The -715 line for the home 76ERS is a bit of a concern but they are 3-0 at home in the early going despite some wild movement on the betting lines. They have even come in above the projections.
Can Cleveland cover as the underdog seems to be the question? It is unlikely the Cavaliers win outright with a +500 line. This is not impossible, but it would take a poor shooting performance by Philadelphia.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the 76ERS to win outright returns a profit of $1.40. It’s very chalky, but it’s better than trying to win with Cleveland.
The CAVALIERS+11.5 (+105) is the play here. A Cleveland cover (lose by no more than 11 points) returns a profit of $10.50.
Cleveland is 3-2 on the road ATS and 7.9 points per game on the cover while Philadelphia is 2-1 ATS at home and 5.8 points per game above projections. Cleveland has the ability to keep this game close enough.
This is a bit rare, but the Over/Under of 216.5 (-106, -115) is one to pass on here. There are just better choices in some of the other NBA games tonight. Philadelphia-Cleveland is a game that could go either way and one call could make a difference. AVOID!
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Previewing Tuesday’s New York Knicks at Chicago Bulls sports betting odds and lines, with NBA matchup analysis and picks.
The New York Knicks (2-8) meet the Chicago Bulls (3-7) Tuesday at the United Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET between the 15th- and 13th-place teams in the Eastern Conference. We analyze the Knicks-Bulls odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
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Knicks at Bulls: Key injuries
Knicks
C Mitchell Robinson (concussion) out
PG Elfrid Payton (hamstring) out
PG Dennis Smith Jr. (personal) questionable
PG Kadeem Allen (knee) questionable
SG Reggie Bullock (neck) out
Bulls
SF Otto Porter (foot) out
Knicks at Bulls: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 9:55 a.m. ET.
The Bulls are just 1-3 at home while the Knicks are 1-5 on the road. New York’s minus-10.1 average point differential is the worst in the NBA as it’s outscored 109.3-99.2 on average. The Bulls are minus-4.6 (110.0-105.4). Both teams come into Tuesday having lost their last game. The Knicks took a 108-87 loss at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday. The Bulls lost 117-94 at home to the Houston Rockets.
In a coin flip game between two bad teams such as this, it’s never a bad idea to chase the value. Back the KNICKS at +190 and make a profit of $19 on a $10 bet should New York come away with the outright road win.
There’s still value on the KNICKS on the spread of +6.5 with -121 odds. The same $10 wager fetches an $8.26 return if they stay within six points in a loss or win outright. The Bulls’ three wins all came by margins of at least six points, but they’re just 4-6 overall against the spread and 2-2 at home. The Knicks are 5-5 ATS and 4-2 on the road.
Take the UNDER 211.5 (+105). The Bulls and Knicks rank 28th and 29th, respectively, in true shooting percentage at rates of 52.2 and 51.0%. The Knicks also play to the league’s fifth-slowest pace at 99.85 possession per game.
New York is 2-8 against the Over/Under and falls an average of 7.1 points shy of the projection. Chicago is 4-6 against the projected totals while falling five points below the projection.
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In an era where stars requesting trades to team up is so common, the Blazers two studs – Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum – are going against the grain.
BLAZERS STARS CONTENT… SHOULD THE TEAM BE? Despite their multiple postseason failures and the team’s slow start this season,Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are quite content with where they’re at and refuse to be like other stars of this era who choose to force trades and team up rather than build something for themselves. Lillard, in particular, is pretty adamant about why he’s happy to be a Blazer: “I play for a great organization. I play for a great coach. I love where I live. I have a great situation.”
Nevertheless, Portland sits at 4-6 through 10 games, and have the looks of a team that might have hit its peak – the conference finals – last season. Getting Jusuf Nurkic back could help, but how much of an impact should he be expected to make this season after suffering such a brutal leg injury?
The Blazers might be best-served seeingif they could get anything in exchange for the struggling McCollum, who is shooting 39.1 percent from the floor this year. A star-level two-way wing, something Portland is desperately lacking, could dramatically change things in the Pacific Northwest.
