OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Jan 5, 2020 0:57:37 GMT -5
Yurt7 did not come to Georgetown for Ewing to teach him how to be a 3pt shooting big man. He came to be tutored by a legendary college and NBA low post big man on how to play the low post. The problem is that he was fine when he was plying against low post players smaller in size than he, but when matched against centers his size and with as much foot speed, he has looked very soft. As Ewing got in his face several times last night, you could see Ewings disappointment. You could also see Yurt7's frustration at his inability to make the low post moves he had been making on smaller centers. He does not like contact and goes out of his way to avoid it. Maybe he thought Ewing could magically make him want that kind of contact. Most dominant low post players relish contact and thrive off of it. Maybe he saw the transformation of Derrickson from his freshman year to his first year under Ewing, and projected this transformation for himself this year.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Dec 15, 2019 12:56:58 GMT -5
To be honest, although I was happy to learn that the Hoyas had gotten a commitment from a 4 star local talent, I was a bit surprised because of his position, 3/4 forward. There was already a traffic jam at both positions. Small forward you had Moseley, Alexander and Gardner. At big forward you had LaBlanc, Pickett, and Wilson. Only Pickett and Alexander had less than two years of eligibility after this year. I am sure Ewing’s experiment with the 11 man rotation and how Akinjo was implementing that experiment, caused him some concern. Now that the log jam at both positions has been eliminated and the shoot first pg is gone, the situation should be very attractive to Williams again. Add in the chance to play before friends and family and to learn under a legendary home team player, his reconsideration of the Hoyas makes perfect sense.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Dec 15, 2019 12:07:06 GMT -5
If Akinjo had a chip on his shoulder before, imagine what it will be when he takes the court again. Whew.... Yep. But it won't matter if he doesn't use it the right way. The kid has the potential to be a special player but he is going to have to adjust how he sees himself and plays his game. Time will tell on that and I wish him well as I'm not the type to wish ill thoughts on a teenager where the biggest gripe I have with him is that he should be less selfish on a basketball court. I know 43 year old me is a lot better person than 21 year old me who was a hell of a lot better person than 18 year old me. Exactly, my thoughts. Akimbo is a talented guard who has worked very hard to overcome the doubts of him becoming a D1 pg because of his size. The problem was that he saw himself as a future NBA player who could take care of his family after making the NBA. This required putting up big numbers in college and getting recognized as did his idol, Lilliard. Most high school players have this dream, but because of his size the putting up big numbers part was essential. He committed to UConn at first. They had Kimba Walker as an example of what the program would allow a smallish pg do for a team. When the coach got fired, that freedom was not guaranteed, so he looked elsewhere. Coincidently Ewing coached Walker in the pros, so his knowledge of how to use Akinjo’s talents did not hurt his chances of signing him.. Ewing gave him a long leash last year and for the most part bore good results. This year with the additional talent surrounding him, Ewing expected him to share the ball a little more. That, however would not have allowed Akinjo to put up the numbers he needed to make that jump to the NBA before his four years was up, therefore you had he UNCG sit down by Ewing. I think the LaBlanc,Alexander, and Gardner problems presented him with an excuse to leave and he took it. I mentioned earlier in the year that I wished he was more of a pg like Brunson, than Iverson because of the talent on this team. Unfortunately he chose the Iverson, Walker, Lilliard template. I wish him the best. It’s hard to root against a kid whose ultimate motivation is to provide for his mom and dad. Of the four, I will miss most Gardner because of his potential to be a scorer, rebounder and lock down defender. Regardless of the truthfulness of the initial charges, Ewing was probably most upset about Lablanc’s subsequent actions. All young people make mistakes in judgment. It’s how you deal with that mistake that ultimately matters the most.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Dec 8, 2019 11:56:43 GMT -5
