Thursday, February 29, 2024

Basketball: Not-so-Quotable Quotes

I coached middle school girls for about twenty years, six years as a head coach. The Rec Department didn't want my friend and me to coach together because they thought the coaching was too 'concentrated'.

Seven years ago, the girls shared quotes and memories after the season. Not exactly Shakespeare. 


1. Have an attitude. Play like a dragon, a mythological creature.

2. "Sprint, don't run." Sprint back on defense. Sprint on offensive transition. Sprint to screen.

3. "The ball is gold." Over fifty years ago, the Four Factors didn't exist, but Coach taught us not to waste possessions, to value the ball. Adhere to that principle, play defense, and you'll play a lot.

You never know what players will remember.

Lagniappe. "Ricky, don't lose that number." 

Lagniappe 2. Great teammates help teams do more.   

Lagniappe 3. Terrific idea from @PickandPopNet "Free Throw Golf" 

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Basketball: Be a Great Teammate

Be a great teammate. Traffic in specifics.

Put the team first. "Scoreboard not scorebook..."  

Share.  "Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson

Practice hard. "Make practice hard so games are easier." 

Communicate well. "Silent teams lose." - Kevin Eastman

B+ (Be positive). "Negative attitudes never produce positive lives."

Support teammates and coaches. "Be a WE guy." 

Excel in your role. "Star in your role."

Never be a distraction. "Model teamwork." 

Lagniappe. Everyone loves a good shooting drill. 

Lagniappe 2. Danny Hurley sets up a horns backscreen for two. 

Lagniappe 3. Stacked off-ball screen with options. Good stuff from Ryan Pannone. 

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Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Basketball: How to Be Positive

"You cannot make a positive life from a negative attitude."

Positivity is a superpower. President Ronald Reagan told a story about a boy who went out to the back yard on Christmas Day and found a pile of horse manure. He grabbed a shovel and started digging. "I know there's a pony in there somewhere." 

How do you inhabit positive coaching? Here are ideas from a variety of sources: 

1. Speak greatness. (Rod Olson) "You did well BUT" is less powerful than "You did well AND..." 

2. Greet every player by name upon arrival at practice. 

3. Smile. 

4. Positivity is infectious. Infect the group with positivity and energy.  

5. Say "thank you." People love appreciation. Even better, write a thank you note to someone who helped you. 

6. Emphasize positive video clips. Anson Dorrance, whose UNC Women's Soccer clubs have won over twenty NCAA titles, shows only positive video. 

7. Take positive inventory. Give each player a piece of lined paper with teammates' names. Ask each to write two positive comments about each teammate. Collect them, cut and paste so that each player receives a sheet of positive comments from peers. 

8. Take a tip from Dean Smith. Make extra effort to credit reserve players who contribute. Starters and high scorers will always get credit while reserve players may not. 

9. Send 'progress reports' to each player, sandwiching an area to be improved between positive comments about their progress and contributions. 

10. Train players in positive affirmations. Help them form positive identity ("this is who I am") and performance ("this is how I play") statements. 

11. Stay connected. Let players know that you are available as a reference and for letters of recommendation. 

12. Network. Help players advance however you can. That can mean promotion for deserving players with other coaches and if applicable with the media.

Lagniappe. It's LEAP DAY in LEAP YEAR so...  

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Basketball: Second Chance Points and More

Occasionally, some ideas are exceptional and deserve a re-run. Here are ten from recent posts.

1. "When superstars are unselfish, everyone else can be." - Eddie House

2. "Be the smarter team every night."

3. Say "thank you" often. 

4. "Your most valuable asset is time." - Mark Cuban

5. "Run more hard-to-defend stuff." 

6. "Video is the truth machine." Doc Rivers shows no more than 13 clips because he thinks players get film fatigue. 

7. The women's game evolved as more players developed ability to create separation. 

8. The quality of an argument should stand on its own rather than on personality.

9. Rules matter when they impact winning. Generally, fewer rules are better. "Never do anything to embarrass the team or yourself" and "your job is to make your boss look good." 

10. Checklists clarify the symmetry in basketball. 


Lagniappe. Success follows skill and will. 