Or the Blazers could choose to stand pat and risk missing the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference. We’ll see how happy Lillard is in Portland if that does happen.
Will that change anything for New York? Probably not, considering their poorly constructed roster and bad management. But it’s hard to see anyone doing worse than Fizdale and his 19-73 career record with the Knicks.
HISTORY MADE: Young Celtics star Jayson Tatum made history on Monday night. It wasn’t the good kind. Tatum finished Boston’s contest against the Mavericks with five points on… 1-of-18 shooting, giving him thesecond-worst shooting performance in Celtics history over the last 65 years (minimum: 15 field-goal attempts). Hey, at least Boston won.
ANOTHER HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT: After James Harden dropped 39 points against the Pelicans on Monday, his scoring average for the season bumped up to 37.3 points per game through 10 Rocket outings. That’sthe highest scoring average through 10 games in the last 50 seasons. Decent production coming out of Houston.
KAWHI VS TORONTO: Clippers superstar and reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard faced off with his former team, the Toronto Raptors, for the first time last night. Los Angeles pulled out the win 98-88, even despite the fact that Leonard went 2-for-11 from the floor and scored just 12 points. Leonard was able to contribute in other ways, however, with 11 rebounds, nine assists and three steals.
STEPH PLANNING TO PLAY THIS YEAR? Much has been made about whether or not Stephen Curry will return this season, especially with the Warriors struggling in the win-loss column. According to the two-time league MVP himself, though,he plans to come back in the early spring.
SPURS HOLD CEREMONY FOR TEAM LEGEND:The Spurs retired Tony Parker’s jersey last night,in what was a lovely ceremony. Among those who attended: Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan (he had no choice since he coaches for the Spurs now), David Robinson, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf and soccer legend Thierry Henry.
AAU AND LOAD MANAGEMENT:LeBron James granted Yahoo Sports an interview where he unloaded on the dangers of kids being overworked in AAU basketball, and how he believes it directly ties in with the need for load management among professionals.
YOUNG STAR DOWN: The brutal news keeps rolling in for the Kings this season, as word came out that stud young point guardDe’Aaron Fox will be sidelined for 3-4 weeks due to an ankle sprain that occurred in practice.
THE LOGO SPEAKS: NBA legendJerry West gave The Athletic a rare interview where he discussed topics such as Paul George’s return, basketball in southern California (including the Lakers), and much more.
Week 4 of the NBA season continues on Monday with a slate that’s highlighted by an emotional reunion of the defending champions with the man that delivered them the Larry O’Brien trophy in what should be a fantastic matchup at the Staples Center.
Kawhi Leonard. This is the man everyone wants to watch in the NBA this season, and his load management has led to some groans by those who just love to see the best player in the league do the things that led to him winning a championship last June and the Finals MVP. Leonard did it for the Toronto Raptors, who come to Staples Center to play the Clippers in what will most likely be the first meeting between player and team — if Kawhi doesn’t sit this one out.
The Raptors will be playing in the second night of a back-to-back at Staples after an exciting 113-104 win against the Lakers on Sunday night. Pascal Siakam has made the jump to superstar, OG Anunoby has done well in Leonard’s old spot in the lineup, and the champions are playing like it so far. It will be an awesome atmosphere in Los Angeles and expect Leonard to be excited to see his former teammates for the first time since signing with the Clippers.
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Each week, HoopsHype ranks the Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. Find out who made this week’s rankings!
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff ranks the Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who have entered the 2019-20 MVP discussion thanks to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out thus far? Who can sustain this production as the sample size increases? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
Drummond has been dominant through the first 10 games of the season. It’s impressive when a player has a single 20-point, 20-rebound performance, but the 26-year-old is nearly averaging that. He’s scored 20 or more points in six games, and he’s grabbed 20 or more rebounds in five games. He’s also doing a good job of finding open teammates, as he’s averaging 5.4 assists in November (and he has 25 assists in his last four games). Drummond is posting video-game numbers and shows no sign of slowing down. The Pistons are getting Blake Griffin back from injury, which should only help them as they look to improve their record (4-6) and climb up the Eastern Conference standings.
