The Rake Magazine

Tag: KG

  • Champions with a Vengeance

    (AFP/File/Gabriel Bouys)

    NBA Finals Game #6: Los Angeles 92, Boston 131

    Series: Boston wins 4-2

    A 39-point margin in a championship-clinching game means that one team was relentlessly magnificent and the other quit early and never bothered to revive. Quite frankly, I’m shocked at how thoroughly the Celtics cut the heart out of this Lakers team, but a new champion has been crowned, so let’s stroll on the sunny side to start.

    Any coach or player will tell you that defense is a team concept and that the most important component of it is trusting all four of your teammates to make the right rotation or adjustment or decision within the prevailing scheme. The Celtics were blessed to have three perennial all-stars wholeheartedly buy into making defense the priority – how often do one, or even two, actually make that commitment? – and then piecing together rock-solid character guys like Posey and PJ Brown who know their roles off the bench. Add in a pair of young starters who both are far superior on defense than offense, and you have a team identity based around the most energy-intensive – and yet, if you achieve that critical mass of trust and effort, energy-effective – style of play. One of the hoariest cliches in all team sports is that defense wins championships. The Celtics epitomized that for the NBA this year. Of all the amazing stats in this series, the two that jump out are from last night’s first half, when the Celts so thoroughly throttled and out-hustled LA that Boston had more steals than the Lakers had field goals, and that LA missed 19 shots, going 8-27, and yet didn’t garner a single offensive rebound.

    Kevin Garnett deserves all sorts of credit for this defensive identity – he was the linchpin and the physical and emotional tone-setter. But stellar defensive play from KG is not surprising, nor is it surprising from Posey, or PJ, or, except for their youthful errors, Perkins and Rondo. But Paul Pierce and Ray Allen? Has either player put together a six-game stretch of defense even remotely as effective as these Finals? (The only answer I’ll accept is Pierce on LeBron two series earlier, and that still doesn’t come *that* close to topping his D vs. LA.) The Celts built their defensive identity on trust and grit, and then dug down for another notch of intensity and telepathy in the postseason. How many people, even among those who picked Boston to win, believed that Pierce and Allen with a big dollop of Posey would be able to shut down Kobe Bryant as a passer *and* a distributor for much of this series? I will never again regard either one as mediocre, never mind soft, on defense until age inevitably takes its toll.

    As much as this was a team-wide triumph, Pierce became a superstar in this series. By that I mean that he became whatever was required, like Tim Duncan hitting that trey to beat Phoenix about 8 weeks ago to begin these playoffs. Pierce was a point guard in the best sense of the description: He recognized and reacted to the opposing defense with acute versatility, decision-making and execution. Be it distribution, penetration, long-range shooting, pick-and-roll variation, tempo shifting (calming to catalytic and back to calming), even decoy – much more often than not, Pierce chose the right strategic option and then followed through brilliantly. I’d love to be inside his brain for just 24 hours, going over what I’d just done.

    Before this postseason, I always considered Allen primarily a catch-and-shoot player; against Detroit and LA, two long, quick teams, he expertly set up his jumper with dribble-drives and vice-versa. And what happened to his bad ankles 48 minutes in pivotal Game Four? Of all the Celtics, he was the most consistent.

    Posey has trailblazed one habit and reinforced another in today’s NBA. The innovation is realizing that when your opponent is striving for a continuation basket after being fouled, you can get a free lick in – how does that not get adopted by practically every defensive-oriented role player? The reinforcement is being money on the trey from the baseline, Bruce Bowen style. Every contender should have a guy with ice water in his veins for that spot-up corner trey, and yet the muscle and the moxie to drive baseline into the tall timber to foster some crucial hesitation on the close-outs. If I remember, Posey was more of a elbow-beyond-the-arc three point shooter in the past; these baseline treys are perfectly suited for his temperament and skill set. FWIW, I think Ryan Gomes has great potential to be a corner-trey shooter on the Wolves, continuing the franchise’s modest but noble tradition of Sam Mitchell, Malik Sealy, and back to Mitchell (and no, Tod Murphy doesn’t count).

