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Old 10-31-2004, 01:27 PM   #1
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Default Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

By Art Garcia
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Dirk Nowitzki hears it all the time. How could he not?

If it's not being asked of him, it's being asked of his teammates and coaches. And those who make a living monitoring the pulse of the NBA have asked the question the past several years.

Dirk, isn't it time to step up and make the Mavericks your team?

"I don't really like the words 'stepping up,' " a sweat-soaked Nowitzki said after a recent practice. "What have I done for the last five years? I don't know if there's much to step up, but I'll try.

"I will never be a vocal-type leader. I will always lead by example, go out there and play hard. I'm going to battle and make something happen for my team."

There's little debate of Nowitzki's importance. He has led the Mavs in scoring and rebounding four consecutive years, earning All-NBA honors each of those seasons.

His willingness to work also is unquestioned. Off-season workouts with mentor Holger Geschwinder are as challenging as they are unusual.

Nowitzki continues to expand his perimeter-based offensive game by sprinkling in a few more moves on the block, including an improving hook shot. He's a better-than-average rebounder, and no one has called Nowitzki "soft" for years.

"I'm trying to be better defensively," Nowitzki said. "That's one of my biggest goals. As a team we didn't get big stops last year and I was a big part of that. I have to be better in rotations, I have to be better at keeping my man in front of me, I have to be better at pick-and-roll defense, and get out there and be aggressive. Offensively, I'm not going to get any worse."

Still, he's never going to be an above-the-rim menace like Kevin Garnett. A lock-down defender like Ben Wallace. Or a low-post machine like Tim Duncan.

Does that mean he can't dominate a game?

"It's a different kind of dominance," said Michael Finley, Nowitzki's teammate since the German star entered the league. "Tim and Kevin are different kinds of players. To me Dirk is a 7-foot [shooting guard], and he's able to do a lot of things [shooting guards] are able to do in this league.

"He might be pretty limited when it comes to being a factor on defense, but he has the skills to affect the game on the offensive end with any of the best in the league. That's his strength. We don't want to take that away from him. He's a prolific scorer and, if he puts all this tools together this year, he can easily be a top-five scorer."

True, but top-five scorers don't necessarily carry their teams to new heights. Of the top five last season, two -- Tracy McGrady and Paul Pierce -- played on losing teams. A third, Kobe Bryant, led to the dismantling of a dynasty.

Nowitzki, beginning his seventh season, finished ninth in scoring last season at 21.8 points per game. It did, however, represent more than a three-point drop from the year before, and his rebounding numbers (8.7) were the lowest since his second season.

Some of the statistical decline is attributed to the unbalanced nature of the 2003-04 Mavs. Nowitzki never quite adjusted to Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison on the crowded frontline.

They're both gone as part of the massive overhaul that included Nowitzki's best friend, point guard Steve Nash, leaving for Phoenix. Center Erick Dampier and point guard Jason Terry change the team's dynamic, though the burden appears to be on Nowitzki more than ever.

"The biggest issue [for the Mavs] is whether Dirk is ready to go to the elite level and really carry a team," said Greg Anthony, an ESPN analyst and former player. "When you look at the very best bigs, the ones who have proven to be the best are those who can dominate the defensive end of the floor. Duncan. Garnett. O'Neal, both of them [Shaquille and Jermaine]. Wallace, both of them [Ben and Rasheed].

"Offense is not enough. He also has to make people better offensively. This is his team and teams typically take on the personality of their best player. Only time will tell."

TNT analyst David Aldridge isn't sure if the Mavs came out better after the latest round of change. Again, it comes down to Nowitzki.

"It's hard for me to say the Mavericks have improved themselves," Aldridge said. "Losing Nash is such a blow to the organization, on and off the court. Obviously, he had a very close relationship with Dirk, and I wonder if Dirk will play with the joy he's shown over the years this coming season."

Finley compiled a list of goals for Nowitzki this season. Though Finley isn't sharing the list publicly, in a nutshell, he wants Nowitzki to come out of his.

