It's a thread drift, but ya got a point. Flow, cam profile all effect timing, which is the fundamental issue.
Perhaps on my NEXT engine I will be asking myself more about cylinder filling as it relates to compression ratio, cam profile, port velocity vs flow numbers, idle speed rpm and how all that relates to initial timing, carb selections and finally,,, the STARTER!
Not to mention counting the teeth on the dang flywheel.
And I'm going to be SO depressed if I discover a hydraulic roller is just the ticket.