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Opening Night Preview & Chat: The Dallas Mavericks

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There are three games on the docket tonight — opening night for the association! — and the Lakers just so happen to be headlining in the 7:30pm PST slot (though Heat/Celtics certainly intrigues). The opponent is the Dallas Mavericks who, like the Lakers, are a dramatically changed team heading into this new season.

This Maverick team actually looks nothing like the one that won the championship just two seasons ago. The Mavs followed up the departures of Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barrea from a season ago with Jason Terry (Celtics) and Jason Kidd (Knicks) leaving this past off-season. The only meaningful pieces from that title team that remain are Dirk and Shawn Marion.

Into the mix, however, are some quality players to replace the departed. Darren Collison is now the lead guard and he’ll be joined in the backcourt by O.J. Mayo. Up front, the Mavs added Elton Brand via an amnesty waiver claim and picked up Chris Kaman as a free agent. Those four, Vince Carter, Brendan Haywood, Brendan Wright, Dhantay Jones, Roddy Beaubois, and the aforementioned Dirk and Marion form the (rather large) core of a team that the Mavs hope can again contend for a playoff spot and make a run.

That’s a ways off however, as it’s only October. It may also be wishful thinking. Dirk is currently out recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks (and as many as 6 weeks). Chris Kaman is also on the mend with a strained right calf but should be back after only a couple of games. Losing so much front court talent — especially Dirk — leaves the Mavs incredibly thin in the front court, to the point that they’ll likely start Eddy Curry at Center tonight. Yes. Eddy Curry. Add in any residual affect from waiving Delonte West and the Mavs are a question mark tonight and for the first part of the season. Which, in the crowded West can spell doom.

What’s not so much of a question is this Lakers’ team. Well, at least not a question in the same way. The Lakers’ injured star, one Kobe Bryant, has labeled himself 85% and, barring any setbacks before tip time, is likely to play tonight. He of course will be joined in the lineup by a bunch of other guys you’ve heard of because they’re quite famous. If you want to know more about them, simply read our season preview or any other number of things that have appeared at this site since early July. Really, go click away. We’ll still be here when you get back.

Tonight though, the journey begins. The Lakers are a bit banged up and would do well to try and get up early on an undermanned Mavs team, especially with the Blazers waiting in Portland to play spoiler in their home opener tomorrow night. That back to back would go over much smoother with a bit of rest.

A win would also be nice simply because this team hasn’t had one in a while. The last W the Lakers put up was in Summer League and those games count even less than the preseason games that don’t matter at all. Before that, go back to the playoffs of last season where the Lakers took one game off the Thunder. That was in May.

But this is a new year and it promises to be well worth our time while also keeping our attention. So, tune in (7:30pm PST tip time, TNT) and enjoy the start of the season. We’ve been waiting a long time for this, might as well enjoy it.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ko says

    Locked and loaded. Only concern with Mavs is fast break points. Let pre-season there. Must get back on D. That being said I expect big game from Dwight against Curry and a 8 point win.

  5. Robert says

    Kobe Alert: Season Preview
    KB enters his 17th campaign with 14 All NBA Selections, which is tied for 2nd all time; he has been named to 1st team all NBA 10 times, which is also tied for 2nd; He has made the All Defensive Team 12 times (tied 2nd); He has 9 selections to the 1st team defense which is tied for 1st. He has been voted a member of the All Star team 14 times, which is tied for 3rd all time. He was a starter all 14 times, which nobody else has accomplished. He is 5th in all time regular season scoring, 3rd in playoff scoring, and 1st in All Star scoring. Kobe has 5 rings which is tied for 1st with D Fisher, for the most this century. He will eventually have 2 numbers hanging on the wall, which will put him first in that category as well. However that is years off. He has much more to accomplish and we have much to enjoy !

  6. radius says

    While I expect a win, I am looking closely at the development of the Lakers defensively. Would like to see some defined roles offensively. Would like to see Nash run the show. Let’s go.

  7. Cloud says

    I just hope Kobe plays no more than 20 min tonight. Maybe even less than that. I don’t feel as if possibly aggravating his injury further is worth it when we still have plenty of time to build up chemistry and get the offense down.

    I suspect the only reason he’s playing tonight at all is because it’s the opener and it’s against the Mavs.