"He's a great player who leads by example, but it's time for him to go more into a vocal leadership role," Finley said. "As far as having that mean streak in him, all great players have it. I know Dirk has it in him. For him to show it not only will be beneficial for him, but the team as well."

Nowitzki understands Finley's plea, but he's not going to be something he's not. For all the talk of not being vocal, Nowitzki lets his teammates and coaches know of his displeasure on the court, whether it's practice or before 20,000 fans. And it's not with a whisper.

"I'll do whatever it takes to lead this team," Nowitzki said.

When asked about Nowitzki early in training camp, Mavs coach Don Nelson said leadership couldn't be forced. It has to come naturally.

"All I ask a guy to do is give his best effort," Nelson said.

Team insiders do see a difference in Nowitzki. The loss of Nash hurt, but Nowitzki hasn't withdrawn because of it. Lashing out at the organization was another option.

Instead, he admitted it was time for him to "grow up." Remember, Nowitzki is only 26. In an NBA life span, he's just entering his prime.

"To Dirk's credit," Mavs owner Mark Cuban said, "he wants to be the guy. He doesn't need a sidekick."

It's time to fly solo.
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Old 10-31-2004, 02:22 PM   #2
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Default RE: Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

Dirk is the one, pointless question.
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Old 10-31-2004, 02:55 PM   #3
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

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Remember, Nowitzki is only 26. In an NBA life span, he's just entering his prime.
scary if you think about it..
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Old 10-31-2004, 02:57 PM   #4
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

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Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?
umm..yeah
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Old 10-31-2004, 07:27 PM   #5
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

Mavs now Nowitkzi's team

By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
October 31, 2004

DALLAS (AP) -- When the Dallas Mavericks walked onto the practice court for their first official gathering of the season, everyone was wearing a game jersey except the tall blonde guy at the end of the line, the one whose name and number were hidden beneath a gray T-shirt.

No problem. Even with all the new faces on the roster, Dirk Nowitzki needs no introduction.

Especially not this season.

With his good buddy Steve Nash gone to Phoenix and Michael Finley not getting any younger, Nowitzki is no longer merely part of the Big Three that carried Dallas from lottery mainstay to playoff perennial.

Now 26 and entering his seventh season, Nowitzki is being pushed to stop deferring and start accepting the leadership role that comes with being such a talented player -- and with having the roster reshaped specifically to benefit him.

Simply put, the Dallas Mavericks are now his team, whether he likes it or not.

``He better understand it quick,'' said former teammate Avery Johnson, now the team's lead assistant coach. ``It's good to be humble about it, but behind the scenes and during the course of a game, we need to know it's his team.''

Nowitzki was a teenager who had just moved out of his parents' house in Germany when he came to the Mavericks. It was understandable that he looked up to Nash and to Finley, the team's unquestioned leader.

But then Nowitzki and Nash became All-Stars and Finley didn't. Last season, only Nowitzki made it, yet he still acted like a follower instead of a leader.

As Nowitzki has blossomed, Finley has tried urging him to take over. Knowing it wasn't Nowitzki's nature, Finley never pushed the issue.

Until now.

``This is Dirk's chance and his time to take his game to another level,'' Finley said. ``He's at the point physically and mentally where he can do that.

``For this team to be as successful as we want it to be, he has to be ranked in the top five when they talk about MVPs at the middle or end of the season. I think he has the capability of being that kind of player.''

League general managers do, too, as they recently voted him the NBA's top foreign player. The people who run the Mavericks believe in Nowitzki so much that after failing to land Shaquille O'Neal they began building the club around him.

It was a big shift from last offseason, when Dallas opted to have Nowitzki play alongside scorers Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison. The club never meshed and was bounced from the playoffs in the first round.

Part of it was that Walker and Jamison played the same position as Nowitzki, just not as well. And, being a good teammate and his usual, respectful self, Nowitzki cut them too much slack.

He passed up shots to get them the ball and let them take his favorite spots on the court. Nowitzki's scoring, rebounding and assist averages all ended up dropping, something that had never happened in any category.

So Dallas got rid of Walker and Jamison, replacing them with Erick Dampier, a prototypical center, and Jerry Stackhouse, who can play shooting guard or small forward.