Akinjo is a talented tough little guard. Who it seems always took the challenge in high school of those who said he was to small to be a dominant player and proved them wrong. He modeled his game after Lilliard who said recently that he was the toughest pg in the country. In listening to his comments after he signed with Georgetown, it was obvious to me that the young man felt that he was talented enough to follow his idol to the NBA; (2) he wants to be able to provide for his family; and (3) the reason he signed with Georgetown was his relationship with Ewing(I.e. Ewing had committed to giving him the keys to the team). The problem unfortunately for Ewing and him was for him at his size to get to the NBA he would have to post some gaudy numbers in college for the NBA teams to overlook his deficiencies in size and defensive ability. To post the type of numbers he needed, the rest of the team would have to defer to his style of play. Unfortunately for him, this team has other talented players(Yurtseven, McClung, etc,) who could also be “the man” on this team. Last year with the team transforming to a running team and the three freshman deferring to senior Govan as “the man”, Akinjo’s desire to be “the man” was not as apparent as it was this year. His tendency to over dribble and not get the ball to the other stars of the team was becoming a serious problem, so much so that Ewing had started publicly calling the team selfish and not sharing the ball. Ultimately that criticism rests with the pg. More than likely, Ewing in private had told Akinjo that his public criticism of the team was aimed at him. He may have felt that his chance to put up the numbers needed to achieve his ultimate goal could not be achieved by sharing the ball each game with Yurtseven and McClung, therefore he used the present turmoil with his friend LaBlanc to move on.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Dec 5, 2019 0:32:00 GMT -5
Mac was absolutely spectacular tonight. He completely took over and dominated this game. Even with an excellent performance from Lindy Waters, Mac overcame that and was excellent. Terrell Allen was incredible tonight also, the box score doesn't do him justice. He created plays and opened up this offense. The way he played makes you feel much better about this team and how it overcame a subpar performance from Yurtseven, especially in the first half. Mac and Allen made plays and took Oklahoma State out of their zone, so they will be key in games like that. There still was an issue and it was that third scoring option. While Allen was great and aggressive at the end, is he really the third scoring option for this team? He's not the type of player who's going to take 10 shots a game, he's a facilitator and a defender. He fits this team very well in that role and trying to transform him into that third option might actually hurt this team. Pickett, Alexander, Mosely all have the chance to be that guy. Great team win, I'm absolutely ecstatic. The Moseley is not going to be a scorer. His role is to play tight defense and help facilitate the offense. We should not expect or hope for consistent scoring outburst. Pickett and Alexander on the other hand, have the capacity to be consistent scorers and hopefully one or both will rise to the task. The play of Allen can not be overstated. He is not flashy and probably will never lead this team in scoring, but what he can be for this team is “steady”. The Hoyas don’t need him to be a big scorer every night just be the leader, giving the offense what it needs and provide adequate defense for this team. Remember before Akinjo, the Hoyas had not had a real pg to run the team since Wright. Hopefully McClung when he is having an off night can play within himself and do other things to help the team win
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Dec 3, 2019 23:50:07 GMT -5
Hope the young man finds a home for his style of play. I truly thought last year that he was the pg Ewing was looking for to run the team. Saw flashes of toughness and grit that was synonymous with the teams Ewing played on in college. I also saw one mindedness of him going to the basket and refusing to pass to other players. I thought this was just due to being a freshman, however that type of play continued this year. The young man is a warrior not afraid to go to the basket against taller players and to take pressure shots. The problem last year and this year was his decision making in when to take that shot and his inability to set his teammates up for easy shots more than setting hisself up to take the shots. There is a place for this style of play usually on less talented teams. As I watch the Duke v Michigan State game, talent and toughness wise Akinjo is more similar to Winston than Jones. Winston is not a great athlete like Jones but he is the leader of his team like Jones and both look to set their teammates up first. Both control the game by making the other team aware of the threat of getting by their man and getting to the basket for a layup. The other defending players always have their head on a swivel because of this threat and therefore the offensive player they are covering can slip to the basket for an assist by Jones or Winston when either drives the lane. In the time Akinjo was here we saw way too little of this style of play from Akinjo. Akinjo has Lllliard as his idol. Ewing had Kimba Walker as his ideal pg. Both of these players as diminutive as they are, are big time scorers for their teams. They also are big time distributors for their teammates. Unfortunately in his tenure with the Hoyas, Akinjo has not shown the ability or desire to also be a big time distributor.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Dec 3, 2019 1:49:14 GMT -5