    Of all the Big 3, Kevin Garnett elevated his game the least in the Finals. But then KG had the smallest distance to his ceiling, having finished third in the MVP voting and having already achieved MVP status four years ago. I made my feelings known about KG – my favorite current NBA player – in a three-pointer after Game Four. His shout-out to ‘Sota was meant for many readers of this blog, and you know who you are. As a player with a deserved rep for being amped to the max under pedestrian circumstances, it was a kick watching him trying to channel it all with Michelle Tafoya at the end of the game last night, and funny watching Stuart Scott nervously give him the once over on the awards podium after the game, then decide he didn’t want to risk a live interview. As much as I enjoyed the ‘Sota mention, the words that brought goosebumps were, "I’m certified! I’m certified! What you gonna say now?! We made it Mom!" He took that monkey off his back and tossed it in Kevin McHale’s direction.

    I won’t waste much time talking about the Lakers because it isn’t worth much time. I will concede that I overrated them *twice* – at the beginning of the series and then after Game Five, when Gasol and Odom showed a pulse in the paint and I thought they were gathering some momentum of the their own that might create some space for Kobe to operate on the perimeter for games six and (if necessary) seven. Speaking of burdens to bear, before this series there were whispers that Odom was flighty and Gasol was soft. After their shocking display of mutual enervation, people aren’t bothering to lower their voices when questioning their desire and grit now. These guys aren’t inexperienced like Perkins or Rondo; Odom is 28 and has been in the league 8 years; Gasol will turn 28 in three weeks and has 6 years in the NBA plus time in Europe. They’re not finished products, necessarily, but both fell into an ideal situation with the other plus Kobe sharing the court. They not only should be flourishing, they should be imposing their remarkable athletic skills on their opponents.

    Instead, in an elimination game last night, Odom had *zero field goals* after three quarters. Gasol had four turnovers in the *first quarter,* and, in the signature presaging moment of the night, was flattened by Garnett, who turned around and gently tossed it in the hoop with no whistle while Pau was prone. When KG is the more brutish player down low, it is time to go to your bench.

    Will Gasol and Odom recover f
    rom this stain? Too soon to tell. But their Finals will be defined by ugly memories of lackluster performances until and unless they ever get a chance to rewrite the crunchtime script.

    Let’s not sugarcoat it: The Lakers were a very unlikeable team in this series. I understand the venom emanating from Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy and Jon Barry, because, as one who picked LA to win this series, I felt it myself. They played stupid, selfish, uncaring basketball. Vlad Rad, Vujacic and Farmar were absolutely dreadful – they didn’t guard anybody worth a damn, they eschewed the extra pass (Vujacic and Farmar actually bickered over backcourt touches – in the NBA Finals!) exercised terrible shot selection, and pretended passion in a manner so blatantly superficial you wanted to get right in their faces and shout WTF?!

    On that score, Phil Jackson needed to caffeinate the zen with a little fire and brimstone. Normally I’d be a little shy about dispensing advice to a guy with nine rings, but I can’t imagine anything I’d suggest working less well than whatever it was Jackson was trying to instill in his crew the past six games.

    And Kobe Bryant? Let’s brand him the Dirk Nowitzki of 2008 and call it a season.

  • NBA Finals Preview

    Anyone who has watched the two NBA conferences from November to April this season, and then watched the respective conference matchups in the postseason, would be hard-pressed to deny that the Lakers should be favored in the final series that begins this evening in Boston. But let’s begin by being counter-intuitive and considering the reasons–the legitimate reasons–for a potential Celtics upset. And no, I’m not talking about things like the Celts beating the Lakers in their only two meetings this season. Neither one occurred in calendar year 2008, and in the latest meeting, on December 30, Tony Allen led the Celts in minutes-played and plus/minus, and was effective at hounding Kobe Bryant into a 6-25 FG (0-6 3pt) performance. All you folks who think a reprise of that Tony Allen-Kobe Bryant matchup more than five months later, even if Allen hadn’t tweaked his achilles this week, would be a net plus for the Celts, are delusional homers who’d probably be more comfortable on a reflexively pro-Boston site.