As the unquestioned power forward, Nowitzki is free to do what he does best -- use his range to draw opposing power forwards to the perimeter, then his quickness to drive past them, and on defense he won't be trying to guard centers or small forwards.

``As he goes, this team goes,'' said Finley, who is switching from shooting guard to small forward as part of the shake-up. ``It's a little bit of pressure on him, but he can handle that now.''

Except for one important thing: He might not want to.

``You can't make leadership happen,'' Dallas coach Don Nelson said. ``Dirk is now at the age that he has it, if that's the way he wants to go. If he doesn't want to, it'll happen in another year or two.

``It would be good if he would step up now without Steve and be more vocal and do a lot of things that leaders need to do. But I can't make that happen.''

Despite it all, there are indications Nowitzki is merely being polite and shy, that his laid-back demeanor hides an intensity that's ready to bust out, starting Tuesday night against Sacramento. A hint came in response to a question about the misery of last season.

``I've still got to be aggressive. That's what I've learned,'' Nowitzki said. ``I can't pass up shots. I can't really think about teammates that might have been open at that point.

``I've still got to play my game and I should be all right.''

If so, the Dallas Mavericks will be, too.
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Old 10-31-2004, 07:52 PM   #6
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

This is a bunch of ??? Why does it HAVE to be Nowitzki's team. Why does he HAVE to be THE leader? When the Edmonton Oilers were winning all those Championships was Wayne Gretzky THE leader? Was it HIS team? No. In fact it was Mark Messier and the older veterans who were the leaders. If someone on the team needed to be talked to it was Messier who straightened him out (so you hear). Gretzky's job was to score, and that he did. Quite a lot. Gretzky was not a natural 'that type of leader'.

Why can't Finley be that leader? I think he is. Finley and Nowitzki and the other veterans can lead the team. Isn't it a team? Maybe the COACH can be the leader? (Maybe a new one). Check out the Red Sox. Is not Francona the leader....the general?

Does Dirk Nowitzki have to be Shaq, or TD or Garnett? No. Let him be Dirk Nowitzki.
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Old 10-31-2004, 08:02 PM   #7
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

Dirk showed it all in the Germany USA agame earlier in the summer. He was pointing where teammates should go. He was taking clutch shots and making them, and most of all he was Fearless. I think we have seen the mean streak before, just not for a sustained period of time. A mark of a great player, is one that makes his other teammates better. 20 pts 10 rbpg and 5 apg should be his goal not 30 ppg and 7 rebounds.
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Old 10-31-2004, 09:04 PM   #8
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

If the Dirk of the playoffs or the Dirk of the last half of the 2002-2003 season shows up..or, is allowed to show up by Nellie..the Mavs will have home court advantage and Dirk will be a leading MVP candidate.
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Old 10-31-2004, 09:24 PM   #9
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

The question is.. can Dirk maintain that level of play through an entire season, while playing defense at a high level consistently, on one of the fastest paced offenses in the league for 40 minutes a game? It appears his offseason training regimen was geared to accomplish this goal. But Dirk also looks thinner than I have ever seen him. My biggest concern is that he won't be able to handle the physical punishment teams will be applying .
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Old 11-01-2004, 02:00 AM   #10
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Default RE: Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

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`He better understand it quick,'' said former teammate Avery Johnson, now the team's lead assistant coach. ``It's good to be humble about it, but behind the scenes and during the course of a game, we need to know it's his team.''
ahhh, the dear and lovable little general....just keep telling him AJ, he'll get it sooner or later.
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Old 11-01-2004, 02:37 AM   #11
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Default RE: Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

I think Dirk gets it more than he lets on. And along with that I like to think he has a more nuanced natural understanding than most of what leading a team entails. I actually find it encouraging that he seems fairly impervious to the often far too simple-minded insistance on the part of fans and the media that he act like Kobe or KG or something along those lines. There's nothing more important for a leader to understand than that he's got to be himself, first and foremost.
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Old 11-02-2004, 01:40 AM   #12
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

Do we really need these multiple articles saying the same thing?