Lagniappe 2. Tune out distractions. 


 




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Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Basketball: You Want More? Impact Winning

Impact winning. Minutes, role, and recognition flow from winning. 

Older fans may remember UCLA beating Memphis State in the 1973 NCAA title game where Bill Walton scored 44 points on 21-22 shooting. I remember Greg Lee dishing out 14 assists. 

To be remembered, impact winning. Excellent coaches do more than challenge players to improve. They add value in that process. 


Winning the battle of the Four Factors is part of that. UCLA overcame turnovers by making a lot of shots. 

What considerations should young players have?

1. Play harder for longer than opponents. That's physical and mental.

2. Be the smarter team every night, not missing assignments, making the right reads, protecting the ball, taking quality shots. 

3. Avoid bad fouls. Don't bail out bad shots, perimeter shots, and allow high points/possession (free throws). 

4. Get the best shooters more shots in their spots. Remember the wisdom of Pete Carril, "bad shooters are always open." 

5. Play the tempo that the game and your coach dictates. Coach Wooden said, "the game is meant to be played fast." When you have the better talent, more possessions favors you. Underdogs seldom benefit by playing fast. 

6. Figure it out. Study the game. Success follows doing the right things, the right way, at the right time. Low basketball IQ teams don't win big. 

7. It's not going to be your night every night. If you're not scoring, find other ways to make a difference. 

8. Be a great teammate. It's a choice. Great teammates increase energy, positivity, and happiness. 

9. "Once superstars are unselfish, everyone else can be." - Eddie House  Sacrificing "numbers" for winning is an easy trade for winning players. 

10.Make a difference on both ends. Learn to contain scorers, talk, block out, get some deflections and steals, or take charges and force your way onto the floor. Coaches see who does the 'grunt work'. 

What's the enduring lesson? Impact winning. 

Lagniappe. Reduce limitations. 

Lagniappe 2. Adapt football rules. 

Set 'lower goals' for turnovers committed, bad shots, and transition hoops allowed.  

 

 

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Monday, February 26, 2024

Basketball: Making Your Mark

Commit to learn and study every day. That's why I invest time every day in MasterClass.

Mark Cuban shares an abundance of common sense. He chose not to run for President because his family voted against it. Here are a few tips for everyone (MasterClass screenshots). 


Buying 'eyeballs' for a product I give away would be idiotic. Advertising, as a physician in the twilight of a career, would also be. 


Ten years ago, I averaged 25 viewers a day. Now, it's around 1,500. Share ideas. 


Yesterday never comes back. Read content that adds value for you. 

What lessons does basketball teach us daily? 

  • Steal ideas relentlessly. Picasso said, "good artists borrow; great artists steal." Own his quote. 
  • We can't be the smartest guy in the room. But we can learn from her. 
  • Don't waste possessions. Each possession is a day in your life. Turnovers, "sh*t shots," and unfocused defense are throwaways of your basketball life. 
  • Simplify. Simplicity is hard. 
  • Find edges and exploit them. Run more hard-to-defend stuff. 
  • Communicate clearly. 
  • Say 'thank you' often. 
  • Avoid bad people, anyone who will drag you and yours down. 
  • Get everyone on the same page. Feedback. 
  • Don't be a credit hog. 
  • Ask "what if" and "why am I wrong here?" "Think again." 
  • "Share something great." 
  • Learn analogies. Burn bright or long? 
  • See the bird's eye view and the fine details. 
  • Be on time. Don't be an a*hole. 
  • "And then what?" 
Lagniappe. Shoot better. If as a team, you can't 'shoot it', you lose a lot. That includes shot selection. Good luck winning 0-0. 

Lagniappe 2. Many teams struggle to learn this. Pete Newell taught, "get more and better shots than our opponent." The quickest path to improvement is taking better shots. 

 

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Sunday, February 25, 2024

Basketball: Hold That Tiger, Columbia Hosts Princeton (1st Qtr Teaching Clips)

"Video is the truth machine." Study successful programs, coaches, and players. 

As we head toward March, every possession counts. The top two women's teams in the Ivies, Princeton and Columbia, square off. 

