Portland Trail Blazers

Mar 8, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts talks with forward Nicolas Batum (88) during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT To the concern of some cautious Blazer fans, Nicolas Batum was signed to a 4 year $48 million dollar contract  last year, in hopes that he would soon reach a rather optimistic ceiling. One season later, Nicolas Batum’s value is still up for debate. However; it is clear that the Blazers are invested in him, for better or worse, so there is no reason not to plan ahead. Despite marked improvement as a facilitator, Batum’s 5th NBA season was underwhelming. That is not to say that he performed especially poorly, but he did not meet the expectations his inflated contract bred. For $11 million at 24 years old, one’s points per 36 minutes should not suffer a decline as his did (16.4 in 2011-2012, 13.4 in 2012-2013). Only so much of this can be blamed on injury. Batum’s wrist gave him difficulty most of the season, but I’m not going to let him off the hook. You can’t score 19 one night, slum for 5 and 3 the next few, then return to form with 15 and blame the dip on affliction. I understand the need to play gingerly at times, but many were quick to mask blatant inconsistency with the convenient blanket excuse of “soreness”. The problem is not that Batum is good unless he feels bad; the problem is that there are two Nicolas Batums in the first place. One is the chase-down defender and knock-down shooter Portland paid $11 million for, and the other bleeds turnovers that require the chase-downs and can’t hit the broad side of a barn. In order for Batum to be worth his contract, I want to see the following ‘per game’ progression over the next three years (if not better, of course): Points Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks 2012-2013 14.3 5.6 4.9 1.2 1.1 2013-2014 16.0 6.0 5.0 1.5 1.2 2014-2015 17.0 6.5 5.0 1.8 1.4 2015-2016 18.5 7.0 5.3 2.0 1.5 First things first, Batum has to get a midrange game. He’s a respectable 3-point shooter and a strong finisher at the rim, but to be the complete package Portland needs, he MUST become a more efficient jump shooter. Batum shot just 34.6% anywhere between 3 feet out and the 3 point line all season. These majestic clunkers made up 26% of Batum’s shot attempts. He has to get more comfortable at the elbow so the offense does not stagnate into predictability (more so). As for rebounding, I’m less concerned. Batum has a 7’4” wingspan and an athletic build, he just needs to work on boxing out. Most of his contested boards come from reaching over opponents rather than edging them off the ball. At this point, it’s unrealistic for him to add weight, but learning to use his better is within reason. His tendency to fly into the scrum should be converted into starting there to begin with. Assists were a pleasant surprise from Batum last season, but not without cost. His newly discovered knack for finding seams was met with a fair number of imagined gaps. Sloppy passes to unavailable teammates gave away key possessions in a game where each one counts. His decision making has improved, but his court vision isn’t where it could be. When Batum is able to recognize defense poised in the passing lanes before committing to the swing, his value will skyrocket. Speaking of passing lanes, Batum’s long arms make him an ideal perimeter defender. This is why Terry Stotts will occasionally put him on opposing point guards.  The sheer width of a strafing Batum is enough to force opponents into bad passes. I want to see Batum’s name displayed in the top 10 on the steals leaderboard one day. Perhaps, as a forward, this is an unrealistic expectation, but the potential is there depending upon how the Blazers’ evolving defense changes. Where blocking is concerned, Batum’s numbers are fine; it’s the type of blocks I want to see change. It’s no secret that Batum excels at transition defense, s

Draft coverage is exploding all over Blazer's Edge! Just click on any of these links for: All the articles in this series covering potential Blazer selections from A(dams) to Z(eller). Complete coverage of Trail Blazer pre-draft workouts. SBNation's less Blazer-centric but more comprehensive view of the 2013 Draft Class. ZiggytheBeagle's comparative charts of selected draftees. And now on with the show. So far our journey through the Portland Trail Blazers' prospects in the 2013 NBA Draft has been limited to players available in the range of the #10 pick. Today we're going to look at two draftees who would have to slip in order for the Blazers to select them at #10. Alternately, the Blazers might find them worth trading up for. Alex Len--7'1", 255lb C from Maryland, 20 y.o. Sophomore The Alex Len story begins with 7'1" height, great wingspan, and 