It's Nowitzki's season to power forward

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

Dirk Nowitzki is not a basketball star. Not in his mind, anyway.

He does not self-promote. He doesn't shill for corporations that no doubt would love to have his endorsement. He doesn't flutter like a moth to the limelight.

"I'm not in this to be on a billboard," the big German says. "I could have done a lot of that stuff the last few years. But that's just not me."

The Mavericks open their 25th season, and Nowitzki's seventh, tonight. Hard to believe at 26 years old he's already in the top 10 of nearly every career statistical category for the franchise.

And yet, he's nowhere to be found in the national popularity ratings. Or among those whose jerseys are the hottest sellers at the NBA stores. Good looks, untold wealth, flowing blond hair and serious talent could have made him a media darling worldwide.

Nowitzki arrives at a crossroads this season. The 7-footer is not mentioned in the same sentence with Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett, who are franchise icons in San Antonio and Minnesota. Has the time come for Nowitzki to join them?

The answer will not come on a TV commercial or in a marketing campaign.

"To me, that's not the important part of it," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says. "He needs to be the face of the franchise when he walks on the court. Is Dirk going to all of the sudden want to show up on Leno and Letterman? No. To Dirk's credit, he'd rather be in the gym shooting jumpers.

"We don't need an icon to market or a face of the franchise."

On that point, Cuban is right. What the Mavericks need – and what every franchise craves – is a superstar. In the last two decades, a person with one finger could count the teams that have won NBA championships without a legitimate superstar. Aside from the Detroit Pistons, it just doesn't happen.

By all rights, joining exalted status should be the next generation for Nowitzki. But he is not there yet. For all his wonderful talents – the silky jump shot, running the court like a racehorse, a conviction that's tougher than meets the eye – he is not in the same category with Garnett and Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal and Jason Kidd.

The difference between him and those franchise players is that their teams' offenses funnel through them. That has not always been the case for Nowitzki.

"Tim Duncan is the playmaker of the Spurs, not Tony Parker," says Holger Geschwindner, Nowitzki's German coach who works with him during the summer. "The whole team falls almost apart without him. So if the Mavericks can establish something like that, that will help."

But the reality may be that Nowitzki simply is closer to Paul Pierce, Jermaine O'Neal and Elton Brand than the superstars. Granted, that's not bad company. Being among the top dozen players in the league is a great compliment.

But is that all there is for Nowitzki? Avery Johnson, the assistant coach who saw Duncan and David Robinson grow into quiet superstars in San Antonio, said Nowitzki's legacy will be written in the next five to seven years. This is his prime. And though he has been a reliable regular-season player, that won't get it done if Nowitzki plans on joining the elite of the game.

"If you have his skill level, what you're going to be judged on happens from April 16 to June 19," Johnson says, referring to the playoffs. "What people say about Dirk in six or eight years will be based on that."

Another test to pass

So what has to happen for Nowitzki to gain entry into the top shelf of NBA superstardom? Primarily, he must learn to initiate the offense, and that doesn't always mean scoring.

Garnett and Duncan have the ball in their hands on most every possession. Both are good passers, and giving up the ball leads to easy baskets for teammates.

Nowitzki has made defense and passing his priorities.

"To be a great all-around player, you have to be a better passer," coach Don Nelson says. "He has the ball in his hands a lot now, and it's not always to shoot. He'll be our best player. I can't make anything else happen."

Outsiders wonder whether Nowitzki is ready to be the leader of a franchise.

"He's got to be willing to want to do that," says Milwaukee coach Terry Porter, who saw Clyde Drexler accept the "franchise" role in Portland. "The problem you have sometimes is the franchise may give that title to somebody who's not ready for it yet."

One thing that won't work against Nowitzki is the fact that he's not an American. These days, the NBA is so multicultural that international lines have been blurred. You have Germans, Spaniards and Serbians who are team leaders. And remember, Duncan was born in the Virgin Islands.

As far as the Mavericks are concerned, there is no doubt that Nowitzki is capable of putting a franchise on his shoulders, even if he doesn't know it yet.

"If Dirk was in an individual sport, you might see some different characteristics," says Donnie Nelson, president of basketball operations.