Princeton runs a backscreen into a step up PnR with a good hesitation but can't finish.  

 

Note how Princeton defends perimeter screens early, sending the defender 'through' the screen. 


Defensive mistakes and errors decide close games. Hsu leaks out for the transition hoop. 


Princeton wants the ball in Chen's hands off the BOB with a handoff into a ball screen. 


Attack off the catch as Columbia gets the defender off balance...but can't finish. Early attack and 'stampede' are critical wing skills. 


The women's game evolved as more players create separation and their own shot. 


Read the play. As the post is doubled, Mitchell recognizes and cuts to "homeowner" position for an easy bucket. 


Exceptional players "win in space." Offense wants spacing and defense wants shrinking. Columbia gets into trouble by passing into traffic. Your parent and your coach reminds you not to play in traffic. 


Good structure won't always get a hoop. Columbia executes a drive and kick forcing a long closeout but the open corner three won't drop. 


Two of the 'most stolen' passes are wing to top and top to post as too many hands show up. 


CARE - concentration, anticipation, reaction, execution...and the live ball turnover results in high points per possession. 


Columbia sets up a backscreen lob.
 

Lagniappe. VDE. Bird mastered vision-decision-execution. 

Lagniappe 2. 

 

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Saturday, February 24, 2024

Basketball: Theory of the Case

Learn across domains. Develop persuasive arguments. 

"Findings of fact are necessary to a resolution of disputes between parties. The function of the trial is to resolve factual disputes. One cannot overstate the importance of the facts. Advocacy skills alone, without thorough preparation and mastery of the facts, will not win a case. There is no substitute of thorough and rigorous preparation. While, of course, there must be preparation of the law, the more important preparation is the preparation of the evidence, the gathering of the facts and the marshaling of the evidence in a persuasive manner to establish the facts."

People are subject to cognitive bias and prone to errors. For example, social media and 'popularity' influence our beliefs, even when confronted by facts. The quality of an argument should stand on its own rather than on personality.

Move ahead or fall behind. When our team struggles, we need a 'theory of the case' to find solutions. Basketball has its own set of 'laws'. Taking credit for success and blaming players for failure misrepresents our world. It's self-serving to blame the talent constantly. And know exactly how many people feel sympathy for our team problems. 

Few coaches have the confidence and the character to ask others for help. 

Be consistent in our self-assessment. If it doesn't impact winning, then "bin it." 

  • Skill
  • Strategy
  • Physicality
  • Psychology
Skill. Because we can't recruit, develop. Sell the plan to players and leverage their buy-in. 

The best activities combine offense, defense, decision-making, conditioning, and competition. That means PLAY, a lot. 

Strategy. Match the size, athleticism, and skill of our team and our ability to teach with a plan to maximize scores and stops. The answers won't arrive on stone tablets. It's not enough to say "we're working hard in practice." Expect our opponents to work hard, too. 

Physicality. Have an offseason strength and conditioning program. Encourage players to work out together. If you have the juice, demand it. 

Psychology. Teach mental toughness through competition, mindfulness, and combinations of affirmations and visualization.

Lagniappe. Like X's and O's. Who doesn't? 

Lagniappe 2. Hard coaching is part of success. 

 

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Basketball: Helpful Annotated Rules from the Navy and NCIS

Everyone needs rules but not everyone applies them equally or consistently. "Infotain" - inform and entertain. 

Rules matter when they impact winning. Generally, fewer rules are better. "Never do anything to embarrass the team or yourself" and "your job is to make your boss look good." 

NCIS fans know "Gibbs' rules' but not all apply to basketball or leadership. Many do. Steal and adapt. My first rule is, "learn every day." Don't rediscover fire. Don't stuff square pegs into round holes. 'Think out of the box' to adapt and overcome. 