255 lbs of weight, headed upwards. Those are fine measurements for a 20-year-old. He's a center, born and bred. No messing around, no guessing about power forward, no undersized designation. The second stanza is all about how he moves those 7'1" and 255 pounds. Some guys are graceful, some powerful. With Len it's all about economy. He gets from Point A to Point B with a minimum of motion and no wasted effort. This is true with his lateral movement, his running, his jumping, his finishes, his jump shots. Often you'll look at a guy and say, "That was a MONSTER athletic move." At the same time you know that's 1 play out of 100, that he needed that athletic explosion to look that good. Len has the athleticism but he doesn't have to use it in order to be effective. That's a great quality and one of the big reasons his stock is higher than other athletic centers in this draft class. His ceiling is high but so is his floor. Instead of vacillating between bad and great you're probably looking at pretty good to great play. Len's economy of motion gives him a bigger window than most to time rebounds and shot blocks. He has the instinct to take advantage of it. He boards and swats like it was the most natural thing in the world. "There's the ball. I wonder who's going to make the play? Oh yeah. Len." Len's feet and hands work in sync with the rest of him. This may seem like an obvious point but how many 7-footers have you seen who looked like three different people when they ran, as if the body is going one way, the feet are doing something else, while the hands are spraying odd directions? Len creates space with both hands and feet, making room and catching it soft on offense, slipping past and snagging the ball on defense. The offense isn't bad. His face-up jumper looks nice. When he gets to the rim he can dunk quick as a hiccup. He's not as athletic or powerful looking as Steven Adams nor is he as well-rounded offensively as Cody Zeller, but he's kind of a mix of the two. The big drawback to Len is his foot injury, a stress fracture in his left ankle. Not only does this make it hard to evaluate him head-to-head with his draft classmates, you get really nervous when you hear "mobile big man" combined with any kind of foot or leg problem. Len's not going to make it on bulk or strength alone. If he can't move and jump he's less than ordinary. Other than that, Len's weaknesses can mostly be boiled down to, "We need to make a man out of you." He's young. He needs to get tougher, find a go-to move in the post, learn to attack more. We've said repeatedly during this draft review process that the NBA is not school. However making a man out of young guys and teaching them a couple of techniques is right in the wheelhouse of the league's teachers. It's a sink or swim deal but Len's got too much natural ability and has made too much progress already to even think about sinking. He may not become great, but he'll almost certainly be good. Verdict for the Blazers A shot-blocking, rebounding true center with a ready-made floor-spacing jumper and plenty of

Candace Buckner of The Columbian has an exchange with Maryland center Alex Len, who met with the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this month in advance of the 2013 NBA Draft. Alex Len, the 7-foot-1 center from Maryland with ever-increasing stock, met with Blazers general manger Neil Olshey, head coach Terry Stotts and several team scouts over the June 8th weekend. The Ukrainian-born Len declared for the Draft after his sophomore season in which he averaged 11.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game and has climbed atop the DraftExpress.com board as the No.1-rated center. Amazingly, Len has done all this heavy lifting without showcasing a single post move this summer. Len is currently rehabilitating in Maryland from an April surgical procedure that repaired a partial stress fracture in his left ankle. ... "It was a great organization and a great place to work at," Len stated in an e-mail. "They show that they can develop players really (fast). They also show that they know how to work with young players (they have the rookie of the year on their team)." ... "I feel as though I have so much more to offer," Len expressed. "I have only been here for two years and I have proven that I want to get better as the years go on. So I think I am only scratching the surface as to how far I can go. The sky is the limit!!!!" -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

