#Alexander Altmann

[classicalcanvas]

Title: Part of the shore with a villa and a blossoming tree

Artist: Alexandre Altmann

Date: 1878 - 1932

Genre: Landscape

[sherbertilluminated]

so this is what they mean when they say Empfindlichkeit had its own idiom for the expression of homosocial admiration

[lawrenceleemagnuson]

Alexander Altmann (Ukraine 1885-1950 France) Bord de rivière en été  - Riverbank in summer oil on canvas 80.3 x 64.7 cm

[simena]

Alexander Altmann

[gallerix-the-world]

Alexander Altmann - Summer Landscape

[lokaleblickecom]

Garage DU 2023: Sieben Matches beim Pitch-Event

- Gelungener Auftakt des Start-up-Awards mit über 100 Gästen im Handwerkerhof - Innovationen in Künstlicher Intelligenz für Klimaschutz und Kreislaufwirtschaft - Jetzt folgt die mehrmonatige Umsetzungsphase der Projekte bis zur Demo Night https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5DI3hYFEoY Duisburg. „It’s a match“, hieß es für sieben Start-ups und Duisburger Unternehmen nach dem aufregenden Pitch-Event zur garage DU 2023 im Handwerkerhof Wanheimerort, dem Premieren-Spielort. Zuvor hatten die Gründerinnen und Gründer eine Hafenrundfahrt sowie eine Kieztour durch Ruhrort unternommen. „Damit sollen die Start-ups ein erstes Kennenlern-Gefühl für die Stadt, ihre Bürgerinnen und Bürger sowie unsere wirtschaftlichen Schwerpunkte bekommen“, sagt Rasmus C. Beck, Geschäftsführer des Organisators Duisburg Business & Innovation (DBI). „Wir verstehen das Projekt als einen strategischen Prozess mit dem Ziel, Duisburg als Innovationsstandort für Startups zu etablieren.“ Und das ist das Prinzip: Als Wirtschaftsentwicklung bringt die DBI lokale Unternehmen und nationale wie internationale Start-ups zusammen. 109 Bewerbungen aus ganz Europa hatte es für die zweite Auflage des Wettbewerbs gegeben. Durch eine Fachkommission im Vorfeld ausgewählt, präsentierten sich neun Start-ups vor über 100 Gästen im Rheingoldsaal. Die Partner der Unternehmen aus Duisburg – DVV, GEBAG, Wirtschaftsbetriebe, Sparkasse und duisport – hatten im Vorfeld konkrete Herausforderungen formuliert und mussten beim Pitch-Event aus den Lösungsideen der Start-ups ihre Matches finden. Die Duisburger Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft hat dabei zwei Treffer gelandet: einerseits SmartInspection aus Österreich. Die Ausgründung der Stadtwerke Wien bietet eine automatisierte Fehleranalyse durch den Einsatz von Drohnen, Robotik und künstlicher Intelligenz, womit sich zum Beispiel Photovoltaik-Flächen oder Fernwärme-Rohre überprüfen lassen. „Die Spezialisierung auf Energie-Infrastruktur und die vielfältigen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten in unseren verschiedenen Unternehmensbereichen haben für uns bei der Entscheidung den Ausschlag gegeben. Wir sind gespannt, was sich aus dem Austausch mit dem Start-up bei uns im Konzern entwickelt“, sagt Jurymitglied Fabienne Stahl, Leiterin des Teams Organisation und Change in der Unternehmensentwicklung. Überzeugt hatte die DVV auch das Start-up LumoViewaus Köln, das eine Ausgründung des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) ist, und verspricht, innerhalb weniger Sekunden mit Hilfe von künstlicher Intelligenz und eines Handscanners verlässliche 3D-CAD-Modelle eines Raumes zu erstellen. Auch die Baugesellschaft GEBAG geht den weiteren Weg mit zwei Teams, wie Sandra Altmann als Leiterin der Unternehmensentwicklung erklärt: „Wir freuen uns über den Kontakt zu zwei Start-ups mit nachhaltigen Ideen für uns als wohnungswirtschaftlichen Bestandshalter. Immobilien sind besonders langlebige Wirtschaftsgüter – da knüpft Concular aus Berlin an und beschäftigt sich mit der Lebenszyklusbetrachtung. 2Zero, ebenfalls aus der Hauptstadt, hat wiederum erkannt, dass es zum Einsparen von Energie Investitionen durch den Vermieter braucht – aber auch das passende Nutzerverhalten von Mietern.