Towns missed two games due to his suspension for fighting Joel Embiid, but he’s been a beast in the seven contests in which he’s played. He’s posting career-highs across the board and he’s been able to score the ball with ease this season, inside and out. In fact, Towns has more than doubled his three-point attempts (from 4.6 last year to 9.3 this year), yet his three-point percentage has stayed at 40.0 percent. His 3.7 threes per game is fourth in the NBA behind only James Harden (4.3), Damian Lillard (4.0) and Kemba Walker (3.8). Minnesota is currently 5-4, which is ninth-best in the Western Conference and just two games out of first place.
HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina recently wrote a great article breaking down Booker’s impressive start to the season and what he’s doing differently this year. The 23-year-old is playing the most efficient basketball of his career, finishing in the paint better than ever and locking down opponents on the defensive end. Newcomers Aron Baynes and Ricky Rubio have made a huge difference for Booker too. The Suns are the NBA’s biggest surprise thus far, sitting at 6-3 with the league’s third-best offense (scoring 109.1 points per 100 possessions) and ninth-best defense (allowing 101.1 points per 100 possessions). There’s no question that Booker is a huge reason for their early success. The red-hot Suns will face off against the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in a game that will feature three players from this list.
Harden is once again leading the league in scoring. The main issue for Harden (and the reason he isn’t higher on this list) has been his shooting percentages. He’s currently shooting an ugly 39.4 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from three-point range – both of which are career-lows. It’s taking him 24.2 field goal attempts (and 14.4 three-point attempts) per game to get to his 37.1 scoring average. Those numbers must drastically improve if he wants to compete for this year’s MVP award. There’s always an adjustment period when a team is integrating a new star and that’s what Harden and the Rockets are doing with Russell Westbrook. Still, Houston is 6-3, which is tied for the third-best record in the Western Conference.
There’s a reason LeBron James badly wanted to team up with this guy. Davis is once again filling the stat sheet and making his presence felt all over the court, helping the Lakers win seven of their first nine games. He gives opposing head coaches nightmares, as he’s been the best rim protector in the league and he’s scoring at will. Davis is currently ranked first in Defensive Win Shares (0.9) and third in Win Shares (1.7, tied with James). He’s new to the Lakers and still getting acclimated, but you’d never know it based on his early play. It remains to be seen if voters will dock points from James and/or Davis because they’re on the same team. Opposing teams certainly hate that these two stars teamed up, as they’ve struggled to slow them down thus far.
Lillard is having the best season of his career, but he can only do so much for the Blazers. He’s getting little help from his supporting cast, which is why the Blazers are 4-6 and in 10th place in the Western Conference despite Lillard playing out of his mind. That was on display in Portland’s recent loss to the Brooklyn Nets, when Lillard had 60 points (including 7 threes), 5 assists and 4 rebounds while shooting 57.6 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from deep, but the Nets won 119-115. Injuries have been an issue for the Blazers, but they also have a new-look roster after losing Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, Enes Kanter and Seth Curry among others. Still, Lillard is averaging the second-most points in the league while also ranking first in Win Shares (2.4) and second in Value Over Replacement Player (1.1).
Leonard’s decision to sit out the nationally televised showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks relaunched the load-management debate. It seems that Leonard will continue to sit out during back-to-backs to ensure that he’s 100 percent for the playoffs. Leonard credits load management for his monster 2019 postseason with the Toronto Raptors and while this is probably a smart move for the Clippers, it likely means Leonard won’t have a shot at winning this year’s MVP award. Voters seem to disqualify players who rest, regardless of how productive they are when they play. HoopsHype looked at the last 15 MVP winners and they missed an average of 3.93 games in their MVP season (with no player missing more than 10 games). Leonard missed 22 games last season and he’s on pace to miss 18 contests this year, which would seemingly remove him from the MVP discussion (like last year). Still, Leonard is playing well and the Clippers are 6-3, which is tied for the third-best record in the West. If the Clippers stop resting Leonard – or the NBA decides that he’s healthy and must play – perhaps he becomes a serious candidate.