The Complete List of Gibbs' Rules: 1–25

  • Rule #1: "Never let suspects stay together." Gibbs Alternate Rule #1: "Never screw over your partner." (No one is sure why the writers had two #1 rules. However, they probably weren't keeping track at the time. In NCIS Season 8, Episode 11, "Ships in the Night," Magee acknowledges that there were two #1 rules when Gibbs decides to break rule #1.) Comment. You've heard the quote from the Hippocratic Oath, "first, do no harm." It's really, "never screw over your teammate." Prohibit selfishness. "That is not how we play."  
  • Rule #2: "Always wear gloves at a crime scene." 
  • Rule #3: "Don't believe what you are told; double-check." Alternate Rule #3: "Never be unreachable." Comment. This restates President Ronald Reagan's "Trust but verify." We've all known critical games lost because a team member didn't pay attention and the coach didn't get feedback. "They should have known," is failure. 
  • Rule #4: "The best way to keep a secret, keep it to yourself." Corollary 1 to Rule #4: "The 2nd best way to keep a secret, tell one other person, if you must." Corollary 2 to Rule #4: "There is no third best." The way to maintain confidence from friends and sources is never sharing secrets. Basketball information is public domain. Information about people is not. 
  • Rule #5: "You don't waste good." We waste 'good' when we bury a player on the bench or deny them opportunity, sometimes because of pettiness, grudges, or oversight. "Never be a child's last coach."
  • Rule #6: "Never say you're sorry."
  • Rule #7: "Always be specific when you lie." 
  • Rule #8: "Never take anything for granted." Another reminder to give and to get feedback. Players know a fraction of what you do. For example, if we 'presume' a player is left-handed and force weak by system, we're in for disaster if he's right-handed.
  • Rule #9: "Never go anywhere without a knife." (Season 8, Episode 9)
  • Rule #10: "Never get personally involved in a case." (Jethro burned this rule in Season 16, Episode 13) Coaching our children, we expose ourselves to their feelings and grievances from others who presume that our children are favored, meaning less opportunity, smaller role, and less recognition for others. It's far more than a precarious balance. 
  • Rule #11: "When the job is done, walk away." As a coach or a 'professional', knowing when we're 'cooked' isn't always clear. My wife asked a coworker why he retired. He said, "I had a moment of clarity."
  • Rule #12: "Never date a co-worker."
  • Rule #13: "Never ever involve lawyers." (It is also mentioned that there are seven rules that involve lawyers. Currently, this is the only rule about lawyers that has been revealed.)
  • Rule #14: "Bend the line, don't break it." (Season 11, Episode 3) There's tough, physical play or dirty, unsportsmanlike play. Cheap shots, 'gorilla ball', and running up the score against reserves all go over the line in my view. Denying reserves minutes in blowouts also breaks the line in my world. 
  • Rule #15: "Always work as a team." (Season 5, Episode 5) Stick with our core values in basketball. Mine are 'teamwork, improvement, and accountability'. 
  • Rule #16: "If someone thinks they have the upper hand, break it." (Season Finale, Season 8)
  • Rule #17: Hasn't been revealed
  • Rule #18: "It's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission." (Season 3, Episode 4, revealed by Director Shephard) This is an old Navy adage. We deployed on a Presidential Medical Support mission, told not to open supplies. As soon as we were out of sight of point of departure, the Mission Commander ordered the supplies opened, finding equipment broken by dry rot and outdated supplies. He got them replaced, probably with considerable embarrassment by his superiors. Imagine caring for the President with broken equipment. 
  • Rule #19: Hasn't been revealed
  • Rule #20: "Always look under." (Season 12, Episode 17, revealed by Special Agent Barrett. Mentioned again in Season 17, Episode 16 by Special Agent Bishop.) Restated, "don't make assumptions." You've heard the expression, "ASSUME equals make an ASS out of U and ME." 
  • Rule #21: Hasn't been revealed
  • Rule #22: "Never ever bother Gibbs in interrogation."
  • Rule #23: "Never mess with a marine's coffee if you want to live." 
  • Rule #24: Hasn't been revealed
  • Rule #25: Hasn't been revealed

Summary:

  • Learn every day.
  • Make the boss look good.
  • Never do anything to embarrass the team or yourself.
  • Give and get feedback. 
  • Don't take 'stuff' for granted.

Lagniappe. Simplify. Repeat great advice. 

Lagniappe 2. Study great coaches. Ryan Pannone (sounds like a Blacklist villain)  

 

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Friday, February 23, 2024

Basketball: Rumor Board

"I can't remember more than three things, so give me your top three." 

