after leading the Magnolia Hotshots Chicken Timplados to a lopsided 118-100 victory over the Blackwater Bossing in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup on November 28, 2024, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Ratliffe last played for the Star Hotshots (now Magnolia) from 2016-2017 and is back with the ultimate goal of bringing a championship trophy to the struggling Chicken Timplados that failed to reach the grand finals multiple times in the past conferences.
After serving the Korean National Basketball team as their naturalized player, Ratliffe became a free agent after retiring from his international hoops duties and didn’t hesitate to join Magnolia for the upcoming PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Already familiar with the local hoops scenery and the atmosphere of the league, Ratliffe made a statement in his debut game and overpowered Blackwater with a double-double outing of 30 points and 18 rebounds.
Ratliffe took advantage of his huge size disparity over Blackwater’s import George King and took him down the post, attacking his defense with his bully ball that set the tone for Magnolia early in the game.
His consecutive baskets in the paint backstopped by his second-chance offensive markers helped Magnolia pull away midway through the third, ballooning their advantage to as much as 23 points heading into the fourth.
With the lead already getting out of hand, the Bossing squad struggled to keep up with Ratliffe in the shaded lane and got loose defensively, allowing the Magnolia locals to make it rain from the three-point area led by Jerrick Ahanmisi and Mark Barroca.
The backcourt duo supported Ratliffe offensively as Ahanmisi became Magnolia’s second-best scorer with 21 points while the veteran Barroca added 15 markers.
On the other hand, King, Blackwater’s resident import who was also their reinforcement last Governor’s Cup, dropped a game-high 42 points but was not enough to contain Magnolia’s balanced attack.
The Chicken Timplados will look to continue their great start in the import-laced conference and will take on the retooled Converge FiberXers on December 1, 2024.
Meanwhile, Blackwater is still reeling for their first win of the conference and will have the chance to enter the winning column tomorrow, against the NLEX Road Warriors.
