2020-21 record: 31-41 According to Synergy tracking, the Mavs ranked third in the percentage of preseason possessions (22.5%) that were in transition, up from 28th (12.3%) last season. With more capable scorers (including the steadily improving RJ Barrett), more ball movement makes sense. Cade Tyson led the way for the Bruins (21-10) with 24 points and seven rebounds. NBA Team FTM per 100 Possessions More Team Stats. Whats important here is not to focus too much on whether the teams scored or not, but the vastly different speeds they play at. Well, we need more context. But rookie Bones Hyland (the team leader in preseason 3-point attempts) may have earned himself some playing time. So, for example, Jordan has the most field goal attempts per 100 possessions for a player who played over 5000 career minutes for both the regular season and playoffs.So its adjusted for pace but volume is still very much a factor. The bench really struggled (Harrell was a minus-20 in 21:11) against Toronto last week, and the Wizards will see the Raptors again for the season opener on Wednesday. Among these people were Dave Heeren, Bob Bellotti, and Martin Manley. Explanation. From 1999-2008, Iverson's teams played an average 92.7 possessions. In practice, points per possession (the number), is rarely used. So see the Blazers note above about the challenge of employing that scheme in a league that spaces the floor and shoots 3s more than ever. See where all 30 teams rank as opening night for the 2021-22 season draws near. The .44 is the factor in the total possessions formula that helps to pretty accurately measure how many possessions were used during the total of FT attempts. This team is a scoring machine, ranked 24 th in points per game (79.9) and 20 th in field-goal percentage (48.3%). Oliver published his book Basketball on Paper in 2003, while Hollinger began writing the Pro Basketball Forecast series in 2002. Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans and the San Francisco 49ers.Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most talented wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season . With per-possession stats, we can control for the number of opportunities each team had to score. A second core tenet is that per-minute statistics are more useful for evaluating players than per-game statistics. He is developer of the B-BALL NBA simulation software program used in the statistical analysis of NBA teams and players. In 1974-75, the typical NBA squad allowed 97.7 points per 100 possessions. Pace: 98.9 (20), OffRtg: 113.1 (10), DefRtg: 111.8 (13), NetRtg: +1.2 (13). Cookie Notice So, Buffalo certainly score more points per game than Green Bay. Another player could score 25 points in a game. In the same stretch, his teams were plus-3.4 points per 100 possessions with T-Mac on the floor and minus-3.9 . The Blazers have the leagues toughest first 20 games (both in regard to cumulative opponent winning percentage from last season and back-to-backs), and they certainly arent hitting the ground running. If you are looking for players who could be in line for increased playing time, plus-minus can be used as one data point to decide if you should add them. With four of their first five games against the Warriors, Grizzlies and Blazers (x2), we may get some early clues as to where the Clippers stand in the Western Conference hierarchy. The Nets still have Kevin Durant and James Harden, selected by the leagues GMs as the best at their positions (though Harden is certainly more point guard than shooting guard with this team). The goal was to find a more objective method of analyzing player performance and to find the most productive mix of players within the salary cap or budget. Therefore, team ratings are simply calculated as: In addition to pioneering team offensive and defensive ratings, Dean Oliver adapted them to players in his book Basketball on Paper. in their loss to Toronto last week. In Charlotte, he he showed off his quick-jumping ability on a first-quarter put-back dunk, but also had a brutal, you-can-get-that-shot-any-time, pull-up 3 in transition later in the night. But, though the Bulls three best offensive players have had issues defensively in the past, there was visible effort and cohesion on that end of the floor. Isaiah Stewart plays with boundless energy and has proven to be a disruptive defender. 