    The frontcourt matchups are potentially very favorable for the Celts. Yes, L.A. is very long and quick up front, but Boston is uniquely well-qualified among NBA teams (well, along with Chandler/West/Peja in New Orleans, anyway) in their ability to counter it. After getting outhustled on the glass by Cleveland’s tag-teams of big men in the conference semis, Kendrick Perkins was huge–arguably the most important X factor–in the surprisingly efficient Boston triumph over Detroit. Perkins discovered a motivating passion in that series that gave his play a relentless tinge that was just shy of nasty–he cultivated an attitude that needed to be taken out of him physically, and none of the Pistons’ big men were up to the task–although thanks to Flip Saunders, Jason Maxiell didn’t get enough minutes to try. Now Perkins faces off against Pau Gasol, whose instincts are soft. Can Gasol mix it up? Sure, but that’s not his wont: He is at heart a finesse player, no less than KG. He is quicker than Perkins and if he can hit that 12-footer that wasn’t going in often enough against Tim Duncan and the Spurs, he might draw Perkins out just far enough to abuse him and put Perkins in foul trouble. Perkins also can’t do too much helping on Kobe Bryant, or Gasol will feed on Kobe’s garbage for putbacks and alley-oops that will swell his confidence. No, if Perkins is able to keep Gasol off the boards and limit his scoring to the short jumpers on post-ups and putbacks of long rebounds–and if Perkins can stick the occasional baseline jumper and bull for his own putbacks, as he did against Detroit–that negates what two weeks ago looked like a big Laker advantage. The question is, which Perkins shows up. I don’t think Gasol can take the starch out of him. I think there is a good chance he maintains his momentum. BTW, PJ Brown is also the kind of gritty blue-collar guy that can frustrate the hell out of Gasol.

    At the power forward slot, Lamar Odom is a matchup nightmare…for almost everyone but Kevin Garnett. Odom is a poor man’s KG in more ways than one: The incredible athleticism and versatility, and the shaky psyche and occasional crunchtime disappearance. If Garnett dedicates himself to moving his feet on defense (especially against Odom’s dribble penetration down the left lane), boxing out on the boards, and taking Odom down in the left block for his classic baseline-shoulder turnaround J’s and feint-toward-the-middle-reverse-up-and-under moves, Odom’s confidence, never a particularly rock-solid substance, melts and corrodes his skills and reactions. Now this presupposes a few things that are far from certain. One is that Garnett won’t be at least as preoccupied with helping out on guarding Kobe, particularly in cutting off penetration and showing on the pick and roll and triangle schemes. The dirty little secret in the Detroit series was that Garnett’s pick and roll defense was more facade than brick wall–he showed but never stayed, and the Pistons never made him pay for his no man’s land by either zipping in the pass before he could recover or sticking the semi-open jumper. Kobe and the triangle will feast on facade defense. The second thing is KG’s desire to launch midrange jumpers. If he doesn’t take Odom into the low block and either compel the double team or put Odom in the torture chamber, it will be a monumental strategic blunder. Put it this way, if Ronny Turiaf isn’t getting more time than Phil Jackson would prefer due to Gasol and Odom being plagued by fouls or otherwise overmatched, the Celts aren’t pressing their advantage and executing properly.

    At the small forward slot, I’d put Ray Allen on Vlad Rad and Paul Pierce on Kobe. Radmanovic does most of his damage from outside the arc anyway, which is where Allen roams, and if the Lakers are running post-ups to capitalize on his 5-inch height advantage over Allen, that’s a moral victory for the Celts–Vlad Rad on the block may be the 15th best offensive option for the Lakers.

    Which brings us to the all-important Kobe-Pierce matchup. The rehabitation of Pierce’s defensive reputation in these playoffs–first in dogging LeBron, then in adding to Tayshaun Prince’s postseason disappearing acts on offense–has been a great surprise to most observers, including me, that don’t buy Pierce’s contention that he’s always been an above-average defender. Okay PP, you’re 6-7, 235, can you stay with the 6-6, 205 Kobe or is he simply too quick for you? Personally, I think a dedicated Pierce limits Kobe more than Ray Allen certainly, and probably even James Posey, who although 6-8, 217, isn’t as quick as Pierce. Meanwhile, whether Kobe is guarding Pierce or Allen, that Big 3 member has to make Kobe exert himself and not play center field on D to conserve his energy.

    One more item in this Celtic scenario: the foot speed of Rajon Rondo over Derek Fisher. Both Fisher and Rondo have been fitfully inconsistent this postseason but in a good way–both have stepped up to have monster games, especially at crunchtime, at various points, and yet have almost totally disappeared at other times. Both have the capacity to embarrass the other–Rondo is too quick for Fisher, and Fish is light years ahead of Rondo in terms of experience and all that entails–composure, court vision, sneaky shortcuts on offense and defense, playing within himself, and overall maturity. If Rondo happens to come up huge in a nip-and-tuck contest, the Celts could steal one.