  8. harold says

    Wish Kobe would rest, but then again I have yet to hear from anyone that Kobe worsened his injury by playing too soon so I guess I’ll have to trust his judgement.

  11. Snoopy2006 says

    Great opening game. 1 game is a small sample size, but if the Heat can have 2-3 shooters clicking on any given night – choose from among Battier, Allen, Lewis, Bosh, Miller – this is just going to be so sick. Looks like both Boston and Miami improved – and perhaps dramatically – this offseason.

  12. Shaun says

    Yeah Barbosa is looking pretty awesome exactly like the guy who can create his own offense that we need

  13. Aaron says

    Yea… It’s maddening for a team that needs talent on the bench to pass up on Green last year and Barbosa this year. We can probably add Delonte West to that list.

    There we go. He missed his first two shots the last minute of garbage time. At least he isn’t perfect 🙂

  15. Snoopy2006 says

    Smooth interview, except for the part where Ray Allen realized he doesn’t know James Jones’ name.

    IT’S FINALLY TIME.

  23. Hale says

    I’m seeing Steve Nash and Dwight Howard in a Lakers’ jersey. This is weird. Plus Time-Warner showed up on the menu today. Strange times.

  26. KenOak says

    I’m liking what this bench is showing so far. Seeing Meeks knock down that first 3 was happy fun times.

  28. radius says

    29 points at the end of first quarter exactly where it should be against this defense the Mavs are putting up

  29. chris h says

    yeah, thanks Ryan, but can’t et it in India… anyway, asked the wife to tiro it… so I’ll catch it later
    cheers

  30. Kevin_ says

    Starting to think Lakers coaches held back offense in the preseason. I’m seeing lots of sets we haven’t seen yet. Lakers offense is in sync.

  31. Snoopy2006 says

    The movements of this Princeton are excellent for our bench. I do hope Steve Nash controls the ball more as the year progresses – several times he gave the ball up and then Metta couldn’t get it back to him when the offense stalled – but this offense is making chicken salad out of chicken … well, you know. Not a ton of great individual talent with 4 bench members on the floor, but they’ve surprised me by creating points out of this offense.

  32. JB says

    Extremely limited sample size, but I’m liking Jamison’s hustle so far. Lots of tips and activity around the hoop. Having a 3 with his size is a great bonus.

  34. Avidon says

    Love Ron’s activity level. Could be a DPY-level year for him.

    Extremely concerned with Nash’s body language. He does not look engaged.. seems like he is deferring too much.

  36. radius says

    @Ko, I am surprised you are not impressed. you have always been so positive.

    Feel like Steve Nash needa the ball more in P&R situations, but offense looks great while defense looks spotty. Over 60% shooting from the floor, but crappy FT. Cant wait for second half.

    Also, love Crowder on Dallas. Guy who knows the reason he plays is because he goes hard every play. Always love those guys

  37. Ko says

    Pre season means nothing
    Pre season means nothing
    Pre season means nothing.

    Say that 50 times and see if it’s true.

  39. Kevin_ says

    Lakers were very methodical and had rhythm to their offense the 1st quarter then it sputtered. Nash and Gasol should share distribution in the offense. Gasol dominated playmaking this half need some more Nash PnR.

    Perimeter defense is non exsistent. Some adjustments are necessary to pull this one out.

  40. Snoopy2006 says

    Nash has the hardest job on the floor. He may be a basketball genius, but he’s not going to find the perfect balance in 1 night. I only worry about him being too unselfish and deferring too much to the Princeton, but he’ll find the right balance as the season progresses.

    I was high on Jae Crowder around draft time, but I didn’t know he had range like this. I had him pegged more as an undersized hustle/energy around the rim type player. The Mavs may have gotten themselves a good one.

    Didn’t like the 4-sub mass substitution at the end of the 1st. That unit did hold up well thanks to the Princeton, but long-term, I’d prefer to see 2 stars on the floor at all times (and MB might be limiting Kobe on purpose due to the foot, which is perfectly understandable).

    Only question I have on the new format: why are some comments indented? At first I thought nested replies had been added, but I don’t see an option so I’m assuming the indentations mean something else.

  41. Robert says

    Losing turnovers 7-4; outshot from 3 pt line 15-6; and the bench is being outscored 22-9. Wow – could have been a post from last year.