Doncic is the only player in the league who currently ranks Top 11 in points per game (sixth), assists per game (second) and rebounds per game (11th). As if Luka’s counting stats weren’t impressive enough, his advanced stats jump off the page as well: Doncic ranks third in Value Over Replacement Player (1.0), fourth in Box Plus/Minus (10.3) and fifth in Win Shares (1.6). The 20-year-old is the youngest player in NBA history to record 10 or more triple-doubles, passing LeBron James and Magic Johnson. He also became the second player with at least three 20-point triple-doubles in the first six games of a season, joining Oscar Robertson. Doncic must continue to limit his turnovers (4.9 per game) and improve his three-point percentage (32.1 percent on 8.7 attempts per game). But that feels like nitpicking when the kid is nearly averaging a triple-double and winning games for the Mavericks, who are 6-3 (which is tied for the third-best record in the West).
Antetokounmpo had an MVP performance in the Bucks’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. After struggling in the first half, Antetokounmpo ripped his jersey and kicked a hole in a Thunder sign while walking back to the locker room at halftime. In the second half, MVP Giannis showed up and he finished the game with 35 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 threes, 1 block and 1 steal while shooting an efficient 68.4 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from three-point range. Antetokounmpo has now scored 30 or more points in five-straight games. The Bucks are 7-3, which puts them in third place in the Eastern Conference and just one game back from the top-seeded Boston Celtics. Antetokounmpo currently leads all players in Value Over Replacement Player (1.3), Box Plus/Minus (13.9) and Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (.325).
As Tommy Beer of Forbes recently pointed out, no player in NBA history has ever averaged more than 7.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in their age-35 season. Well, James is currently posting those marks with ease (24.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 11.0 assists). When all is said and done, one could make the argument that James was the best teenager in NBA history (he holds the NBA record for most career points, rebounds and assists before turning 20 years old) and the best mid-30s player in NBA history (if he keeps this up). LeBron’s longevity is remarkable; in the load-management era, he’s playing 35.1 minutes per game, which is the most of any Laker and 12th-most in the league. James is currently No. 1 on this list because his individual production has been impressive and it’s translated into team success, as the Lakers currently have the NBA’s second-best record at 7-2. One area where James must improve is his three-point shooting; he’s attempting 5.2 threes per game, but he’s making just 31.9 percent thus far.
Two talented teams meet in Boston Monday when Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks visit TD Garden to take on the surging Celtics. While it’s certainly way too early to proclaim anything wild, at the rate these two teams have opened the season, we could possibly be seeing an NBA Finals preview.
The Mavs have enjoyed a bright start to the season, opening with a very nice 6-3 record. The story of their opening stretch has to be the play of second-year phenom Luka Doncic. The Slovenian guard is percentage points away from averaging a triple-double through nine games this season. With 28.1 PPG, 10.4 RPG and 9.2 APG to his name, the youngster is becoming one of the must-see names in the entire league. If he continues on this pace, there’s a strong chance he’ll be mentioned heavily when the talk of NBA MVP heats up later in the season. Doncic put up 24 points and 14 rebounds in a 138-122 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
While Dallas has impressed early on, the Celtics are only one of two teams with just one loss so far this season. A 7-1 start has to be extremely satisfying for Boston fans after losing their most high-profile player, Kyrie Irving, via free agency in the offseason. A 135-115 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday will do nothing to quell their enthusiasm. Jalen Brown’s 30 points along with Kemba Walker’s 26-point effort led the way for the C’s. However, it wasn’t all good news. Gordon Hayward’s unfortunate injury streak continued in the game, fracturing his hand in the win. It’s not yet known how long he’ll be out for, but he’ll be sorely missed. Hayward averaged 20.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists through seven games.
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Michael Jordan hoped that Stephen Curry wouldn’t take offense when M.J. said the Golden State Warriors guard wasn’t a Hall of Famer yet. But, of course, that was never going to happen. Curry insinuated that Jordan was one of the haters during a recent interview with SoleCollector.com.