    I’ve listed these potential Celtic pluses in order of descending likelihood–in other words, I expect Perkins to control the paint against Gasol more than I expect Rondo to embarrass Fisher. The point is, the Celtics cause isn’t helpless. Yeah, they played in an inferior conference, but their record against the West was superb. They play suffocating team defense, the most chronically underrated aspect of pro hoops. They managed to win two series with their best outside threat enduring the worst slump of his 12-year career, and, like the Lakers, have never once trailed in this entire series.

    But the smart money–and mine, if I was betting–is on the Lakers for good reasons. In order of importance, here they are:

    * Kobe.

    Ten years from now, people will look back on this as the best season of his career, the year he finally understood what it meant to elevate himself by elevating his teammates, in ways that are as much mental/psychological/intuitive/selfless as they are physical and competitive. Kobe’s competitive fire and freakazoid athleticism have never been in question. Putting his arrogance in a positive context has often been the missing ingredient. But this year, and especially this postseason, the guy has not only been unstoppable–which isn’t exactly novel–but has figured out exactly when to seize the moment.

    Consider that Denver began the playoffs by throwing the thuggish K-Mart on Kobe, which worked for maybe a half, until Kobe found his rhythm and started shaking his head no with every jumper round about the third quarter. Then Utah–was there a team better equipped to go against K
    obe, what with AK-47, Ronnie Brewer, and Jerry Sloan’s elbows-and-knees defensive philosophy? Didn’t matter. Except for Game Four when he played hurt and tried to do too much at crunchtime, Kobe surmounted. Then San Antonio. The Jordan comparisons that have arisen out of that series are unfortunate, but offered up for a reason: Kobe destroyed the Spurs with game-altering elevations of his game not seen since Jordan. The bookends of Game One and Game Five should give the Celts serious pause. If Kobe keeps regulating his peaks and plateaus (there really are no valleys) to maximum advantage in terms of game flow and momentum psychology, there isn’t a credible counter-attack. Remember, the Celtics are all about low-scoring games. That makes a player who on certain occasions can score when he wants to all the more valuable.

    * Phil Jackson vs. Doc Rivers

     Doc Rivers is in the Finals, which means he can legitimately tell all his critics to kiss his ass–seriously, this is as far as the Celts are supposed to go, and if Flip Saunders had made it here, he’d still have a job. But Mike Woodson, Mike Brown and Flip Saunders are not remotely in the same time zone as Phil Jackson in terms of playoff coaching prowess, and neither is Doc Rivers. Jackson’s teams win the big ones–the dude has nine rings. When he sprang that small lineup on Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, it shifted the entire dynamic of the series, and salvaged Game One for the Lakers. When he steadfastly rested his three best players despite a steep first-half deficit in Game Five, he fortified his bench with his faith and conserved the energy of his stars for the second half comeback that clinched the series. For those who say that Jackson simply has great players, consider how many rings MJ, Kobe, and Shaq have won *without* Jackson. That would be one–Shaq’s in Miami, under Pat Riley.

    In my opinion, Rivers’ misuse of Eddie House in favor of Sam Cassell and chastising of Rondo for taking "heroic shots" in this postseason dramatize the talent gap between himself and the Zen Master. It is bad enough for Boston that Jackson is the better coach. He also has more, and more flexible, weapons at his disposal. Which brings us to…

    *Backcourt depth

    Cleveland and Detroit both exposed the Celtics’ thin backcourt and then inexplicably didn’t press that advantage–literally press it. Bluntly put–can either Cassell or House handle the pressure LA can bring with Vujacic and Farmar and Fisher and Walton and Kobe and Odom? If Rondo gets in foul trouble or simply needs a blow, who gets the Celts into the offense? By default it has to be Pierce–but if you’re Jackson, isn’t that when you appeal to Kobe’s competitive arrogance, tell him "LeBron couldn’t stop The Truth in Game Seven, so let’s see what you can do." And not just Kobe. Snipe with Farmar and Vujacic. Double hard with Odom.