    No issue – looking for that #24 guy to win this

  42. Glove says

    Points off of turnovers 10 for the Mavericks (7 Lakers TO) and 5 points for LA (4 Dallas TO). Lakers with only 3 fast break points.

  43. Joe says

    Lakers need to play harder, plain and simple. They looked so dead in that second quarter. I liked the early production from the bench.

  45. losfeliz Laker says

    This is deflating. Kobe starting to dominate ball. Lakers center cheapshots opponent.

  46. Zirk says

    Well, same as last year. Looks like Kobe is going to need to go for 40 for us to have a shot tonight.

    And another great start to a 3rd qtr. Geez.

  47. Teeceezy says

    Lot of lazy or non-existent contests on Mavs shots. Steve in particular has been disappointing at that end. Mavs are getting easy shots and drilling them. Offense is also looking stagnant and out-of-sync. Couple of nice plays by Kobe, but iso-ball is not the design for this year, no?

  48. Shaun says

    We are losing to a team without arguably their 2 best players

    Our pnr defense is terrible and TNT with 3 hofers is openly mocking our offense

  52. Zirk says

    Kobe’s 9 of 10. He’s obviously not the problem.

    Eddy Curry scored for the first time in like 5 years. Enough said.

  54. jerry says

    mavs playing inspired. don’t think i’ll watch another laker game until they win their first one. pretty painful to watch this much talent play like crap o la.

  55. Kevin_ says

    Ko: was right last year a good coach gives you 10 points every game. It’s almost like we start -10 with Brown. The tactics heavily favor Carlisle.

  56. Aaron says

    I know Howard looks like he isn’t the same player… But I think it’s just because he doesn’t have his legs under him yet. He will regain strength. Or at least I hope. Once he gets it back he will be able to play D and rebound again.

  57. Zirk says

    The Mavs have 9 new players! Wait, I thought everyone kept saying that it “takes time” when you have new players. Really?

  58. Ko says

    This is a poorly coached, old team with a bad bench. May start season 0 and 2 and ge 10 and 10 first 20. Nice job Brown.

  59. joesmith says

    Another year and the same problem remains.No bench and no coaching in-game.
    And why do Nash/Howard/Kobe are benched at the same time? Some mix would be good
    After all the noise if you look at the stats it s Kobe and Pau all over again.
    Nash needs to run HIS offense and deffense is a joke.
    Let s pray…

  62. Shaun says

    Blake sucks and Meeks may not be the answer at backup 2 as neither of them can dribble the ball

  63. jerry says

    frick – let kobe go to work already. would rather see him chuck up shots then this bs game plan.

  64. Ko says

    Tomorrow in Portland and a fast athletic clipper Friday. Think about a 0 and 3 start for $120 million.

  66. Aaron says

    Never thought I’d see Brandon Wright out jump Dwight for a rebound. We also need to let Nash play some PG. is that Sessions spotting up over there?

  67. kehntangibles says

    Yeah, new team coming together and 2 injured starters but…. yeah, this is unwatchably bad. As in, the 2011 Lakers just called to say that this is some pretty ugly-assed basketball.

  68. arliepro says

    Seems like our hustle disappeared after the first quarter and shooting percentage took a nose dive while the Mavs’ went in the opposite direction. You’d think we never practiced free throws. And until we learn how to play D properly, we aren’t going to beat anybody.

  69. Kevin_ says

    Remember when Mike Brown said at his presser we’d see the Twin Towers offense and never did. Same thing will happen here no Nash just this bad offense were witnessing.

  72. Zirk says

    Don’t worry. Preseason doesn’t matter. Just wait til the regular season starts. Oh wait…

    I wonder what excuses our used car salesman of a coach with that stupid grin is gonna spit out in his press conference tonight. It takes time, work in progress, we did some good things, blah blah blah. It’s like spewing garbage.

  73. kehntangibles says

    Screw it, I can’t watch this anymore. I’m not ready to watch us play our typical half-assed February defensive efforts until it actually IS February, let’s regroup and get our heads out of our butts tomorrow at Portland

    That said – I still love this blog and my deepest sympathies and respect to whichever staff member draws the short straw for having to write this game recap.