2020-21 record: 33-39 Customized picks for NFL and college football pickem contests (weekly and season long). Repeating what is so important: When a team has the ball, its whole purpose Valheim Genshin . in field goal percentage and assists and did well in offensive rebounds. Durant, a four-time scoring champion, now sets his sights on Hakeem Olajuwon in 12th place. Last season, the Heat played just 14 total minutes with a point guard (Goran Dragic or Kendrick Nunn) alongside Herro, Duncan Robinson, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Learn more and register, Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history, Frequently Asked Questions about the NBA, WNBA and Basketball, Basketball-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREE. The statistic is pretty self-explanatory, as it measures the number of possessions a team uses in a typical 40-minute game. Buffalo scored 101 points per 100 possessions last year. Pace: 99.4 (16), OffRtg: 116.4 (4), DefRtg: 107.5 (3), NetRtg: +9.0 (1). Comfortable clothes for your 6am workouts, 8pm practices, riding the bus or having a post-game beer. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are ready to defend their championship perch. Find out more. Pace: 102.8 (2), OffRtg: 116.5 (5), DefRtg: 110.7 (9), NetRtg: +5.8 (4). Before the preseason began, the Pacers were hit with bad news regarding T.J. Warren (not healing at the pace previously anticipated), Edmond Sumner (torn Achilles) and Caris LeVert (stress fracture in his back). Adjusted points per game multiplies points per possession by the Picks, tools and data that give you an edge in NFL survivor and knockout style pools. It would be interesting to see some best five time for that quartet alongside Lowry this year. Kyle Lowry had 17 assists (in just 33 minutes) in his first two preseason games with the Heat. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Printed from TeamRankings.com - 2005-2023 Team Rankings, LLC. Though the games dont count, there can be concerning losses in the preseason, and the Spurs had one of those when they got beat by the Heats second and third stringers in the first week. miss the last free throw, get the offensive rebound, try to get fouled, Andre Drummond had three easy post-up scores against various Toronto bigs in the preseason opener. Points per possession= Points scored or allowed/possessions, Offensive Rating= Points scored*100/possessions, Defensive Rating= Points allowed*100/possessions. RT @YourManDevine: . It should also be noted that when analyzing college basketball, APBRmetricians have used .475 as the free-throw multiplier, since the NCAA's rules about the team foul limit differ from those in the NBA. A player can score 30 points in a game. As good as the Mavs offense was over the last two years, there was room for improvement if they just ran more. it best and which defenses stop it best. Rosenbaum's early work focused on adjusted plus-minus ratings, which takes into account the quality of the players playing with and against a player and adjusts his plus-minus accordingly. This method applies in a straightforward manner to teams. If you are looking for players who could be in line for increased playing time, plus-minus can be used as one data point to decide if you should add them. Compared to the Miami Heat vs Los Angelos Lakers 201920 series where each winner had over 100 points in their winning game. It is at least somewhat strange that, in a league that has become increasingly dominated by guard play over the last few years, the New York Knicks have built a roster that is extremely heavy on front-court players.Their best playerCarmelo Anthonyis a forward. The Thunder ranked seventh in pace last season, but have seemingly slowed down. The .96 multiplier adjusts for team rebounds. In their preseason matchup in Brooklyn, he had the Bucks, playing none of last seasons rotation guys, up four at the half against the Nets starters. This season, other teams believe it, too. While the use of possession stats dates back at least as far as former North Carolina Coach Frank McGuire, modern quantitative basketball analysis came into existence when Bill James gained popularity for his Baseball Abstracts and basketball enthusiasts borrowed some of the ideas and the overall philosophy of the importance of statistical analysis for fine-tuning achievement. So Nate McMillan will have some interesting lineup decisions to make in fourth quarters. There are also several versions of passing ratings, a usage rating that measures how well a player does with the possession he uses, other general and skill specific defensive ratings and many other statistics and analytic ratios to aid understanding of player and team performance. If they have a break-out player who can raise their ceiling, its one of the two Lottery picks from the 2019 and 2020 drafts. But, given where the Kings were coming from, having a top-five defense in the preseason is certainly better than the alternative. Wendell Carter Jr. was the 2018 top-10 pick that got a contract extension, but Mo Bamba was the one that may have had a breakthrough in the preseason. In 2004, Oliver was hired as a full-time consultant by the Seattle SuperSonics, making him the first publicly acknowledged APBRmetrician to be employed by an NBA team full time. It