“ Im Doppelpack gehen die Wirtschaftsbetriebe in die Fit-Phase. „Zoliton aus Bochum können uns zum Beispiel bei der Laubsammlung helfen, mittels Künstlicher Intelligenz und Telematik die Tourenplanung zu dynamisieren und optimieren. Und YourEasyAI aus Essen sind in der Lage, mit der Auswertung von Daten z.B. Verschleiß zu erkennen, bevor er entsteht und so Schaden vorzubeugen – das ist für in den Bereichen interessant, in denen es um Instandsetzung, Instandhaltung und Wartungsarbeiten geht“, erläutert Frank Neuhaus, Inhouse Consultant Urbane Innovation bei der WBD. Alexander Garbar, Leiter Unternehmensentwicklung der Duisburger Hafen AG (duisport), begrüßt das gelungene Matchmaking: „Mit den Gründern von RideBee aus München haben wir ein Start-up an der Hand, das unseren Nachhaltigkeits-Gedanken weiterträgt und eine Plattform für Unternehmen entwickelt hat, die Fahrgemeinschaften in großen Organisationen ermöglicht und vereinfacht. Daher konnten wir gestern als zufriedener Unterstützer der diesjährigen garageDU mit einem gelungenen Match aus dem Pitch-Event hervorgehen. Nun beginnt die spannende Phase, in der wir uns mit RideBee zusammensetzen und über unsere mögliche Zusammenarbeit und Integration im Hafen sprechen werden.“ Diese Vorfreude teilt Fabian Seitz, der Co-Gründer von RideBee: „Wir sehen große Synergieeffekte und sind schon gespannt auf die Demo Night. Das Format der garage DU ist etwas Besonderes und auch das Programm wird sehr professionell organisiert. Ich war das erste Mal in Duisburg und bin ganz positiv überrascht. Vor allem der Hafen war beeindruckend.“ Es scheint sich somit zu bestätigen, was André Gervers, bei der Sparkasse Duisburg im Bereich Unternehmensentwicklung tätig, feststellt: „garage DU ist die richtige Plattform für Gründer, sich zu zeigen, für sich zu werben und sich zu vernetzen. Und wir unterstützen und fördern die garage DU und die Start-ups. Wir beraten Existenzgründer nicht nur umfassend, sondern begleiten sie auch in ihrer Entwicklung. Gemeinsam mit unseren Partnern verfolgen wir das Ziel, dass sich Start-ups nachhaltig als Unternehmen in Duisburg etablieren.“ Davon ist Markus Belitzki überzeugt: „Das Pitch-Event war eine tolle Veranstaltung mit inspirierendem Austausch“, resümiert der Vorstandsreferent Digitalisierung bei der Volksbank Rhein Ruhr als Unterstützer der garage DU. „Ich glaube daran, dass dieses gesponnene Innovations-Netzwerk einen bleibenden Wert für die Zukunft der Stadt Duisburg darstellt.“ Alessandro Benassi, Corporate Partnership Manager der Innovationsplattform startport, zeigt sich sehr zufrieden vor allem mit dem Scouting-Prozess als Teamleistung: „Wir sind stolz auf die insgesamt über 100 Bewerbungen von professionellen Gründerinnen und Gründern. Schön zu sehen, dass jeder Partner eine Startup-Idee für sein Unternehmen und seine Fragestellungen einzusetzen wusste und es ein gelungenes Matchmaking gab.“ Nach dem Pitch-Event folgen nun Workshops und die Umsetzung der Projektideen zwischen den Partner-Unternehmen und den ausgewählten Start-ups. Den Abschluss der garage DU 2023 bildet am 26. Oktober die Demo Night mit der Präsentation der Projektergebnisse und einer großen Preisverleihung – es winken Prämien und Sachpreise in Höhe von bis zu 50.000 Euro. Schauplatz für das große Finale ist diesmal der Landschaftspark-Nord in Duisburg. Bildzeile: Sie gehen miteinander in die nächste Runde: (v.l.): Frank Neuhaus (WBD), Patrick Imke (YourEasy AI), Markus Schneider (DVV), Fabienne Stahl (DVV), Peter Liebhart (SmartInspection), Sandra Altmann (GEBAG), Carlo Rickert (Lumoview), Julius Gronau (2Zero), Alexander Garbar (duisport), Arndt Zinn (Zolitron), Fabian Seitz (RideBee). Read the full article

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Robodebt: What The Royal Commission Revealed

If institutional injustice makes you mad this episode had it in spades. Robodebt: What the Royal Commission revealed to us. A government and a bunch of ministers who saw themselves as ‘welfare cops’, with a duty to shake down the most vulnerable among us. Without fear or favour these sheriffs took on pensioners, disabled Australians, and those down on their luck. They applied income averaging to make it look like these people on the bones of their arse were rorting the system. It played well to those who are always looking for someone to blame for their own financial frustrations.

