Stotts benches Terry, Ratliff

<p>Atlanta Hawks coach Terry Stotts benched starters Jason Terry and Theo Ratliff for Wednesday nights home game against Golden State after the two were late for a pregame warm-up session.</p><p>I think theyre all good people, Stotts said. Its just a question of being on time.</p><p>Said Stotts: Its the second time for both of them.</p><p>Terry disagreed, saying I was late once, to correct the record, and that was today.</p><p>The Hawks brought a four-game losing streak into Wednesday nights game and had lost 10 of 12 games.</p><p>After Tuesday nights 97-79 loss at Miami, Ratliff was sharp in his criticism of the team and appeared to be pointing his comments toward Stotts when he said the Hawks were making no adjustments as they continue to lose.</p><p>We go out and play to lose every single night, and we dont change what it is we need to do, Ratliff told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday night.</p><p>Added Ratliff in what proved to be the most prophetic part of his rant: Change the starting five. Do something. Do something, man. To sit there and just let that ... happen like that, its terrible.</p><p>The Hawks brought a 7-19 record to Wednesday nights game.</p><p>Everybody in the locker room are good guys and just because you have to take disciplinary measures from time to time doesnt mean people are bad guys or that theyre going off in the wrong direction, Stotts said. Its just that once in a while youve got to nip it in the bud.</p><p>Terry, the starting point guard, is second on the team with his average of 18.2 points per game. He leads the team with 5.1 assists per game, tied for 19th in the league.</p><p>Ratliff, the starting center, is averaging 7.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.</p><p>Guard Jacque Vaughn and center Nazr Mohammed were the replacement starters for Terry and Ratliff, respectively.</p>

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