Apply lessons from medicine and society to improve accuracy, decisions, and results. Basketball is collaboration.

Tumor Board. A patient presents with cancer. Specialists from multiple disciplines - pathology, radiology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgery - discuss the patient, the literature, and formulate a plan. The patient's general health, other illnesses, extent of disease (stage), pace of disease, preferences, age, and other factors help define the plan. 

Analogy. Coaches develop a game plan based on their strengths and weaknesses, film study, scouting reports. "Utilize strengths, attack weaknesses." Decide what and how to 'take away' from an opponent. 

Crowdsourcing. "Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers." Wikipedia itself, developed from crowdsourcing. 

Analogy. In some sports, notably baseball, Hall of Fame voting brings together hundreds of voters, ostensibly with breadth and depth of knowledge, to decide who is 'worthy' for enshrinement. The sense of self-importance might be considered overwhelming? 

During the scouting and drafting process, an organization uses many inputs to evaluate and rank prospects. Even then, others decide whether to choose based on positional needs, to take the best player available, or to trade picks for other assets. 

Checklists. Checklists perform across industries - aviation, construction, investments, restaurants, medicine to ensure accuracy, assure quality, and reduce errors. Atul Gawande raised the profile of checklists in his seminal work Checklist Manifesto. 

Analogy. Checklists may fly 'under the radar' in sports. 

Play sheets in football and basketball could be considered checklists. 

Checklists help illustrate the role of symmetry in basketball. 



Use all the resources available to improve process and outcome. 

Lagniappe. "The ball has energy." 

Lagniappe 2. Are we using DHO actions optimally? 

Lagniappe 3. Intensity defines destiny. 

 

 

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Basketball: Rethinking Makes Sense Unless You've Never Been Wrong Plus the Wisdom of Coach K

We play our 'scenes' with a certain status. In the Navy, the answer to any question flowed from "what is in the best interest of the Navy?" Whether the lowest seaman or senior officer, the rules applied. 

Work with the knowledge and first-hand information of the insider or the data, bias, and perspective of the outsider. Those viewpoints and data sets can converge or stand far apart. 

Bias is part of our limitations. Bias is intrinsic to us but the discipline to believe facts can overcome. 

Review a few major cognitive biases..."Cognitive biases are systematic patterns of deviation from norm and/or rationality in judgment."

Anchoring : pre-existing beliefs influence our perception of events ("he's a good person so he couldn't have done that") 

Confirmation bias: reading or watching material that supports our belief. 

Endowment effect: holding our people and possessions in higher value because they are ours (players we coach, our children, our antique clock)

"Illusion of validity, the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's judgments, especially when available information is consistent or inter-correlated." - Wikipedia

Sample size: we draw broader conclusions irrespective of the limitations of the data sample 

Rethinking isn't the only way to think better. Consider that we might be wrong and reasons why. 

Lagniappe. 

Lagniappe 2. Plyo beginner work. 

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Thursday, February 22, 2024

Basketball: Small Talk, Big Talk

Coaches don't need to excel at small talk but must excel at "big talk." It's as easy to make a friend as an enemy. 

What counts as big talk? Big talk makes a difference. 

Be specific. Jargon doesn't help. Platitudes don't help. Cliches don't help. Give players drills, exercises, video critiques. When we get the special player, take care of her. Be an anteambulo. Find canvas for her to paint. 

“Great men have almost always shown themselves as ready to obey as they afterwards proved able to command.” –Lord Mahon

Be positive. Encourage players to work hard, to choose growth. Compete for varsity spots when hope and possibility exist. That doesn't mean to pump flat tires with holes in them. Don't throw a player under the bus. If one player is a better fit for a seat, do the right thing for the program. 

Help shape dreams. Offer aid. That might mean teaching, shagging rebounds, extra instruction, adding value in a thousand ways or sometimes just one.

Add perspective. Perspective should be truth. 'The truth needs three things: number one, you got to live it. Number two, you got to be able to tell it. And number three, you got to be able to take it.' - Kevin Eastman  That can mean speaking truth to power or empowering a player with the truth about her game. 