From reading all the pages, am I correct that a TRO was issued against LaBlanc, Alexander and Gardner, but only LaBlanc has been accused of violating the TRO? If so, that would explain why Gardner and Alexander have not been dismissed from the team. “Not guilty until proven guilty” was the apparent position of the coaching staff. Therefore LaBlanc was not dismissed immediately. The investigations concerning the two female accusers could take some time, but the accusation that LaBlanc has violated the TRO could have been done in short order. If so and it was determined that he did violate the TRO then he would have violated the law and school rules may have required his dismissal. The accusations against Alexander and Gardner will still go forward and be resolved in court or in some other way depending on the strength of the accusations. I can understand Ewings frustrations given all the freshman orientations league wise and school wise for in coming basketball players. No judgment on the guilt or innocence of LaBlanc to the initial charges but Ewing’s decision to limit Lablanc’s play could just be his frustration of Lablanc allowing himself to be placed in the position of being charged of the first accusation.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Dec 1, 2019 0:13:44 GMT -5
I disagree with those who say the Hoyas don’t have the talent to win, they do the additions of Wahab, Yurtseven, Alexander, Gardner and Allen to the players that were here last year gives the Hoyas five players that could play if not start for almost every team in BE. What they don’t have is a 3pt marksmen who can shoot a team out of a zone defense or just hit open 3pt shots. Blair and McClung just do not fill the bill. All the teams played so far have no employed a zone defense so 3pt shot marksmen to force team out of zone has not been needed but ability to hit an open 3pt shot has been needed and for the most part been non-existent. The other Thing this team lacks is a solid zone defense, just to give the opposing team a different look to break up momentum. You would think that Orr being a Syracuse alum could teach that to the Hoyas.Pickett, Alexander, and Gardner would give them length on the perimeter with quickness. Does anyone know what defense Orr employed when he was head coach in BE? Was it M-2-M or zone?
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Nov 30, 2019 20:36:48 GMT -5
McClung is not a pg and can’t run this team. That being said, I am increasingly concerned about Akinjo’s ability to effectively run this team. At first I thought it was either a coincidence that every team the Hoyas have so far, played a pressing M2M defense, or a coaching scheduling tactic to get Hoyas ready for BE conference, but now I believe it is what scouting has told opposing coaches. Akinjo can be sped up with this pressing defense and amazingly does not seem to be able to punish a team for pressing him except head down drives to the basket that result more often in a turnover. I would be surprised if when they get to the BE, any team plays them with a zone defense.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Nov 30, 2019 16:33:08 GMT -5
Hate to say it but Akinjo has been outplayed in all of the home games. The team lacks cohesion because the opposing teams point guard has completely taken Akinjo out of his game. Team looks rudderless. Best ball in second half was done with Allen at pg and Akinjo on the bench. I don’t know what LaBlanc did before the first game to anger Ewing , but whatever it was Ewing needs to get over it or tell him to transfer. Picket can not score enough points to offset the intensity this kid brings on both ends of the court. Now I know why Yurtseven chose Ewing over all the other coaches, he is very SOFT in the middle he needs Ewing to instill some toughness and meanness in the paint . That last blocked shot was due to him trying to avoid contact. He had the angle to the basket and should have dunked two handed with the defensive man fouling him, but instead he faded to his right with a one handed dunk try. I seriously believed that Akinjo was the pg Ewing needed. I don’t know if that is a correct assessment anymore. Allen is not the answer either nor is Maclung .
