Well SMOC, obviously you're a genius. What I mean is that if he says "cross SMO at 7000 then descend & maintain 2500", don't be a tool and try to guess your track to touchdown miles. He's looking at your rate of descent to see where he can fit you on final or he already has decided and they ALWAYS base that on you descending as rapidly as practical as stated in the AIM. If you try to pull some fantasy out of your head and se VS @ 500 fpm then to him, you're a tool. The longer you take to get down, the further you will go on downwind.