  74. KenOak says

    If there is one silver lining in this game it is that no one can blame Kobe for this loss tonight. 10-13 is pretty good shooting. And look how well he has played within the “offense”.

    Seriously though… It will get better. Our defense will get better. Give it some time with everyone healthy.

    *edit* Some really odd foul calls.

  76. JD says

    I don’t understand how u can allow the other team to run pick and roll all game long yet u refuse to run the same set when u have the best roll man (Howard) and the best pick and roll point in the league

  77. Avidon says

    The biggest problem is lack of identity for this team right now. If/when they figure that out and settle into it, things will look far better.

  79. jro says

    There is no excuse for this at all. this is a home game! and we lost to a non playoff contender missing their 2 top players. plus, they’ve had more turn over than us. since the day he arrived, mike brown has not said or done a single thing that has made me believe he is the guy. I think that’s saying a lot. I have absolutely no faith in him whatsoever.

  80. Kevin_ says

    Team looks not better than it did preseason. Lakers have the 4 best players on the court and were dominated.

  81. Tra says

    Plenty of things went wrong tonight (poor offensive and defensive execution, fouling, out-hustled ..), but IMO, none more so than the pathetic free throw shooting. A loss can be accepted on opening night, but to get blown out @ home by a lottery team is straight embarassing .. Saving grace: It’s a journey.

  82. Zirk says

    Exactly, jro. I would be willing to buy all of the reasons for the loss/poor play that people have mentioned if we would have played a team like OKC and lost tonight. But this garbage Dallas team at home? We just lost to a team with 3 walking corpses (Marion, Brand, and Carter), some french dude who’s name I can’t even pronounce, and some stiff named Channing Crowder who I believe is a linebacker in the NFL. Oh, and Eddy freakin Curry. Wow. This loss is inexcusable IMO. And I think a big part of it was our so-called coach.

  83. Craig W. says

    I guess the most disappointing thing about tonight was that MB stayed with his rotation habit of both last year and this…the only player from the 1st unit to play with the second unit was the center – for the most part.

    With a real problem with 2nd unit production our coach continued to leave only one person in and that wasn’t a guard. Perhaps, just perhaps, there should be a change that recognizes that we need a bit more continuity in the backcourt when subbing in 2nd unit personnel.

  84. losfeliz Laker says

    When will we as fans get to watch games that matter? Last season it was “the team didn’t have a preseason” and Mike Brown “wasn’t able to install his offense.” So just be patient they’ll get it together. THEY NEVER DID. Then we come back and have the 0-for preseason and this debut. UCLA football fans will smell the Neuheiselness.

  85. Jerke says

    I didn’t panic at all over the preseason results and am not worried about the result of one game…. but – I’ve followed Nash as a Suns fan and since he was in highschool here in BC. This offense is horrible – I know they have kinks to work out – but you have Nash standing around without the ball – Steve Blake can do that just as well. 4 assists? seriously? They’re playing way too slow – their shots should be up around 90 – 7 fast break points? are you f’ing kidding me? You have the best fast break point guard, one of the best finishers in kobe, best fast center for up tempo game and one of the best power fowards for a faster game. Shooting almost 50% in an offence doesn’t count if it doesn’t win you games. And the free throws…. yeesh. Ugly ugly basketball…. I want mike brown to do well – really I do – but he’s got 10-15 gaames to figure this out. Too much money invested in this team to let them take a 2/3rds of a year to figure out their identity. Either they’ll have it figured out for Xmas or P Jackson will be back in charge.

  88. Kevin_ says

    No coaching timeouts, no in game adjustments, no defense. This has been consistent for a while now.

  90. Deron says

    1. Princeton offense requires players to run all the time. It is not designed for some bigs and 38 year olds.
    2. Brown really sucks.

  91. Don says

    No amount of coaching is going to fix 12-31 ft shooting. We shot 49% from the field. The offense will be fine. Dwight still needs some games to return to form. He’s slow on rotations, gettin out jumped and did you see him ‘dunk’?

    I hope Nash gets taken out earlier so he can come in with the second unit. Blake is fine as a floor spacer.

  92. jodial says

    I’m not going to freak out about this, and I’ve always been an advocate of big-picture, season-long perspective…but that said, I didn’t like the Mike Brown hire the day it happened and I’m not liking it now.