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Nov 24, 2019 21:49:45 GMT -5
Sorry meant 2017 Nova team
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Nov 24, 2019 21:44:35 GMT -5
It was mentioned earlier in the post that one of this board’s posters was at the game and was impressed with the team’s reaction to Ewing’s coaching. That is positive news that Ewing does in fact have the respect and attention of this team. Some have speculated that the Hoya start to the second Half was indicative of Ewing not preparing team for second half. I strongly disagree. The team is made up of thirteen individuals, who have different levels of motivation. Some players are self motivated and the coach really does not have to do anything, others are not and need the coaches to prime that motivation. Others do not react well to half time speeches and remain at the same intensity throughout the game. The ideal situation for a coach is to have thirteen players that fall in category 1 and all are self motivated. The next best case is for his five starters to be self motivated. The coaches can talk, and scream til they are blue in the face and a player in category 3 will not react well for whatever reason(does not take criticism well, preoccupied with personal goals vs team goals, etc.) Govan’s was that type of player. All the potential to be a super star, but Ewing could only get so much from him. Derrickson on the other hand was a category 2 player and wasable to transform his game such that he was able to make a NBA roster. Ewing’s quick pull of Pickett and Maclung in second half showed his disgust at Pickett’s lackadaisical play and Mac’s selfish play. How can you start the second half against the no. 1 team in the country, who you have played evenly for 20 minutes. And throw a lazy pass to your point guard. You can’t blame the coach for that. That’s the player. How can a guard not try to get the ball to Yurtseven to start the half instead of taking a wild shot. You can’t blame the coach for that. That’s not the coach, that’s the player.. this team has a lot of talent. So much so that if the only star was Mac, or Akinjo, or Pickett, or Yurtseven either could score 20 + points a game and lead the team to several victories, not a conference title or NCAA run, but a decent team. I hate to reference Villanova, but I wish Akinjo was more of a Brunson pg than an Iverson pg. Brunson could average 20 every night if he wanted to but he made sure other stars on the team got theirs. It was only when the other stars did not have it on a particular game would he take over. I also wish Mac was more like a Phil Booth, and Pickett was more like a Mikal Bridges, both waited to see what the team needed from them before the took over. That 2013 team of Nova’s won the national title. I believe this Hoya roster has the talent to do the same in the next two years. It all depends on whether at least the aforementioned players with Yurtseven and others can all become category 1 self motivators for every game. On another subject, Ewing’s actions that drew the tech had me jumping out of my seat. Have not seen a Hoya coach show that much emotion since Big John. Sometimes you have to go crazy to show team and refs that you care passionately. It was not going to help this game, but I think going forward the players know he has their back.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Nov 18, 2019 10:56:49 GMT -5
Don’t know if it was by design or coincidence, but the first four teams all play aggressive man-to-man defense and each has a very quick point guard that is very good at leading the team. Not sure if Ewing is trying to get his team ready for the man-to-man defense in the BE or get his offense ready for pressing defense. One concern for me so far has been the inability of Akinjo to exploit the tight defense with dribbling into the lane and forcing one of his big men to be free for short shot. In all four games the opposing point guard was able to keep him in front of him without help. The few times he was able to penetrate the lane his head was down and he was looking only for his own shot. To be the point guard Walker was for Ewing in the pros he has to be able to break his man down and force other defensive players to move to stop him. Without that he can not score enough to off set that. I am not jumping on him because he was the only true point guard on the team last year and the only one this year who is also a scorer. It maybe that teams have scouted his cross over move and the defensive man knows which way he will be going. He has added the Euro step in an attempt to get by the rim blocker but that helps him to get to the basket but not to dish assists. Hopefully we will see the lob for a dunk by big men when he has penetrated the lane added soon. Again not trying to throw shade on him, but his high caliber play is instrumental in this teams ultimate success.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Nov 12, 2019 1:18:12 GMT -5
Watched DePaul play Iowa tonight and they are decidedly better than last year. Providence seems to be better also, although the team they were playing tonight was not a top tier team. The Hoyas are better but so are other teams in Big East. After watching the Hoyas first two games the only concern at this point is weather Akinjo will be the true point guard Ewing wants him to be if he is not scoring I.e. just a facilitator. The first game showed both sides, half one he was a facilitator only and the Hoyas were listless. Half two he was a scorer and the Hoyas were able to come back from 19 down. He has to be both for the Hoyas to be the team that goes to the tournament this year.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Aug 18, 2019 11:50:17 GMT -5