    Unless Rondo plays all 48, how does Boston handle a Laker lineup of Vujacic, Farmar, Walton, Kobe and Odom? That gives Fisher and Gasol a breather and makes it extremely hard for the Celts to get into their offense. Or maybe swap in Fisher for Farmar, or Vlad Rad for Walton, or Gasol or Turiaf for Odom. The Laker bench is vastly superior to the Celtic bench, especially in the backcourt.

    I grew up with the Celts during the heyday of Bill Russell. I covered the Timberwolves every single one of KG’s dozen years in town, and I’d be less than honest if I said I’m not pulling for Boston so he can bag that trophy and permanently put to rest the whispers about his crunchtime primacy. But the other guys, the ones in gold and purple, have the best player. The best coach. More depth. Lakers in five or six.

  • Eastern Conference recap, Western Conference preview, draft babble

    Let’s start with the Celts disposing of Detroit in Game One of the Eastern Conference finals. The ESPN color crew was clearly in the tank for the Pistons during the pregame, on the supposition that having a week off after playing a numbskull Orlando Magic team was better than finishing off a grueling seven-game battle with the Cavs just 48 hours before. They were wrong, of course: If the Celts are going to be hurt by the war with LeBron and company, it will be later, ’round about Games Five, Six and Seven, and the erosion will be as much mental as physical. I expect the Pistons to play much better in Game Two. I also don’t think the world will end for the Celts if they lose at home. They’ve never *had* to win a game on the road yet, and if they do I think, at least in this series, they will.

    As for Game One itself, let’s understand that the dynamic has shifted for the boys in green since the Cavs’ Game Seven: Paul Pierce is the clearcut igniter on offense, be it passing, shooting, tempo, whatever. This is all to the good for Boston because it gives their next two offensive threats, Garnett and Rondo, the freedom to play off Pierce’s decision-making. For KG it is a welcome luxury–he can concentrate on defense, where he almost never makes a bad decision, never mind choking, and still remain a guy you have to double-team in the low block at the other end. As Jeff Van Gundy pointed out last night, the pick and roll with Pierce and KG was very effective, and unless Jason Maxiell hits that extra gear like Paul Millsap occasionally achieved in Utah, it can be a Celtic bread-and-butter throughout, freeing up Pierce and KG for jumpers and drives, and almost guaranteeing the availability of safety valve dishes to Rondo. For Rondo it is luxury not to have to handle the ball all the time, which likewise frees him up for stellar defensive energy and open outside looks. You know all those shots Ray Allen is either missing or turning down? Give them to Rondo and Eddie House, especially if Billups is dinged up.

    It was a joy to read Doc Rivers proclaiming his faith in Rondo in Marc Stein’s Daily Dime at ESPN.com today. I’ve been waiting for people, but especially Rivers, to lavish praise and heavily massage Rondo’s ego, rather than that idiotic comment he made in the Cavs’ series about avoiding "heroic shots." But I understand I’m repeating myself here, so I’ll let it go at that. Ray Allen? Lose all expectations for the guy, because he is pressing, and pressing hard. He is intelligently doing the other things to minimize his inability to stick the outside jumper, including ball movement, penetration, and decent defense. The Celts just have to consider him a 4th or 5th option right now, and muck along. And consider this: If the law of averages works itself out and Allen returns to vintage form with a vengeance, Boston has a viable shot at a championship. In fact that about the only way I see them beating either the Spurs or the Lakers.

    Before we get into Lakers-Spurs, I want to harp back on the original point: Cleveland did Boston an enormous favor by pushing them to the brink and forcing them to configure different options and adjustments, and, most importantly, to determine a pecking order. These post-Cavs Celts are no longer democratizing the Big 3, and if the question were posed to them about who should take the game-ending shot to win or lose, both Pierce and KG wouldn’t simultaneously say "Ray" as they did before the Atlanta series. Meanwhile, Kendrick Perkins is no longer having to fend off tag teams of bigs like Z and Wallace and Smith and Varejao and coping with LeBron knifing down the lane. Detroit can still win this series, of course: They are experienced and resilient and synergistically talented. But this Celtics team has found its groove through adversity, which makes it a lot tougher, and more complicated, for the Pistons to triumph than it was a couple of weeks ago.