During the video segment, SoleCollector.com’s Matthew Welty asked if Curry had ever autographed his shoes and sent them to the haters.
“Not yet, I might have to set up a little service,” Curry told Welty. “I might have to send them to M.J.”
Curry laughed it off, but perhaps there’s some gravity to his statement. And it was surely a reference to Jordan’s recent comments. Here’s a look at the moment.
Anthony Davis told ESPN the injury he suffered to his right shoulder while attempting a dunk is something he continues to feel.
The Lakers’ seven-game win streak ended Sunday at the hands of the reigning NBA Champion Raptors Sunday night. Anthony Davis, who joined Los Angeles in June, lead the purple and gold with 27 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
The numbers are right around what the former New Orleans Pelican averages this season, despite having suffered a shoulder injury while attempting a dunk in a game a couple of weeks ago. Davis told ESPN postgame Sunday that the injury is something he continues to feel, even in performing well.
“There’s really never a play I don’t feel it,” Davis said of his injured right shoulder. “I’m going to go out there and play. I try not to let it affect my game. I just play through it and then worry about taking care of it after the game.”
The 26-year-old wears a compression shirt under his t-shirt in the game and the Lakers staff applies a heat pack to his shoulder on the bench to keep him able to play right now. Davis tweaked the shoulder again Sunday in blocking on of his four denied shots, but there does not seem to be an indication that he’ll be taken off the court.
LeBron James correctly calls out some flaws in the system but misidentifies the culprits.
LeBron James is right about a lot of things a lot of the time. He’s an inspiration, truly: an athlete who lived up to soaring hype and now uses his fame to speak out on issues far beyond the court. He’s probably the most complete basketball player ever, but his legacy, I think, will be in emboldening following generations to pay attention to, and speak out about, problems they have ascended past. What an incredible thing to give to the world.
“These kids are going into the league already banged up, and I think parents and coaches need to know [that] … well, AAU coaches don’t give a f—,” James told Yahoo Sports. “AAU coaches couldn’t give a damn about a kid and what his body is going through.”
James granted Yahoo Sports an exclusive interview that covered the state of load management, a draining AAU culture that often leads to destruction, how he monitors his son’s involvement, and preventable measures to ensure that kids aren’t being taken advantage of and physically damaged before beginning their professional careers.
“I think [AAU] has something to do with it, for sure,” James told Yahoo Sports. “It was a few tournaments where my kids — Bronny and Bryce — had five games in one day and that’s just f—ing out of control. That’s just too much. And there was a case study where I read a report. I don’t know who wrote it not too long ago, and it was talking about the causes and [kid’s] bodies already being broken down and they contributed it to AAU basketball and how many games that these tournaments are having for the [financial benefit]. So, I’m very conscious for my own son because that’s all I can control, and if my son says he’s sore or he’s tired, he’s not playing.
“Because a lot of these tournaments don’t have the best interest of these kids, man. I see it. It’s like one time, they had to play a quarterfinal game, a semifinal game and a championship game starting at 9 a.m., and the championship game was at 12:30 p.m. Three games. I was like, ‘Oh, hell no.’ And my kids were dead tired. My kids were dead tired. This isn’t right. This is an issue.”
I’m not going to pretend that I know a lot of AAU coaches, but I regularly covered top programs in Indiana, met coaches in the D.C./Baltimore area and reported on several programs in New York City. The coaches cared about the players — deeply, in most cases — and wanted what was best for them. Are there some bad apples in summer basketball? Of course.
But mostly, summer coaches are in a strange position. The point of summer basketball is not to win. It’s not to build balanced teams and manage them so that they are in position to compete for trophies. That’s all a sideshow. Scholarships aren’t awarded based on that; coaches don’t get the call to be Director of Ops at a mid-major because they went zone in the waning minutes of a Sunday championship game. No, the point of summer ball is to get kids noticed. Players want to get minutes, have the ball and put up shots as college coaches watch.