minus the secrets but plus the liter of cola or whatever other product the blazers advertise on the ROSE GARDEN court!!! well there actually is a name at the bottom of this post that could be absorbed into the blood & experienced as nothing less than a special moment in your lives. i dont know if that qualifies as a secret though because his name should be common knowledge...just like my "plan" (thats just the beginning of the 'TUDE) before you read lets just take a moment and reflect on everything sabonis...ok continue... 2013 lillard...maynor (expire)...nolan (expire) wes...barton...elliot (expire) batum...claver...pavlovic (expire) la...freeland...babbitt (expire) hickson (expire)...leonard...jeffries (expire) 2014 lillard...nedovic (2nd rnd) kcp (#10)...wes...barton batum...claver...papa (import) la...muscala (2nd rnd)...freeland jefferson (sign)...leonard *jefferson - gortat=no...mcgee=NOPE!...(SF/PF but still) j smoove=eh eh!!!...the list goes on. jefferson is not the ideal center but he will have to do (logical choice for many reasons that will be explained if other fans deem jefferson@C on the blazers to be nothing less than absurd) & i dont believe leonard is far from a mental break through. BUT if leonard makes no progress during 2014 then ship him out because he at best broke even during 2013. he sounded intelligent during the 2012 draft interviews but his court presence during the ENTIRE year was abysmal...embarassing at times (against gortat especially...yeah thats still a no) *muscala (2nd rnd or trade up/buy late first rounder with that old trusty darius miles technique) - watch video of this combo post and if you dont see a logical backup big then there is literally nothing i can say to prove this point (i agree with doug collins = #s only get you so far...in the unemployment line) *papa - my brother and i are split on claver/papa so i would throw both into a war with each player receiving a solid month of playing time (or as stotts calls it...normal rotations) in order to find out who will back up batum. trade the victors "financially challenged man" clone *kcp - im fond of mcw but he is more livingston and less pippen so i dont think he will ever mature into a capable SG. he will be a luxury at the PG position on a team like the mavs/jazz. if mcw could be a legitimate SG for half a game then i would want the blazers to select him because the blazers need a second ball handler (do NOT say wes/batum/etc are capable of this role because...well...go right ahead because i havent had my laugh for the day). kcp is an elite defender & can rebound with some toughness (bye babbitt) & has incredible open court speed (bye wes...soon) & an above average shooter & a handle no worse than batums so he isnt a complete liability (can get to the rim better than wes but thats not saying much) & the list goes on but it mostly contains a lot of "STUFF" that describes a player i like in this particular draft AND thats it (i would much rather buy tyreke out of the kings because he has some creativity in the half court that i doubt kcp will ever master)...but this aint a perfect world. mccollum cant guard a chair & oladipo cant be reached in this weak draft & qyntel muhammad woods would be nice but the blazers should try to avoid drafting bizarro wes (some speed would be nice because batum is not fast but rather busy being smooth or slimy by having either his agent or teammates fight his battles - if batum has another inconsistent season in 2014 then trade him immediately plus la with the hope of landing an elite SF in the 2014 draft...oh yeah-iggy is also a NO!) *nedovic - watch tape and if you dont see combo guard talent then we will never see eye to eye on this thing called basketball...the reason youre reading this garbage. but thats the point because nedovics game is filthy and he needs to dump all maynor from "our" blazer memory. maynor is not the answer...maynor is not the answer...in

Most people who have conspiracy theories wait until the event is over, and then fit what happened in that event into their own theory. This creates all kinds of selection/ confirmation bias issues, and really proves nothing. This post will also prove nothing. The basic theory in this post is that the NBA wants certain outcomes in certain games, and the referees know this. Whether or not there is direct orders from the NBA to the refs is not necessarily important. The question is: do the refs call games to favor one side or the other in order to maximize interest and profits, for the NBA? I will argue that perhaps they do, and that they influence games through changing the way that they make some of the close calls. History: 2011 NBA Finals In the 2011 Finals, through the first five games of the series, the Dallas Mavericks shot more FT's than the Miami Heat, by a margin of 137-115. Miami's largest single game advantage in FTA up until that point was 24-21 in game 2. However in a deciding game 6, the Heat shot 33 FT's while the Mavs only shot 18 (including 2 FTA's with only 15 seconds left and an 11 point lead). While this does not prove that the refs