Just let them see you win, baby! Let them see us win. Everyone loves a winner. Agree - ESPECIALLY when that winning team is also playing a very exciting and entertaining brand of Basketball. Exactly! Majority of fans have a love/hate relationship with dominant teams. They love to see the dominant play, but hate that one team always wins so they boo the dominant team over the underdog. The Yankees were like that in Pro baseball, the Celtics were like that in pro BB, the Hoyas were like that in college ball in the 80’s and now it’s Duke and Kentucky. These dominant teams however drew near or capacity crowds wherever they played because even though the home fans would boo them, thy deep down loved to see the dominant play. Ewing is building a team that will not only win, but win in a dominant style with a fast paced offense and a stifling defense. If he is able to maintain the current level of recruiting, the Hoyas will regain that love/hate relationship with the national BB audience. We Hoya fans will revel in the hate but respect the Hoyas will have once again.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Aug 17, 2019 12:31:04 GMT -5
Like everyone else I was extremely impressed with the collective effort of this team. The defense especially impressed me. As stated by others, it reminded me of JT2’s teams in the 80’s. What was most impressive was the INSTINCTIVE help defense by the players. In The he recent pass Hoya big mean have not been able to protect the bucket despite their height, because they were extremely susceptible to the pump fake or left their feet before the offensive man left his. These Hoya big men seem to have a better feel for when to jump to block the shot. This is somewhat tempered by the lack of pump fakes by the Bahamian teams. However this brings me back to the help defense aspect of this team. I believe the lack of pump fakes may have been that they knew that if they pumped faked and did not shoot, then by the time they went up again the help defense would have swarmed them. What will be interesting to see is what adjustments the BE officials will make to this RETURN TO THE FUTURE Hoya defense. Will they too return to the (lets make it fair for the other team) refereeing or will they call it straight up. I am very excited about these young Hoyas. The only question not answered by their play last week was how efficient will the half court offense be. Teams like a Syracuse will definitely test their efficiency. The few PNR by the guards with the big men that I saw would have resulted in a moving screen call on the big men, but, hey these were exhibition games with limited practice time before.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on May 8, 2019 9:19:02 GMT -5
The five star ratings are a good barometer for people like us who are not able to see them in person ourselves, but I am a believer in the “eye test”. I know the videos made on most of these kids tend to show how proficient they are in dunking the ball, but when I watched the videos of Gardner you could see he had the skills that were missing from this years small forward position. He had the handle to get to the basket and finish. He had the nose for the ball to rebound proficiently and lastly he had an “attitude” that his opponent could not stop him from scoring. The only thing you could not tell from the videos was his proficiency with the 3pt shot. He seemed to have a nice midrange game that can be improved upon like Moseley did this year..
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Apr 28, 2019 12:28:00 GMT -5
Here is more good news. I watched the video of Wahab in the game. Of his 10 baskets, by my casual count only 2 resulted from plays run for him. 1 more was in transition. The rest were from cleaning things up around the basket. He could be a lot like Leblanc in that he can fill the stat sheet without having his named called very often. And while it was an all-star game, there was plenty from him to clean up skill-wise. It was by no means a flawless performance. If Wahab will be a lot like LaBlanc was this year, then My oh My. Besides the defensive deficiencies displayed by the Hoyas over the last seven years, the lack of rebounding has been one of the major concerns. With Yurt, Wahab, Lablanc, Gardner, and Tim or Malcolm I don’t think that will be a major concern anymore. Can’t help but be excited about the upcoming year!
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Apr 27, 2019 22:35:21 GMT -5
I think each player this past season came to play each game, even Govan. The problem was not effort, but skill set. Outside of the three freshmen, no one exhibited the all around skill set(shooting, dribbling, passing, rebounding and defending). The players coming next year, outside the two new centers seem to possess an all around skill set. Next year the team will be a lot of fun to watch
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Apr 23, 2019 17:27:53 GMT -5
To be honest the “ Cole Anthony to Georgetown” never made much sense to me. Akinjo has said repeatedly that what made him choose Georgetown over a dozen other schools was Ewing’s expressed sentiments that he would be Ewing’s guy to run the team. Anthony is a 5 star pg. He would be the one running the team if he came not Akinjo. That would have been inconsistent with the the man Akinjo committed to. The story made good headlines for the Hoyas, and kept the Hoya name in each headline that talked about Anthony, so potential recruits were always being reminded about Georgetown. Comparing Anthony this year to Akinjo last year, I suspect we will not see the growing pains that Akinjo went through for Anthony because his dad was a pg who played in college and NBA, so I am sure he gave him some knowledge of the nuances of the game. Anthony was not going anywhere where he would seriously have to compete for the pg position. Akinjo’s personality would not let him go quietly into the night without a fight for the starting pg position.
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