  93. Anonymous says

    Lakers are one of the slowest stiffest teams I have ever seen. They still didnt add any ATHLETIC wing 2’s or 3’s of significance. Artest is a liablility, Gasol is SLOW…

    Princeton offense SUCKS MAJORLY! Mike Brown is a clueless excuse maker. He is a FAIL!
    I dont trust anything he says anymore.

    the Lakers pulling a Yankees/Dodgers and just getting some big names but they are lacking a true identity.

  94. Kevin_ says

    http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/lakers/post/_/id/19689/new-podkast-espn-coms-brian-windhorst-on-mike-brown

    Posted this before but I always go back to it why Brown isn’t the right fit. A reporter who covered him his whole time in Cleveland right off the bat thought it was a bad fit.

    “He’s sort of a process coach. The Lakers are looking for someone to keep it going. I don’t know if they’re looking for someone to retool everything… He’s taken the reins of a 747, so to speak, that’s mid-flight. It’s gonna be a real challenge for him. I don’t really know how good that’s all gonna go.”

  95. T. Rogers says

    I’m not a fan of the offense. As another poster noted, I would have loved more Howard/Nash pick and rolls. There were times when the Lakers were taking too long to get into their sets. It reminded me a little of last year. By the time the PG makes the first pass 10 seconds are already gone from the 24. This was mostly in the 3rd quarter where the Lakers basically lost the game.

    It won’t get any easier. They’ll be on the road in Portland tomorrow with the Clips waiting on Friday. I hope they figure this out quick.

  96. Mace says

    Mavs fan here, and tonight was glorious after hearing about the Lakers all offseason again. 4 Glaring weaknesses 1. Coach. 2. Nash on Defense 3. Howard FT Shooting. 4 Bench. I was one of the few that supported the trading of Nash back in the day from Dallas because his lack of defense counters what he does on the other end. Enjoy the season 🙂

  97. Bubba says

    If the Lakers after 10 games have 4 wins or less Brown is fired! This has the potential to be a Paul Westhead and Magic Johnson Part II. I think Brown is in over his head and I feel they should bring Phil Jackson back to right the ship.

  98. rr says

    A few points:

    1. Aaron is right; Howard is not there yet, although he is still damn good.
    2. Bad FT numbers will be constant, but Hill and Howard do need to do better than 4/20.
    3. The Lakers have a lot of bad defensive players; more time won’t fix that. Brown is supposedly a defensive coach, but I haven’t seen much evidence of it.
    4. They need to let Nash be Nash. No point in Kobe “playing within the system” if Nash is going to go 3/9 with 4 AST.

  100. Robert says

    Well – I did not see that coming. We lose the turnover battle; We shoot 23% from 3; We shoot 39% from the line, and the bench is outscored 37-17.

    Not panicking yet, but this was a bad start. Specifically MB is off to a bad start. The team was not prepared mentally, the offensive sets were horrible, and there were no in game adjustments.

    What if I had told you guys that KB goes 11-14 before the game. Would anyone have seen a loss with that stat?

  101. The Dude Abides says

    I’ve bitten my tongue for months, ever since Brown took Sessions away from the 2nd team when the team was really clicking, and stuck him in with the starters and told him to pass the ball into the post and run to a corner. Never played Sessions and Barnes at the same time ever again. Sessions lost all his confidence by being forced to play outside of his comfort zone. This big picture decision cost the team a berth in the NBA Finals.

    Brown is now doing the same thing with Nash via the Princeton offense. Let’s face it, Nash is going to give up plenty of points on the defensive end to his opposing PG. He’s always made up for it at the offensive end by controlling the game and shredding the defense with the P&R (and all of the ensuing cuts and ball movement off of the original P&R attempt). The Princeton offense results in Nash dishing out a grand total of four assists despite having Pau, D-12, and Kobe as teammates…as well as Jamison or MWP. The ball is taken out of his hands.