appears as first the Oscar had a better season than Durant, but Durant actually led the league in points that season. And you have to imagine that, once hes cleared by the Pelicans medical staff, itll take him some time to ramp up to game shape. The Tigers are allowing . [6] He is currently president of Statitudes LLC. Their first three games against the Rockets and Pelicans (x2) wont necessarily challenge them in that regard, but a reckoning will eventually come if the Wolves weak-side defense isnt on point. The 30 point scorer is obviously better here right? is to score as many points as possible before it becomes the defense. More important than an outsiders ability to evaluate where the Celtics are is their own ability to get collective reps under new coach Ime Udoka. Durant wins that battle with 37.5 points per 100 possessions vs Oscars 26.8 points per 100 possessions. Last season, the Nuggets lost four of their first five games. So in Kawhi Leonards absence, they could be looking to share the ball and attack the basket more. Copyright 2007-2023. Pace: 96.3 (30), OffRtg: 110.2 (22), DefRtg: 107.8 (4), NetRtg: +2.4 (9). NOW THAT'S SOME MAGIC@aleksejpokusevs @JCREarl pic.twitter.com/cEsATvnjFS, OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 15, 2021. Thats one point per minute for the 25 point scorer, and 0.86 points per minute for the 30 point scorer. 30, 2021, the top five teams on kenpom. In 1962 Oscar Robertson scored 2,432 points. Printed from TeamRankings.com - 2005-2023 Team Rankings, LLC. The defensive numbers were not good in the preseason (the Sixers ranked last in opponent effective field goal percentage), but Joel Embiid played just 28 minutes. The hope is that the latter two will be available on Tuesday. The Hornets need to find the proverbial switch, because they ended their preseason with a 68-point loss to Dallas that they absolutely earned with bad shots and worse defense. Top 3 Advanced Analytics- PPP, TS%, eFG% - BenchBoss. Per NBA Advanced Stats, his 1.15 points per possession as a pick-and-roll ball-handler rank second only to Steph Curry among players averaging at least five such possessions per game. The Warriors are still depending heavily on Curry and Green, but the idea of Poole keeping the offense somewhat afloat with Curry off the floor isnt so far-fetched. The Knicks are playing 14 of their first 15 games within the Eastern Conference, and they dont play outside the Eastern or Central time zones until February. with an offensive rating of 99.3, meaning that the Bucks and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar But theyre a veteran group that should pick things up in the games that count, and four of their first five are at the Moda Center. Theyre mostly healthy (Josh Okogie missed the last two preseason games with ankle soreness), they have some top-line talent, coach Chris Finch had them scoring efficiently at the end of last season and theyll play seven of their first eight games at home. Its a long season, but the games that count start Wednesday. In such a normal game, the Bucks would score about 109 points (109.2 to Russell Westbrook will have them playing faster (the Lakers saw the biggest jump in pace from last season to the preseason), but he will be disregarded in the half-court by defenses shading toward Davis and LeBron James (preseason examples here and here). Its not clear if Ben Simmons will be on the floor when the Sixers open the season in New Orleans on Wednesday, or if him stealthily reporting to Philly last week changes the macro situation at all. The Chicago Bulls got the most votes, but only 27% of the total. NBA.coms Power Rankings, released every Monday during the season, are just one mans opinion. A more complete explanation of possession-based analysis is available in "A Starting Point for Analyzing Basketball Statistics" in the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports.[1]. OffRtg: Points scored per 100 possessions (League Rank) The games count now, all of them matter, and the very first one will feature the two teams projected to be the best in the league. And Minnesotas transition defense had issues in their preseason win in Denver, in part because multiple Wolves were crashing the offensive glass from beyond the 3-point line. Points per Possession Rating Definition Points divided by possessions times 100. That was quite a good mark, and better than 85% of teams. Possessions, The Nuggets rank third in continuity and coach Michael Malone is in his seventh season in Denver. The method takes into account points scored, They averaged .963 points per possesion, which ranked 242nd nationally and partially exposes why they lost 18 of 29 games this year. Just as a note: the points per 100 possessions is 100 team possessions and not 100 individual possessions. As noted in this space two months ago, they could make things easier on themselves by playing a little defense and they should start this season with a better foundation, but the preseason wasnt exactly encouraging (ahem) in that regard. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Pace: 97.6 (28), OffRtg: 116.7 (3), DefRtg: 110.6 (8), NetRtg: +6.1 (2). In fact, Green Bays mark was 2nd in the nation, behind only UConn. This is important where one player shoots 6 layups, and makes 3 of them, while another player shoots 6 three point shots and makes 2 of them. Really, it will just be interesting to see how Cunningham and Jerami Grant coexist on the floor. 2020-21 record: 20-52 Per minute stats were popular in the early 2000s, but does not factor for pace, which can be misleading. So if you're willing to use this estimator on your free throw totals, the total points per possession (or, more accurately, points per 100 possessions) of any offense should be: PPP = (100 x points scored) / ( (FGA - O-Rebs) + TO + (.436 x FTA)) Pace: 97.7 (27), OffRtg: 116.3 (6), DefRtg: 111.5 (11), NetRtg: +4.8 (6). DefRtg: Points allowed per 100 possessions (League Rank) Get ready for the start of the 2021-22 NBA season with 1 key stat to know for each team. His player evaluation rating (PER) is a better linear metric system than most of what preceded it[according to whom?] But the iterations of each team that will take the court at Oracle Arena on Christmas Day will have some sniffing around to do before tipoff and during the game.The last time these two teams met, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao were on the shelf, Andrew . now, the Nets adjusted points per game rating was 101.7, much lower than The last time that both DeAndre Hunter and Cam Reddish were available for a game that counted was Jan. 29, more than a month before McMillan took over for Lloyd Pierce. He is also developer of the historical sports statistics databases for pro baseball, basketball, football, and hockey located at bballsports.com. That's fewer points per 100 possessions against than 21 teams in the league ahead of them in the standings. Bellotti wrote several books in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and contributed to the NBA's official encyclopedia, Total Basketball. TS%: True Shooting Percentage - what a team's shooting percentage would be if we accounted for free throws and 3-pointers. Thirty-six years later, that number had risen all the way to 107.3. His shot can look off-balance at times and his forte remains off-ball cuts and dives, but hes got some stuff in his bag. Points per 100 Possessions = (Points scored * 100) / Possessions POSSt = FGAt + 0.44 FTAt - OREBt + TO This basketball analytics formula is a more accurate measurement of the total number of possessions. Rating" for points allowed per 100 possessions. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Pace: 100.3 (11), OffRtg: 117.3 (1), DefRtg: 113.1 (22), NetRtg: +4.2 (7). Finally, we can combine these two statistics into one number that summarises the overall performance of a team. However it is different in some ways. There were Four of the five free agents they signedRobin Lopez, Kyle O'Quinn, Derrick Williams and Kevin Seraphinare forwards or centers. They thrashed the Lakers and Blazers (JaVale McGee was a plus-42 in 31 minutes) over the last eight days and theyll play both again this week. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:46PM. to handle with three numbers after the decimal and a leading 1. The growing field of quantitative analysts in basketball includes, but is not limited to, the following: Ben Alamar is the founding editor of the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports. In the above chart, we can see how NBA pace has changed season-by-season. And that seems to be an emphasis of new head coach Jason Kidd. Refresh the page, check Medium 's site status, or. 2020-21 record: 36-36 Green Bay isn't the only team with per-possession numbers at odds with . is the formula for accurately measuring the total number of possessions. Full Site Menu. The Blazers promised to defend pick-and-rolls more aggressively, and preseason Synergy tracking data (they had the leagues lowest percentage of opponent possessions that were pick-and-roll ball-handler possessions) is evidence of real change. And the more things change, the more they stay the same, as the Knicks were at their best (plus-26.5 points per 100 possessions) with Derrick Rose (who had 22 assists and just four turnovers) on the floor. rating (also called the study rating and points per 100 possessions) just scored 99.3 points per 100 possessions. Therefore, these analysts favor use of points scored per 100 possessions (offensive rating) and points allowed per 100 possessions (defensive rating). Offensive Efficiency Formula =100* (Points Scored / Possessions) In a game; "offensive