Welfare Cops on the Robodebt Beat

Scott Morrison, Stuart Robert, and Alan Tudge all had their hands on the tiller and steered the Robodebt ship from 2014 -2019. Morrison was gung ho about raising revenue from those on welfare. “And then there was the political context. Morrison had declared his desire to be the “welfare cop” in a series of interviews, starting with a Sky News interview on 21 January 2015. In evidence to the commission Campbell acknowledged that interview was a signal about where Morrison wanted to take the portfolio.” - (Luke Henriques-Gomes, 11 March 2023, The Guardian Australia)

Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.com The little fact that the scheme was illegal, according to government lawyers, was no deterrent for these righteous prosecutors. The onus was put on the accused welfare recipient to prove that he or she didn’t owe the thousands of dollars averaged out by an algorithm. Computer power, AI if you like, was at the heart of Robodebt. The machine don’t make mistakes folks! Actually, income averaging produced amounts that were wildly wrong and created debts that were not there in fact, according to the government’s own welfare rules. Hundreds of thousands of Australians had 3 weeks to respond to the letter informing them of their debt before the debt collectors were sent in.

Royal Commission Shines Spotlight on Robodebt Failings

Some vulnerable people accused of large debts killed themselves. Yes, Australians died at the hands of the Robodebt scheme instigated by the Coalition government. Public servants repeatedly ignored the illegality of the scheme and were the gun dogs for ‘welfare cops’ like Scott Morrison, Alan Tudge, and Stuart Robert. Dole bludgers were copping their just desserts in the eyes of the conservative press. Alan Tudge actually leaked personal details of those among the welfare recipients who had the courage to take on the government. Gaslighting and backgrounding were employed by Tudge’s department to diminish the credibility of opponents of the scheme. Australia had become like Nazi Germany or Russia, it seems.

Photo by Gerd Altmann on Pexels.com 5 years of illegal income averaging caused untold damage to people’s lives and their reputations. Ordinary Australians were told they were welfare cheats and forced to pay back huge sums of money. Eventually, the illegality of the Robodebt scheme would topple it. A class action was settled at the cost of some $1.8 billion to Australian tax payers. A succession of public servants in social security and human services departments ignored legal advice and the collateral damage caused by this scheme. Who will be held accountable? I hear you ask. Don’t hold your breath, as Australia does not have a great record when it comes to accountability. “ "The Australian Public Service is under obligation to give frank and fearless advice, and that was the most common failure that drove all of this: the failure of careerist public servants to speak out, to show the courage that their frontline staff, their whistleblowers were showing at an enormous personal cost to themselves.” - (Alexander Lewis, 11 March 2023, ABC News) Robodebt: What the Royal Commission revealed. The backroom boys and girls, these senior bureaucrats, were more motivated by job security than raising their heads above the parapet to give frank and fearless advice. I can’t remember the last time I have witnessed frank and fearless behaviour by a government public servant. A popular conservative narrative is that Australia is full of welfare cheats and dole bludgers. Coalition politicians dog whistle up these tropes in the Murdoch media whenever they can. Like most such tropes the factual instances of such things are tiny or largely non-existent. Most Australians just want a decent job or an even break, when it comes to their livelihood. The Robodebt scheme was a gross misuse of power. It was illegal and incorrect in both its formation and application. Poor Australians receiving welfare are low hanging fruit for institutional power. Poor people don’t have the money to afford lawyers to defend their rights. The welfare cops beat up on weak, disabled, and really old Australians. This is the most shameful example of governmental abuse in Australia’s history. Scott Morrison, Alan Tudge, and Stuart Robert should be held accountable for the damage to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians. ©Midas Word Read the full article

[dead-molchun]

Alexander Altmann (1885-1950) La Côte De Grâce Près De Honfleur (89 by 116 cm)

[poboh]

Winter Landscape, Alexander Altmann. (1885 - 1950)

[motioncollector]