    Breaking down the Spurs versus the Lakers, it looks to be an immensely enjoyable, high-scoring affair. How does LA defend Tim Duncan, with Gasol, Odom, or mix-and-match? (This is when a healthy Andrew Bynum would really come in handy.) Do the Spurs really think Bruce Bowen is going to contain Kobe? Derek Fisher doesn’t have the foot-speed for Tony Parker (and doesn’t know the Spurs’ sets and tendencies the way he knew Deron Williams and the Jazz), and at the offensive end, Odom will be his usual matchup nightmare. Lots of points are to be had here, especially considering that both teams are very adept at turning turnovers into buckets.

    After watching the Spurs the last three or four years, plus the regular season this year, I made up my mind I’d pick them in every series until they lost or held the trophy. Before the playoffs began, I realized that if any team was going to test that faith, it would be the Lakers. They’ve got a cold-blooded closer in Kobe, a beautiful mixture of size, speed, and depth, and one of the few very coaches as wise and playoff-wizened as Pops. In my eyes, this is the real finals.

    It’s a cliche to say about any close, competitive series between two very deep teams, but the role players really do have a chance to tip the balance here. Ime Udoka seems to be as viable an option on Kobe as Bowen, and when Bowen inevitably gets toasted and/or in foul trouble, it will be interesting to see how Udoka fares. On the other side, Sasha Vujacic seems like the latest in a long line of players to pattern his game after Manu Ginobili, and if Vujacic can indeed hit those dagger treys and become the foul-drawing pest that is Manu the Great, it is a big lift for the Lakers. It is also not that far-fetched.

    Kobe and Duncan are not only going to get theirs, they’ll make sure their teammates share in the wealth. But can the Thomas/Oberto tandem stop Gasol, or hold him to mid-teens in points? How aggressively will Phil Jackson wield the Odom mismatch–I’d pound Odom off the dribble and in post-ups until San Antonio makes clear their response, then freelance off of that via Kobe and the three-point shooters. If Odom goes into one of his mental funks, it will be a huge problem for the Lakers; he really is the biggest wild card either way in this series.

    San Antonio in 6 or 7. But the Lakers in 6 or 7 wouldn’t exactly shock me.

    Longtime readers know I basically punt the draft lottery and defer to other, wiser, observers of the college, high school, and international game. My guess/advice for the Wolves in the last column was to prioritize their draft options as Rose/Beasley/Mayo/Lopez/trade down. Now that the ping-pong balls have given them a #3 pick, my excitement and interest goes up a notch. Taking a player you think will be at least the third best performer who is eligible for the pros this season is a big, big chip. I know the conventional wisdom is that it is a two-player draft, and I have no reason to dispute that. But here are the #3 picks from 2000-2007:

    2000  Darius Miles

    2001  Pau Gasol

    2002  Mike Dunleavy

    2003 Carmelo Anthony

    2004 Ben Gordon

    2005 Deron Williams

    2006 Adam Morrison

    2007 Al Horford

    The only flop is Morrison, and he still has a shot at redemption. Miles was a chucklehead, but when healthy, oh could he play. Dunleavy showed signs of becoming a player this year, while the stock of Gordon and Melo fell a bit from some lofty heights. Gasol, Williams and Horford are cornerstones. That’s a pretty good historical record. And remember, that’s just the #3 pick. If we look at the third best player taken in the first round from 2000-2007, it goes like this:

    2000: K-Mart of Mike Miller (behind Pryzbilla and Turkoglu, bad draft)

    2001: Gasol (behind Tony Parker and Tyson Chandler)

    2002: Tayshaun Prince or Caron Butler (behind Amare and Yao)

    2003: Bosh or Melo (behind LeBron and Wade)

    2004: Luol Deng or Iguodala (behind D Howard and Jefferson)

    2005: Bynum (behind Paul and Williams)

    2006: Rudy Gay o
    r Rondo (behind Roy and Aldridge)

    2007: Kevin Durant (behind Horford and Oden, although you can flip ’em)

    Okay, enough covering up my lack of detailed knowledge about these picks with thumbnail history. The abiding point is, this third overall pick is a very valuable commodity. It is hard to totally screw it up, and possible to resurrect your franchise. Kevin McHale says he likes eight people in this draft and others have said it is very deep. If true, the Wolves should consider a trade, especially if the guy(s) they like is somewhat under the radar. With that, I’ll let my smart commenters take over.