were favoring Miami, I think it warrants suspicion. Even though Dallas won that game anyway, this does not disprove any bias in officiating. Biased refs won't be able to control the outcomes of a game or series. If my view is correct, they would only be able influence the likelihood of that happening. For example, they may have increased Miami's odds of winning 2011 game 6 from 65% to 75%, which would still leave a 25% chance of Dallas winning, which is what happened. This Series: So far in this series, San Antonio is leading Miami in FTA 108-81. Miami has yet to have more FTA's than SA in a single game (game two they tied at 14 each). It will be interesting to see if Miami shoots substantially more free throws in game 6. For purposes of the my prediction, "substantially more" will mean an additional 50% more FTA. What would this mean: Potentially nothing. Also, if one team or the other runs away with the game, that would leave very little reason for the refs to try to influence the outcome of the game, and would make my prediction pointless (unless early FT's helped Miami run away with the game). This is not to say that the NBA is favoring Miami in this series. It is to say that they probably want a 7 game series, for the drama and the extra revenue that comes from a game 7. The important thing to remember, is that my hypothesis is that they influence games, they don't guarantee one outcome or another. Conclusion: I am not a diehard conspiracy theorist. I would actually be a little surprised if MIA shot substantially more FT's than SA in game 6. I don't really trust David Stern though, and think he lacks the moral conviction to do the right thing if he has the opportunity to further his own interests. Maybe the NBA is rigged, maybe it isn't. But if it is, expect Miami to get more calls as long as game 6 remains in doubt. Most people who have conspiracy theories wait until the event is over, and then fit what happened in that event into their own theory. This creates all kinds of selection/ confirmation bias issues, and really proves nothing. This post will also prove nothing. The basic theory in this post is that the NBA wants certain outcomes in certain games, and the referees know this. Whether or not there is direct orders from the NBA to the refs is not necessarily important. The question is: do the refs call games to favor one side or the other in order to maximize interest and profits, for the NBA? I will argue that perhaps they do, and that they influence games through changing the way that they make some of the close calls. History: 2011 NBA Finals In the 2011 Finals, through the first five games of the series, the Dallas Mavericks shot more FT's than the Miami Heat, by a margin of 137-115. Miami's largest single game advantage in FTA

The Portland Trail Blazers worked out six more prospects at the Tualatin practice facility on Monday in advance of the 2013 NBA Draft. Kenny Boynton | Florida | Senior | 6-foot-2 | 187 pounds | PG/SG | DX profile | n/a in top 100 Career Highlights: A four-year starter and the No. 2 all-time scorer in UF history. Concluded his career with 2,033 career points, second to Ronnie Williams’ 2,090. Hit a school record with 333 career treys. Second-Team All-SEC as a junior and sophomore. SEC All-Freshman as a rookie. Finished his career at American Heritage School as the third-leading scorer in the history of Florida high school basketball. Once scored 61 points in a game. An All-American selection by Parade, McDonald’s and Jordan Brand. As a seventh grader became the youngest player ever to participate in the title game of the 350-team Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas. Senior (2012-13): Averaged 12.0 points, 2.7 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 0.8 steals in 31.6 minutes per game. Shot 39.4 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from three-point range. An Honorable Mention AP All-SEC and USBWA All-District IV Team selection. More from Matt Kamalsky of DraftExpress.com... Considering how rarely he gets into the paint in the half-court, Boynton's consistency as a shooter will remain a key part of how his scouts will perceive him at the end of the season. He's had a few poor shooting games this season, but has yet to fall into the type of lengthy slump that hurt his numbers in previous seasons. When Boynton is knocking down shots at a high rate, he looks like a clear pro, but considering his weaknesses in other areas, a sizeable downturn in his efficiency would take him back to square one and raise many of the same questions he faced early in his career. Whether Boynton declares for the draft this spring or not, it is worth keeping an eye on how he shoots the ball on a nightly basis. Apart from his scoring ability, Boynton has shown the same