Sorry - Right Round The Clock via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiBTA5BCl1Y // Sorry - "Right Round The Clock", taken from the debut album '925', out now on Domino Subscribe to Sorry on YouTube: http://bit.ly/SorryYT Purchase '925' here: http://smarturl.it/Sorry925 Download "Right Round The Clock": https://smarturl.it/RRTCDL Stream & Save "Right Round The Clock": https://smarturl.it/RRTCStrm Follow Sorry: Website: http://sorryband.co.uk YouTube: https://smarturl.it/SorryBandYT Facebook: https://smarturl.it/SorryFB Twitter: https://smarturl.it/SorryTW Instagram: https://smarturl.it/SorryIG Spotify: https://smarturl.it/SorrySP Apple Music: https://smarturl.it/SorryBandAM Follow Domino Record Co: YouTube: http://smarturl.it/DominoYT Website: http://smarturl.it/DominoRecordCo Facebook: http://smarturl.it/DominoFB Twitter: http://smarturl.it/DominoTW Instagram: http://smarturl.it/DominoIN Directors: Jasper Cable-Alexander & Sorry Production Company: The Graft Executive Producer: Beth Montague Producer: Connie Elmy-Martin 1st AD: Danny Rumbelow 2nd AD: Liam Wallace-Cook Runner: Saskia Hoccom Runner: Cecilia Jones Runner: Alfie Fisher Director of Photography: Korsshan Schlauer Focus Puller: Adam Conlon Loader: Noah Harries Steadicam: Lawrence Gallagher Gaffer: Alejandro Restrepo Celis Spark: Kian Altmann Spark: Susannah Jones Casting: Alex Cowburn @ Jinjo Casting Colourist: Philipp Morozov Girl at bar: Tessa Harrison Elvis: Susie Clark Special thanks to Flo, Alex, Ruben, Teddy, Jonny, Campbell, John, Louise, Jennifer, Tommy, Ollie, Harry, Sylvie, Mac, Francis, Tamara, Rock Pete and Monkey dog

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 29, 2019

Contrast gain control and retinogeniculate communication. Alitto, H. J., Rathbun, D. L., Fisher, T. G., Alexander, P. C., & Usrey, W. M. (2019). European Journal of Neuroscience, 49(8), 1061–1068.

Unreproducible Research is Reproducible. Bouthillier, X., Laurent, C., & Vincent, P. (2019). 36th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2019) (pp. 725–734). Long Beach, USA

Partial Adaptation to the Value Range in the Macaque Orbitofrontal Cortex. Conen, K. E., & Padoa-Schioppa, C. (2019). Journal of Neuroscience, 39(18), 3498–3513.

Optogenetic reactivation of memory ensembles in the retrosplenial cortex induces systems consolidation. de Sousa, A. F., Cowansage, K. K., Zutshi, I., Cardozo, L. M., Yoo, E. J., Leutgeb, S., & Mayford, M. (2019). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(17), 8576–8581.

Causal inference accounts for heading perception in the presence of object motion. Dokka, K., Park, H., Jansen, M., DeAngelis, G. C., & Angelaki, D. E. (2019). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(18), 9060–9065.

Hearing through Your Eyes: Neural Basis of Audiovisual Cross-activation, Revealed by Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation. Fassnidge, C., Ball, D., Kazaz, Z., Knudsen, S., Spicer, A., Tipple, A., & Freeman, E. (2019). Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31(6), 922–935.

Neural activity in a hippocampus-like region of the teleost pallium is associated with active sensing and navigation. Fotowat, H., Lee, C., Jun, J. J., & Maler, L. (2019). eLife, 8, e44119.

A thalamocortical circuit for updating action-outcome associations. Fresno, V., Parkes, S. L., Faugère, A., Coutureau, E., & Wolff, M. (2019). eLife, 8, e46187.

Testing Statistical Laws in Complex Systems. Gerlach, M., & Altmann, E. G. (2019). Physical Review Letters, 122(16), 168301.

Quantifying encoding redundancy induced by rate correlations in Poisson neurons. Herfurth, T., & Tchumatchenko, T. (2019). Physical Review E, 99(4), 042402.

Rehearsal initiates systems memory consolidation, sleep makes it last. Himmer, L., Schönauer, M., Heib, D. P. J., Schabus, M., & Gais, S. (2019). Science Advances, 5(4), eaav1695.