Network. Part of adding value is providing shoulders to stand on. Many aren't high so don't provide much visibility or lift. Mine don't. But when players earned a chance to follow their dream, do our best to help them.   

Lagniappe. 

Lagniappe 2. Read the defense.   

Lagniappe 3. Make time to read. 

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Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Basketball: Do What the Top Teams and Top Players Do

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." 

Watch top coaches, top teams, and top players and look for common themes. Develop and rank your list. Improve daily.

Set expectations and how to meet them. No secrets shine on this list or anything our teams can't do better. 

"Seeing is believing." Raw statistics, short clips, screen shots, shot charts, and full game video offer proof. 
  • Have a culture of excellence and emphasize coachability.
  • Outwork opponents in the offseason. "Repetitions make reputations." 
  • Play harder for longer in great physical condition.
  • Have "possession enders" who get scores and stops. 
  • Take better shots than most opponents. 
  • Space the floor on both offense and defense (shrink space). 
  • "Win in space" instead of forcing action into traffic. 
  • Create space with elite footwork.
  • Limit turnovers. Take care of the basketball. "The ball is gold."
  • Make more layups and free throws. 
  • Handle defensive pressure with player and ball movement. 
  • Talk on defense. 
  • Don't miss assignments.
  • Commit fewer bad fouls. 
  • Control tempo with both offensive and defensive delay games. 
  • Don't waste energy complaining about officiating. Control what you can control. 
  • Never quit.
Every possession won't be perfect. Players will take mediocre shots. They will turn the ball over. They won't get every rebound. They'll make defensive mistakes and errors and commit bad fouls. But they'll do so less often than other teams and results will reflect that.  

Lagniappe. Getting the right fit saves everyone a lot of trouble. 

— Steve Dagostino (@DagsBasketball) February 20, 2024 

Lagniappe 2. Teamwork. 

Lagniappe 3. Purpose. 

 

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Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Basketball: "You're Going to Get Hit"

"You're going to get hit." - Author Walter Mosley

Boxers know they'll get hit. Do the rest of us? 

Play basketball, coach basketball, write about basketball - "you're going to get hit." Shoulda done this, coulda don't that. What the hell is the matter with you?

Players take accusations of selfishness, softness, lack of skill, poor defense, disappointing performance, being a bad teammate, for choices made off the court. "You're going to take a hit." 

Coaches have even more avenues for verbal aggravated assault. Front offices, players, families, fans, and media all pick our metaphorical bones. Legions disagree with coaching philosophy, strategy, personnel selection and training, in-game adjustments, credit, and blame. If a coach walked on water, detractors would throw him a limestone life preserver. 

Writers have other issues. Hemingway said, "Writing is easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." Writers get labeled vicious and vindictive or superficial sycophants. Readers reject subjects, substance, style, and sometimes legitimately grate on grammar. 

What advice applies? 

1. Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" speech. 

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

2. Don Miguel Ruiz, "The Four Agreements"


3. Director Mira Nair's advice, to do this job well "you need the soul of a poet and the hide of an elephant."

4. Bobby Knight wisdom, "If you listen to the fans in the stands, soon you'll be sitting up there with them."

Lagniappe. Work on multiple skills during drills. 

Lagniappe 2. Cutting is an underappreciated skill. 

 Lagniappe 3. Triple bonus. Vegan chili 

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Basketball Second Helping: Learn Across Disciplines

Learn across disciplines. If your season is over, start preparing for next season and become more athletic.

This site informs great tips for building athleticism.

Other considerations: 

1. Jump rope training. Invest five minutes. 


2. Tabata training to build aerobic capacity (on-off high intensity interval training) 


3. Play basketball, a lot. It's not always easy to find full court intense games, but conditioning within game play offers offense, defense, decision-making, and competition. 

4. Work out with a teammate. Drag each other higher on the competitive ladder. 

5. "Winners are trackers." Be a tracker. Compete for your PB (personal best) within your favorite shooting drills. Add constraints, such as "I have to make X number over Y seconds" and rest/recover by taking two free throws. 

Lagniappe. Auriemma. 
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