solid passing ability we noted in our last report. He's making even better decisions with the ball than he did as a sophomore, improving his assist to turnover ratio for the second straight season to a solid 2.1/1, doing a nice job of making simple passes to unselfishly find the open man. His point guard potential remains limited by his average court vision and underdeveloped dribble-drive game, but despite Boynton's reputation as a scorer, he's also a serviceable passer for the Gators, which is certainly a plus considering the talent around him. He may not be a floor general at the next level, but he's more than a shooting specialist and is increasingly showing the mentality not to be a black-hole either-something that was definitely a concern earlier in his career. Defensively, most of what we said about Boynton in our previous reports remains true. He's a hard worker whose fundamentals have improved to match his quickness, but his lack of size and length limit his upside at the next level. Whether his scoring ability compensates for questions about his ability to defend the shooting guard position at the next level remains to be seen. Lorenzo Brown | North Carolina State | Junior | 6-foot-5 | 189 pounds | PG | DX profile | No. 48 in top 100 Career Highlights: Started 95 of the 101 games he played during his N.C. State career. Averaged 11.6 points during his three campaigns and is one of only three players in school history to record over 500 career assists (589). Selected Second Team All-ACC as a junior and a Third-Team pick as a sophomore. Junior (2012-13): Averaged 12.4 points, led the league in assists (7.2 apg - 6th in the nation) and ranked second in the conference in steals (2.0 spg). A Second-Team All-ACC selection by both the media and coaches. Posted the highest assist average by a Wolfpack player since Chris Corchiani averaged 9.6 assists in 1990-91. Also averaged 0.6 blocks. More from Kyle Nelson of DraftExpress.com... His combination of quickness, excel

I have decided to do my ranking strictly on a position by position basis. My reasoning is two fold; 1.) I have a significant bias towards big-man, 2.) I don't yet know how to grade all positions, on a position independent basis. Big men produce more wins, but grading all players on just that scale is not the best way to view this. Any NBA team must fill 5 positions, and you cannot fill all 5 with only big men. While big men will contribute more to a teams wins, one must view all players through the lens of "opportunity cost". A center may out produce a SG, but if that SG out produces the average SG by 20%, then the choice of selecting the big man must be weighed against opportunity cost of passing on the SG. So until I can develop a fair way to assess all players on a scale that measures that opportunity cost, I think it is best to rate players by position. I have separated all players into positions. Some players will appear in two groups (say C and PF, or SG and SF). I used DraftExpress and NBADraft.net as the arbiter on this, if they identified a player in a position then I included that player in that position group. While the 2013 NBA draft has been called a weak draft, it has one distinguishing feature, very large group of good big men. Below is my ranking 1-20 of centers, and how those players rank amongst all players in the Draft Express Top 100, and the NBADraft.net Top 100. I have decided to do my ranking strictly on a position by position basis. My Rank for Centers Name Draft Express Top 100 NBA Draft.net top 100 1 Nerlens Noel 2 2 2 Cody Zeller 10 4 3 Gorgui Dieng 14 23 4 Steven Adams 17 14 5 Mason Plumlee 16 19 6 Alex Len 1 6 7 Jeff Withey 25 36 8 Kelly Olynyk 15 13 9 Mike Muscala 35 73 10 Rudy Gobert 18 24 11 Zeke Marshall 83 Not in top 100 12 Lucas Nogueira 24 10 13 Bojan Dubljevic 46 Not in top 100 14 Jack Cooley 82 74 15 DeWayne Dedmon 63 43 16 Alex Oriakhi Not in top 100 79 17 Louis Labeyrie 94 Not in top 100 18 Brandon Davies 65 69 19 Colton Iverson 45 97 20 Marko Todorovic 57 Not in top 100 Below is a breakdown of all the centers based upon their physical attributes, their "Length", and their "Athleticism". You will not some players do not have data for some measurements. The final table shows what how well the player measured relative to the average of a player of his height, or other measurements, based upon size specific algorithms. Physical Attributes Name Height Inches no Shoes Height Inches w/shoes Weight Body Fat Hand Length Hand Width Nerlens Noel 82 83.75 206 4.2% 9.5 10 Cody Zeller 82.75 84.25 230 4.8% 8.5 10.5 Gorgui Dieng 81.75 82.75 230 5.4% 9 10 Steven Adams 82.75 84 255 6.7% 9.5 11 Mason Plumlee 83.25 84.5 238 6.2% 9.75 9.5 Alex Len 85 86.25 255 6.4% 9 10.75 Jeff Withey 82.75 84.5 222 8.7% 9 9.75 Kelly Olynyk 82.75 84 234 6.7% 8.5 10 Mike Muscala 82.25 83.5 230 6.8% 8.5 9 Rudy Gobert 84.5 86 238 4.4% 9.75 10 Zeke Marshall 82.66 84 235 Lucas Nogueira 81.89 83.07 215 5.7% Bojan Dubljevic 80.5 81.5 242 Jack Cooley 81.5 82 249 7.0% 8.5 9.25 DeWayne Dedmon 82 83.5 239 8.4% 9 11 Alex Oriakhi 80 81.5 258 11.6% 8.25 9 Louis Labeyrie 81 81.75 191 Brandon Davies 80.5 82.25 242 8.6% 9 11 Colton Iverson 82.5 84 263 9.6% 9.25 9.5 Marko Todorovic 81.67 83 240 Length Name Wingspan Inches Reach in Inches No Step Vert Reach Max Vert Reach No Step Vert Max Vert Nerlens Noel 87.75 110 Cody Zeller 82.75 106 141.5 143.5 35.5 37.5 Gorgui Dieng 87.5 111.5