Distinct hippocampal engrams control extinction and relapse of fear memory. Lacagnina, A. F., Brockway, E. T., Crovetti, C. R., Shue, F., McCarty, M. J., Sattler, K. P., … Drew, M. R. (2019). Nature Neuroscience, 22(5), 753–761.

Distinct cortical–amygdala projections drive reward value encoding and retrieval. Malvaez, M., Shieh, C., Murphy, M. D., Greenfield, V. Y., & Wassum, K. M. (2019). Nature Neuroscience, 22(5), 762–769.

Expectation-induced modulation of metastable activity underlies faster coding of sensory stimuli. Mazzucato, L., La Camera, G., & Fontanini, A. (2019). Nature Neuroscience, 22(5), 787–796.

How Memory Conforms to Brain Development. Millán, A. P., Torres, J. J., & Marro, J. (2019). Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 13, 22.

Working memory revived in older adults by synchronizing rhythmic brain circuits. Reinhart, R. M. G., & Nguyen, J. A. (2019). Nature Neuroscience, 22(5), 820–827.

Neural field theory of effects of brain modifications and lesions on functional connectivity: Acute effects, short-term homeostasis, and long-term plasticity. Robinson, P. A. (2019). Physical Review E, 99(4), 042407.

Medial Prefrontal Cortex Population Activity Is Plastic Irrespective of Learning. Singh, A., Peyrache, A., & Humphries, M. D. (2019). Journal of Neuroscience, 39(18), 3470–3483.

Image content is more important than Bouma’s Law for scene metamers. Wallis, T. S., Funke, C. M., Ecker, A. S., Gatys, L. A., Wichmann, F. A., & Bethge, M. (2019). eLife, 8, e42512.

Serotonin-mediated inhibition of ventral hippocampus is required for sustained goal-directed behavior. Yoshida, K., Drew, M. R., Mimura, M., & Tanaka, K. F. (2019). Nature Neuroscience, 22(5), 770–777.

[sherbertilluminated]

Friedländer making it sound like teenage Mendelssohn just hung out at a road checkpoint waiting for R. Fränkel.

If the story were not appropriately taken apart it would be too funny to believe—would teenage!Moses have run out ahead before the coach departed, and then figured out what to say, or rehearsed his petition & still made it out of town before his parents and/or Fränkel noticed?

[simena]

Alexander ALTMANN

[shervonfakhimi]

The Cleveland Quandry

When the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted Darius Garland with the fifth pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, the pick was met with a mixed bag of skepticism due to fit and praise for taking the best player available. His rookie season was something of a similar note, looking like the crafty playmaking guard of today’s game at times but mostly looking like a player over his head against the best of the best, as most rookies are. His fit with the Cavs is questionable as well after they took Collin Sexton with the eighth pick of the 2018 draft with the pick acquired by Boston via Brooklyn in the rare lose-lose Kyrie Irving trade. After a (kinda) season, some of those concerns regarding the pairing dubbed ‘SexLand’ (I don’t make the nicknames don’t shoot the messenger here) are still there. Can both of these undersized guards make it work?

Well, if history is any indication, it’s going to be difficult. Seeing as Garland and Sexton both started more than half their games this year and possessed a usage rate above 20%, I looked through all the teams that made the conference finals from the 2010-11 season onward that had two guards start at least 35 games, own a usage rate above 20% and their heights both be 6’4” or below. I found two examples: the 2016-17 Boston Celtics (Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley) and the 2018-19 Portland Trail Blazers (Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum). Both of those teams would wind up losing within 5 games, respectively. One other team did meet the threshold, (the 2013-14 Oklahoma City Thunder) because Reggie Jackson started 36 games filling in for Russell Westbrook during that season, but still started fewer games than Thabo Sefolosha, who did not get much usage at all starting as a defensive specialist.

In the abbreviated 2019-20 season, seven teams met the threshold set earlier: the Cavs (Sexton and Garland), Hornets (Terry Rozier III and 2019-20 breakout Devonte’ Graham), Blazers (Lillard and McCollum), Kings (De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield, who would get benched for Bogdan Bogdanovic later in the season in a move that… actually worked?), Raptors, Jazz and Wizards. The Cavs and Hornets are bottom feeders, the Kings and Blazers are playoff hopefuls with a semi-decent chance to make it in DisneyWorld, the Raptors and Jazz are playoff teams, though the Jazz weren’t getting the Mike Conley we’ve become accustomed to in previous years before the quarantine and the Wizards are, well, the Wizards (I legitimately did not know Isaiah Thomas started 37 games for the Wizards this year.). Even here, the results are a mixed bag.