efficiency" of a team is equal to defensive efficiency of the opponent team. It's a pretty simple concept, but one that has largely escaped most NBA front offices: The idea that what a player does on a per-minute basis is far more important than his per-game stats. Oliver and John Hollinger are credited with moving this use of basketball statistics into the view of more basketball fans through their websites in the late 1990s. DeAaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell played 3 1/2 total minutes together through the first three preseason games, but they were all on the floor (for another 3 1/2 minutes) as the Kings turned a two-point deficit into a six-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Lakers (who were playing Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis) on Thursday. As far as the pace, the Clippers scored only 9.9 fast break points per 100 possessions and allowed a league-high 24.3. of the team and the average game pace in the league for that season. But the Bucks did it better. No. Offensive rating is just the amount of points produced by a player per 100 . This is complicated and will be explained here soon. (A team can have slightly more if it begins and ends a quarter or half with possession.) Jeremy Lamb also missed the preseason finale with a sore wrist. March Machine Learning Mania 2021 - NCAAM. worst in the NBA. Green Bay ranked in the bottom 10 in the nation with just 64 possessions a game. Data Provided By If you have an issue with the rankings, or have a question or comment for John Schuhmann, send him an e-mail or contact him via Twitter. league average for possessions per team per game to reflect both the quality If theres a way the Magic dont finish in the bottom two in the East (again), its with solid defense, and almost all of their young guys have shown real potential on that end of the floor. The No. From John Hollinger's Pro Basketball Forecast: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}. a very slow pace that season, averaging only 107.9 possessions per game, POSSt = FGAt + 0.44 FTAt - OREBt + TO is the formula for accurately measuring the total number of possessions. TeamRankings.com is not affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or March Madness Athletic Association, neither of which has supplied, reviewed, approved or endorsed the material on this site. Pythagorean record is what a team's expected record is based on points scored or allowed. Hollinger's work is read by many mainstream fans who are not familiar with APBRmetrics in general, making him instrumental in introducing the system to regular NBA fans. In the wake of the best-selling book Moneyball, which glamorized sabermetrics, quantitative basketball analysis began to receive some attention from the media and NBA teams. Advanced statistics (also known as analytics or APBRmetrics) in basketball refers to analyzing basketball statistics through objective evidence. The Memphis forward sustained the injury Friday night during the 1st quarter of the Grizzlies 113-97 loss to the Nuggets. Ken Pomeroy has been charting college basketball's advanced statistics at kenpom. We need to compensate for this in our analysis, therefore points per 100 team possessions is the optimal way to compare these two scorers. Picks, tools and data that give you an edge in NFL survivor and knockout style pools. But as a generic formula you could also just think of it as meaning team total or it could ignored or dropped. Secondly it adjusts for player rates as well rebound rate, assist rate etc. Bamba fouled out in less than 12 minutes in his first start, but averaged 20 points, 12.2 rebounds and 6.5 blocks per 36 minutes over the Magics four games. Pace: 101.6 (7) OffRtg: 102.8 (30) DefRtg: 113.4 (24) NetRtg: -10.6 (30). Statistical data provided by Gracenote. Rebound percentages broken down by shot zone. The big messages here with the detailed possession formula are that offensive rebounds have to be backed out to help get the official number of possessions used by a team and avoiding over-counting possessions, and that .44 * FTA is the standard / good enough approximation for how many possessions were used by free throw activity (instead of having to count those possessions manually as the game goes on or afterwards by looking at video). Because these are not considered offensive rebounds, the formula slightly overestimates the number of possessions per team without the multiplier. Though theyve got a lot of young legs and not a lot of size, only 12% of their preseason possessions, the leagues lowest rate, were in transition. so many teams that had faster paces than the Bucks that seven teams scored It counts as a team possession every time when a player of that team; (1) attempts a field goal, (2) misses a shot and does not get the offensive rebound, The Suns didnt have both of their starting guards for any of their preseason games, but Chris Paul shot 7-for-9 between the restricted area and 3-point line, Devin Booker looked sharp (17 points in 18 minutes) in his debut on Wednesday, and they went 3-0 with one or the other. Possession is arguably the most important and entry level metric to understanding basketball analytics basics. a basketball analyst for the Miami Heat, since the 200809 season. Consider using the social media buttons below, or add the page URL when sharing it anywhere. 