--Dave's “plan 2” uses Freeland, the#10 pick, and Wesley to obtain McGee. That trumps my previous post that utilizes the 10th pick and uses Wes in picking up [#17 Atl] and [#18 Atl]. I felt that McGee with his skill-set was a great fit at Center for the Blazers but.... I'm aware of “lazy-crazy-won't work” tag people have attached to him. I probed the internet and found two key articles. One points out the McGee plays great for 5 straight minutes and all of a sudden he tunes into a different player. He starts making mistakes and seems to take himself away from the game. The other article mentions that he was diagnosed with Athletic asthma. Athletic asthma is different from normal asthma in that it only comes into play during exercise. McGee does not have panic asthma attacks when he walks, for example; he just was wheezing and out of breath after a certain amount of time on the court. Portland with it's clean, oxygenated air would be a much better environment for McGee than Mile-high Denver with it's thin air. That along with the newly named Dr. Stackpole as their Director of Player Health and Performance and it should mean that McGee's health issue would be under control. Proof of why –Dave's “plan 2” may work is unfolding. VP D'Alessandro, GM Masai Ujiri, who brought in McGee, and Coach Karl are all gone leaving a cost cutting CEO Josh Krenke. Add to that, SG Andre Iguodala has elected to opt out of the final year of his contract and will now require replacing him with a starter (Wesley??). And, after reading these articles along with facts like: JaVale averaged a league-leading 3.9 blocks per-36 minutes last season. JaVale ranked 8th in Player Efficiency Rating for all Centers in last seasons Hollinger's Stats I am now sold. This year, JaVale McGee is the best obtainable “Center for the Future”. Now, how do you add 7 players and build in a talented bench with the Cap Space left over? Problem 1? No starting SG: FA offers 3 desirable choices in Tyreke Evans, O.J. Mayo, and J.J. Redick. Portland can't win out in a biding war for Evans and Mayo. Redick is the logical choice left. But, Redick can be easily schemed against on defense. I propose adding two players to blunt that weakness. First, draft a talented SG that can develop by playoff time. My choice with the likely obtainable 1st round draft picks is Allen Crabbe. According to Synergy Sports Technology, Crabbe shot an astounding 53.8% on unguarded catch and shoot opportunities. Crabbe is also an excellent shooter coming off screens and curls. He does a very good job of using his speed and takes tight angles coming off screens. More impressively, Crabbe has an incredibly quick release that requires very little time and space to get off, with excellent balance and footwork when preparing for the shot. Second, sign SF Matt Barnes from FA. Either Barnes or Batum will be on the court and capable of good coverage on the opposing SG while Redick is on the floor. Problem 2? No substantial backup for Lillard: I'm hopeful that Neil Olshay will again trump Chad Buchanan's unperceptive eye for point guards and chooses Dennis Schroeder to backup Lillard. Dennis offers terrific ball-handling skills, a lightning quick first step, excellent speed in the open floor, and a penchant for getting teammates involved. He compliments Lillard and they would make a great “small-ball” tandem. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Dennis-Schroeder-7105/ Problem 3? Inadequate depth in the back-court: Sign FA Jermaine O'Neal for his all-around skill set and as a much needed tutor for Meyers Leonard. Also draft the young (21) senior Mike Muscala for his offense. Muscala has developed into an incredibly dangerous post threat over the past three seasons, being equally dangerous with both his left and right-handed hook shots while sporting some deceptive range and quickness with his moves. He shows a very good fe

The 7-footer is seen as a second-round pick after a strong senior season at Colorado State.

Syracuse forward James Southerland, who measured out with a 7-1 wingspan at the NBA draft combine, talked to the media about his ability to stretch the floor with his NBA 3-point shooting range.