So can Collin Sexton and Darius Garland make it work and become a winning duo? I suppose it’s possible, but I need to see more to be convinced. Both Sexton and Garland have shown they can space the floor without the ball in their hands (Sexton shot 42.1% on catch-and-shoot threes, per NBA.com, while Garland shot 39.2% on shots of the variety. Sexton is a career 39.2% shooter from three on 4.2 attempts per 36 minutes; Garland hit 35.5% on 5.8 attempts from deep per 36 minutes.), which helps the fit offensively. In a pick-and-roll heavy-league where teams look to find players across the floor capable of creating a jump shot, these two can provide plenty of that. Darius Garland prefers to work his magic against switches through stepback threes. Sexton is an underrated, more well-rounded bucket-getter than Garland with a soft touch on floaters, athleticism to pounce upon driving lanes and attack the rim and matches that with a solid handle to create some space and fire away from the midrange and beyond. Sometimes, you’d see flashes of those two working together to create a symphony, providing glimmers of hope these two can figure it out as a duo. Sexton scored 22.7 points per 36 minutes while boasting a solid 51.7% effective field goal percentage and generated 0.90 points per possession while operating the pick-and-roll (65th percentile); both very good marks, especially for a second-year player. Garland’s endeavors were not as fruitful, however, though customary for a rookie guard who didn’t have much college experience. All in all, scoring is not the problem with this backcourt.

While there’s no disputing these two can get buckets, I’m a bit skeptical wondering what else these two can provide. Let’s start defensively. Sexton surely does play with effort on that end, half the battle, but you could see his body move faster than his brain as he attempts to compute what is happening on the floor. Though this bucket didn’t count, it didn’t count because Sexton got stuck attempting to navigate a Steven Adams screen. Though I imagine it wouldn’t be pleasant to get tussled with Poseidon’s less-successful brother Joeseidon, that was a sight Sexton made look far too routine. His backcourt in Garland wasn’t much better. His size already doesn’t do Garland many favors, but it compounds matters when you don’t bring the requisite fight to make up for that lack of size, especially against bigger guards, like here how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander steamrolls past him for an easy layup. It isn’t just bigger guards either; Chris Paul, sure he’s a sure-fire Hall of Famer, works Garland at ease for a bucket and a foul to go with it. Kyle Lowry and Fred Van Vleet can get away with their lack of size through smarts and tenacity; Sexton and Garland are miles away from that. To be fair, they’re only sophomores and rookies, respectively; on the other hand, they were two of the five worst point guards according to ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus metric. When Sexton and Garland share the floor, the Cavs’ defensive rating is 117.3 which would rank last in the league. Though the Cavs can suppress that some with more defensive help surrounding Sexton and Garland on the wing and in the paint (please draft Onyeka Okongwu!), it’s fair to wonder if these two can hold up defensively.

Playmaking is another aspect regarding these two that concerns me. Garland fared better than Sexton in this area, showing flashes of slick playmaking in between tight corridors. However, both he and Sexton had their issues reading the entire floor and being late with decisions. Both like to pound the ball and go for broke early in the clock as opposed to getting others involved. Neither were able to crack the top 50 in potential assists. Again, there is plenty of room for these two to improve upon and it is still super early for both of them in their NBA careers, but both have to improve in the area of playmaking and making their teammates better to fully maximize their talents.

I don’t normally dissuade myself or a team to take the best player available if that’s what they believe, even if the fit is tricky. NBA players are good enough to blend in with their surroundings, and Collin Sexton and Darius Garland have certain skills to coincide with each other. I’m not going to definitively declare these two cannot coexist, but they need to improve in areas like playmaking and defense to prove Koby Altmann and the Cavaliers right that these two can coexist. It took Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, lightyears ahead of where Sexton and Garland are currently, years to even make the conference finals, and when they did, they got swept. Cavs fans can look to them and Toronto as evidence this *can* work. I remain skeptical, however. Sexton and Garland have a lot of room to grow to get to that level. Both are intriguing players, but that neither are distinguishable defenders or playmakers exacerbates their size, or lack thereof, as teammates. Perhaps they can flourish together over time, but I’m not convinced quite yet.

[dead-molchun]

Alexander Altmann (1885 - 1950) In The Park (65 by 81 cm)

[poboh]

Trees overlooking a pond, Alexander Altmann. (1885 - 1950) - Oil on Canvas -