Next step up to him

Timing is an issue. Leaders know when the time is right to pat somebody on the back or kick them in the pants. Nowitzki has been hesitant to do either. That's been Michael Finley's job. But with Steve Nash moving to Phoenix in the off-season, now may be the time for Nowitzki to stand on his own.

"That's part of it," Cuban says. "He doesn't need any other player to be a crutch. He doesn't need a sidekick."

And Nowitzki has motivation on his side. Last season was the first time in his career that his production fell off, although it was not completely his fault. The Mavericks were a dysfunctional unit that never clicked, and Nowitzki played out of position much of the time.

This season, with the addition of center Erick Dampier, Nowitzki figures to be back at power forward exclusively. That will help him in his mission to take the next step.

"We'll see, won't we?" Nowitzki says. "If my number is called, I'm here. But we still have a lot of options on this team. We don't just have one or two guys. I don't think my style will change at all. I'm not going to be the locker room rah-rah guy.

"It's great if we're winning and I'm in the background, helping us win games. I'm not a front-runner."

Therein lies the problem. Nowitzki knows it all too well. An NBA player can't become truly great without being comfortable on the firing line. They need an edge, a willingness to lead and, maybe, just a little bit of nastiness.

"Whatever I need to do, I'm willing to do it," he says. "If I have to be a little more emotional, that's fine. I'll try. I'm not great at that. But I'll give it my best.

"Potentially, there is another level for me. But I don't see myself as a complete player yet. I'm still a student. I'm still learning."

Which is good. But the time has come for those lessons to translate into a word that so far has been foreign to Nowitzki: superstardom.
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Old 11-02-2004, 02:04 AM   #13
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Default RE: Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

Sefko is a moron.

Edit: Not that he's alone, mind you. I'm just getting so tired of all these articles about Dirk with their narrow-minded conceptions of what kind of player he needs to be and their complete ignorance of the fact that he's almost unquestionably been one of the top four players in the entire league in the playoffs the last few years along with KG, TD, and Shaq.
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-Dirk Nowitzki on Jason Terry, after JET's 16 point 4th quarter against the Pacers.
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Old 11-02-2004, 04:45 AM   #14
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

This is ridiculous!! The season hasn't started yet and we've already seen a ton of articles on how Dirk "needs to step up" or "if he doesn't step up, we're doomed", etc. Give us a break, Sefko!!

Dirk through his performances will command respect and not demand it... unlike so many "me-first" players around the league.

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Old 11-02-2004, 10:58 AM   #15
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

"It's great if we're winning and I'm in the background, helping us win games. I'm not a front-runner."

Doesn't this completely go against what he was saying a few weeks or so ago, that he wants to take more shots and assume command more? Confusing.

It is also a little disturbing, if Dirk did say this, how the hell could he possibly think he's not a 'front-runner'? You're the best player on the freaking team, how in the hell could you not be a front-runner??? Something's weird here...



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Old 11-02-2004, 11:00 AM   #16
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

Quote:
Originally posted by: Murphy3
If the Dirk of the playoffs or the Dirk of the last half of the 2002-2003 season shows up..or, is allowed to show up by Nellie..the Mavs will have home court advantage and Dirk will be a leading MVP candidate.
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Old 11-02-2004, 11:21 AM   #17
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

OK, here's a Dirk quote from a Sefko article sometime in October:


Power forward

Dirk Nowitzki spent the summer working out in Germany, and everybody at Mavericks central believes he's primed for a big year. So does Nowitzki. "I'm not going to sit here and say it's my team," he says. "[But] I'm ready to take that responsibility. I want the ball."



But yet he's comfortable in the background now and not a front-runner?? I'm sure I'm making too much out of this, but just seems really strange to me.
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Old 11-02-2004, 01:03 PM   #18
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Default RE:Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

Dirk like any true baller, lets his game do the talking =)
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Old 11-02-2004, 02:59 PM   #19
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Default RE: Leading question: Is Dirk the 1?

I know they dont nessiarily write these articles for me the Internet Mavs nerd, but dear god what generic and blah articles on opening night.
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