(I’m speaking somewhat generically about the summer basketball experience, which has been in flux as shoe companies moved to control more of the action and the NCAA worked to give more power to high school coaches. The actual mechanics have changed, but the idea is the same: players want to show out for coaches and, when coaches aren’t there, the recruiting services covering the events.)
Summer teams are generally not carefully constructed so as to produce deep, well-rounded teams. If a kid is told he’s going to be the seventh or eighth man, he’ll just scout around for a less talented team where he’ll have a starring role. All the while, parents who are spending time and money to support their children, want to watch those kids get chances (who could forget James himself exuberantly enjoying his sons’ games this summer?). And often that means playing multiple games per day in tournaments meant to fit into long weekends.
And kids want to play! James basically admits this, saying: “It didn’t affect me. But now that I look back on it, I don’t know.” You know how hard it would be to get a 17-year-old chasing a dream to admit he’s tired? They all think the constant playing and training doesn’t affect them — it’s the price to be paid for greatness, after all.
James is right: The AAU system creates unhealthy experiences for many players. But those experiences are coveted opportunities for kids who need to scrape and claw for scholarships. James notes that Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League has done a better job at spacing out games — but that’s because Nike has the money to do things the right way. The summer basketball ecosystem also includes dozens of teams without the funds to stay the extra night in a hotel that would be required if a tournament was elongated to give players time to rest. James laments that some cities hosting tournaments don’t have Whole Foods, as if every kid pushing to get to the next level can afford to pay $9 per pound of food.
Besides, the vast majority of NBA players have time between AAU and their turn in the pros, and they spend it playing college basketball, where TV schedules dictate they play 9 p.m. games and class schedules call for 7 a.m. wake-ups — unless, of course, the players are flying across the country after the game. That’s not exactly the right way to get bodies ready for the next level, either.
The New York Knicks spent the last year trading Kristaps Porzingis to create cap space, whiffing on all the big-name free agents they hoped to attract with that room and then putting together a hodgepodge collage of one- and two-year contracts to surround the few valuable pieces they have.
They’re 2-8, and after a surprise press conference with president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry after Sunday’s awful loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, there’s writing on the wall.
I would say that’s a shock, considering Fizdale is in his second year with the franchise. But a backwards move like this is nothing shocking when it comes to the Knicks.
It’s not Fizdale’s fault that the previous regime couldn’t see eye to eye with Porzingis, who has resumed looking every bit like the star he was in his limited Big Apple time. It’s not his fault that the marquis names took their talents elsewhere, including over the Brooklyn Bridge. And it’s certainly not his fault that he was saddled with a roster that any coach would struggle with, one that includes a plethora of power forwards, disappointments and iffy fits.
Yet he might be the one to take the fall? Really?
There has to be accountability of a front office when it comes to the hiring and firing of a HC. I understand certain situations when the tenure of a HC has run its course (see Toronto) but changing HC every other year is a poor reflection on your hiring skills.
Who out there believed this was the roster that would compete in the East? No one should have. It’s supposed to be a year of development for RJ Barrett — who actually looks like he’s living up to the billing of being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 draft — Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson and Frank Ntilikina. The Knicks were going to be bad no matter what, although they could have taken that route by taking on bad contracts in exchange for first-round picks. It would have produced the same result with long-term dividends.
But here we are. And the kicker is part of that ESPN report:
“Rival coaches and executives see a mismatched Knicks roster slow of foot, without legitimate NBA guard play, but Mills is selling (owner James) Dolan on a poorly coached team that is underachieving at 2-8 to start the season, league sources said.”
As it seems to always be with the Knicks, it goes up the ladder. If it’s Dolan who’s demanding the franchise compete NOW and Mills has to save his job by throwing Fizdale under the bus, that’s what’s ultimately crushing any chance at putting together a winner in New York. This will keep happening — the Knicks will create cap space, no one notable will be sold on joining all this dysfunction, coaches will be axed, front offices will be remade, lather, rinse, repeat. There’s no process to trust.
This is not on Fizdale. It barely has anything to do with him — he’s just a pawn for an owner who has repeatedly failed to figure any of this out.