2020-21 record: 52-20 As noted at the top of the story, however, Green Bay was actually even better, scoring more than 102 points per 100 possessions. He was a consultant for the Dallas Mavericks. In the 199798 NBA Championship series between the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz, no team scored over 100 points in any game that series. Dean Oliver is a former Division 3 player and assistant coach at Cal Tech (which almost never won a game) and a scout, who has consulted with the Seattle SuperSonics and also served in the front office of the Denver Nuggets and the Sacramento Kings. Catch up on familiar faces in new places. Margin of Victory per 100 Possessions (aka Net Rating) is, quite simply, ORtg minus DRtg if you played 100 possessions, what was the average number of points you expected to outscore your opponent by (or were outscored by)? For now, we're able to estimate team possessions going back to the 1973-74 season. FiveThirtyEight's NBA player projection system identifies similar players throughout NBA history to determine what a current NBA player's future might look like. Oscar wins that battle 31 points per game to Durants 28 points per game. The Celtics got encouraging preseasons from Romeo Langford (18 points in Miami on Friday) and Aaron Nesmith (23 in Orlando on Wednesday), who combined for an effective field goal percentage of 68%. Tucker having taken his talents to South Beach. The Celtics play 10 of their first 15 games on the road, but 13 of those 15 are within the Eastern Conference, with Wednesdays opener at Madison Square Garden an intriguing measuring-stick game for both teams. The historical average for possessions used up is 0.44 FTAt. They had the leagues highest opponent 3-point rate (53% of their opponents shots came from beyond the arc) in the preseason. Watching Pels-Jazz from last night, but might need to turn it off, head to the park, & work on this move for a couple hours. For more information, please see our With limited offense in the backcourt, Williamson out, and no history of playing defense, the Pelicans desperately need Brandon Ingram, who missed the last three preseason games with a sore knee. The end of a possession occurs when the other team gains control of the ball, either via a made shot, rebound or a turnover. The purpose of POSSt = FGAt + 0.44 FTAt OREBt + TO is to make clear that FGAt, FTAt and TO are the 3 ways that possessions end and that OREBt extend possessions and allow additional FGAts, FTAts and TOs within that same possesion of the ball so it requires the OREBts to be subtracted to keep an accurate count of team possessions. Another issue with their depth: Injuries to Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, Talen Horton-Tucker, Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn. 2020-21 record: 39-33 Both clips cover about 50 seconds of game time; in the time it takes for Green Bay to conclude just one possession, Buffalo gets through two and their opponents get a possession too! Mason Plumlee also missed a couple of games, but started the two that he played. The latter tend to be influenced more by playing time than by quality of play, yet remain the most common metric of player performance. The Raptors are back in Toronto and five of their first six games are at home. Pace: 102.0 (5) OffRtg: 109.3 (25) DefRtg: 114.5 (28) NetRtg: -5.3 (26). We might (again) have to wait until the playoffs to see any kind of urgency on that end of the floor. He was handling the ball (via pick-and-rolls and dribble-handoffs) a little more in the preseason, had once nice iso against the Kings, and shot a not-so-bad 7-for-19 on pull-up jumpers. (Player Statistic/Pace/Possessions*7500/(OPR or DPR)*ORTG or DRTG). They lost all four games, but outscored their opponents by 16 points in the backcourts 54 minutes together and by one point in Beals 31 minutes without Dinwiddie. Auburn ranks 224th in college basketball by averaging 92.1 points per 100 possessions on offense, and defensively is 33rd in college basketball, allowing 84.7 points per 100 possessions. PtsPoss = Points per 100 possessions (offensive rebounds not considered) So the median number of touches on an NBA possession works out to be 2, again only starting to count from the point where a player is in reasonable attacking position.