    And what’s this with the bench playing with only one of the big four? Didn’t Brown learn from last season? We got schooled immediately after halftime yet again. I guess the coach will say that he needs to go watch the film, then he can make adjustments. I stayed away from this blog all summer because I didn’t want to play wet blanket when Mitch made those great acquisitions. All of the pundits are talking like it’s OKC and the Lakers who are the two biggest favorites to make the WCF. What they don’t realize is that the Laker players are carrying a heavy burden every game. It’s tough to win when you’re playing with one arm tied behind your back (aka having Mike Brown as your head coach). Maybe when the team starts out 0-5 and/or 2-10, Brown can scrap the Princeton and implement the Wishbone or the Single Wing.

  102. Edwin Gueco says

    Did you hear what Reggie said, Lakers are investing $130M this year alone and next season if Howard signs long term, it would amount to $190M yet being coached by $ 3M dummy. Don’t waste any time, Mitch, Jim, it’s now 0-9 for this season alone. This is a continuation of Nuggets sending MBrown to 7 game series by no-name players. I have faith on our starters but they have to unleash their favorite shots selection. Junk the Princeton offense, let Gary Vitti do the coaching I believe Lakers would be a better team. lol! Okay, Coach Miller, Stu Lantz, James Worthy, any of these guys would be better steward than our present stock of losers.

  103. vhanz says

    This is wjy I really dont post after a loss game because of bashing and blaming people like there is no tomorrow. I am also down about MB but if you guys going to let your emotions overcome yourself as a fan of this team, better not to be a fan at all. Im also pissed after the game but I am still hopeful that they wil l figured it out.

  104. JonM says

    Did anyone catch the stat Shaq mentioned postgame on TNT? Tonight was the only game in Nash’s whole CAREER where’s he played more than 20 minutes and both scored less than 10 points and had less than 5 assists.

    Put that in your pipe and smoke it…

  105. Jim C. says

    I’m going to go against the grain here and NOT call for Mike Brown’s head on a platter.

    There are some legitimate concerns to be had here. Nash walking the ball up the court is idiocy for example.

    But I remain convinced that right now, it’s impossible to judge the results of Mike Brown’s Princeton offense because of how little time the team has had to be on the court together due to all the injuries in the preseason.

    Howard is obviously not 100% back to his old self yet, though I think it is more a matter of conditioning than anything else.

    Lakers aren’t going to shoot THAT bad from the freethrow line normally.

    It was quite obvious that the offense was a work in progress with players uncertain of where they are supposed to go and what they are supposed to be doing.

    In other words, this is very, VERY far from a finished product on the floor.

    Here are my main areas of concern:

    1. The Princeton offense was developed by the school Princeton to overcome deficiencies of talent. The Lakers don’t suffer from a lack of talent. Is the Princeton really the right offense to run when you have the Laker level of talent?

    2. I did NOT like the lineup of Gasol being the only member of the “Big 4” on the floor at any given time.

    3. In the first quarter, when Brown took Nash and Kobe out at the same time, but left Gasol and Howard IN at the same time, it seemed an odd choice. Why not one frontcourt starter and one backcourt starter on the court at the same time?

    4. Lakers looked slow and tired tonight. In particular, Nash and Howard looked just dog tired even in the second quarter. How hard is Brown working the team in practice? They looked like they were really dragging themselves around on the court. No energy at all.

    5. What was the point of all that experimentation with Ebanks backing up both the SG and SF position if, come regular season time, he didn’t back up EITHER position? This is frustrating to me.

  106. Magic Phil says

    Guys have a good point about MB. And being politically-correct = blind.

    Let’s face it: Players (individually) did good. But they lack something called “coaching”. It looks like a mess at certain points. Gasol did great in the 2nd half and his reward was…even more minutes! The guy was tired at the end, did MB noticed that?

  107. harold says

    I don’t see why it is so hard to run the Princeton ONLY when Nash is off the court. It doesn’t really take a genius to say, ‘Nash out, Princeton in’, right? Nash should not be made to double guess himself and figure out a balance with something he’s not comfortable with.

    With such a short time to integrate all these new players, but with such an abundance of talent, the most efficient way to use that time would be to focus on coaching defense and let offense work itself out so the players are in sync and then add wrinkles once players have a feel for each other. Of course certain ‘philosophies’ and ‘vision’ should be in place, but it seems that we’re nowhere both defensively and offensively.

    Anyway, the regular season started, and losing to the Mavericks who had 14 feet of starting talent not play at all while having the best frontcourt (been hearing that for the past 4~5 years it seems) really should have people worry at least some.