BBL

Dee Davis (Giessen 46ers) I Believe I Can Adjust To Whatever Style Of Play But I Enjoy Getting Up And Down The Court

Dee Davis is a 23 year old 183cm point guard from Bloomington, Indiana playing his third professional season and first in Germany with The Giessen 46ers. He played as a rookie with Rogaska Crystal (Slovenia-Telemach League) playing 18 games averaging 13.2ppg, 2.4rpg, 3.6apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 48.8%, 3PT: 29.0%, FT: 76.9%. Last season he remained with  Rogaska Crystal (Slovenia-Liga NovaKBM playing 35 games: Score-3(16.3ppg), 2.9rpg, Assists-4(5.0apg), 1.5spg, FGP: 54.1%, 3PT: 37.8%, FT: 75.6%. He played at Xavier and as a senior played 35 games averaging 9.2ppg, 2.5rpg, 6.1apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 46.0%, 3PT: 33.0%, FT: 70.4%. He spoke to German Hoops about basketball.

Dee thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how has your summer been going?

Hello at the moment I am home spending time with my family and friends in Bloomington Indiana when I’m from. Having a good start to my summer.

Congrats on signing with German EasyCredit BBL team Giessen 46ers. What do you know in general about the German basketball and it´s country?

I’ve heard that the German league is very competitive and is has regarded as one of the better leagues in the world to play professionally basketball. I’m very excited for the this opportunity.

After two strong seasons in Slovenia, you have made the next step to the higher league EasyCredit BBL. What were your main reasons for signing with Giessen?

It was a good opportunity to further my pro career in a respected league. Also it’s less stress throughout the summer worried about what team I’m going too

Did you have any talks with new head coach Ingo Freyer? What kind of impression did you get of him?

I haven´t had a chance to talk to him yet.

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The Miles Basketball Minute: BBL Final Preview Brose Bamberg-EWE Baskets Oldenburg 3-1

With the shot clock winding down in game two and the EWE Baskets Oldenburg a wink of a blink starring at a possible 0-2 series hole and about to witness thousands of hearts gasping and  coming to life bursting through each chest, it was Mr hustle and Mr “I once hit a shot at Purdue sitting down” Chris Kramer that found Rickey “Mr Oldenburg” Paulding   the franchise´s money ball wrapped up in the corner with as good as no place to go, but somehow firing away a last second desperation shot that took the game into OT totally changing the series and the rest is history. Nine days later the 2009 BBL champion weaseled their way back to another final disposing the season big surprise team ratiopharm Ulm and giving that whole organiazion another long summer to thin k of excuses why they can´t win a championship and if they should bond with the Buffalo Bills for comfort who have lost 4 Super Bowls. Obviously the whole EWE Baskets Oldenburg club have to get credit for this season´s playoff success, but two guys that really stand out are the two brothers from another mother Chris Kramer and Mr all and legend Rickey Paulding who had another standout series and were instrumental in their team being able to get by the favorites ratiopharm Ulm. One can marvel all you want about Kramer as he is all over the court and his defense pressure in game two also was vital for the team turning the series around, but the Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Lebron James all in one is Paulding. Even if this comparison is majorly exaggerated, but in Oldenburg the American from Detroit is in his own basketball universe where he stands above even these players in the hearts of fans there. Paulding not only had a solid series in upsetting Bayreuth, but was masterful in the ratiopharm Ulm series as in five games he averaged 22,0ppg, 3,0rpg, and 4,0 apg while shooting an amazing 49% from the parking lot. His leadership and Larry Bird type hot shooting was seen most in game two where he sprayed 28 points in the unforgettable comeback and 107-103 OT win and when it absolutely counted most in the do or die game 5 in the unfriendly atmosphere in Ulm where he nailed 27 points and drilled home 5/6 trey´s and gave the word timely a new name as he made himself another step more immortal in Oldenburg. Paulding recently got his contract extended in Oldenburg until 2019, but before one wants to even dream about the next 2 years, fans in Oldenburg want to see Paulding and co bring a third title to Oldenburg. Those Larry Bird paralle´s   aren´t so twisted in that Bird only won 3 NBA titles with the Boston Celtics and if the youth of fountain that Paulding is as his play seems to be getting better with age making that wine sweetest this season with his actions on the court, he will eclipse his 12 years in Oldenburg and hang on a 13th season down the road and then he will be even with Bird and 13 seasons wearing the same jersey.

Most of basketball Germany except Oldenburg had ratiopharm Ulm getting into the final in a sweep or four games, but losing in five games was something that even Ulm manager Thomas Stoll would never have imagined in his wildest dreams.

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Will Sharp Shooter Kyle Kuric And FC Bayern Munich Become A Fit?

A day before game 3 between the Brose Baskets Bamberg and FC Bayern Munich, CEO Marko Pesic was displaying a friendly, but somewhat cautious smile in the Fraport arena after he witnessed the blowout win of his NBBL team against the Young Rasta Dragons as he knew that getting too confident about possibly getting that only club title of the season at the youth level was too early  since the BBL team had a do or die game 24 hours later in Bamberg in hopes of saving their season. Instead the next day Pesic witnessed the third playoff loss to their archrivals in three years and second sweep in a row as he possibly was hoping for the NBBL magic of Frankfurt in the final where they destroyed IBAM would somehow have miraculously carried over to Bamberg.  Or if Devin Booker who had had a solid game of 13 points, six rebounds and four assists could have inherited that major beast mode game of NBBL player Marko Pecarski who averaged 26,9ppg and 15,6rpg at the European Championships U16 in Radom (Poland) which most likely would have got FC Bayern Munich over the hump and forced a game four in Munich. But then again maybe it wasn´t so much that beast mode that was needed, but moreover that deadly sniper as the club couldn´t muster anything from downtown in game one shooting 2/16 and 3/21 in game three. Kyle Kuric could be that sniper and more that FC Bayern Munich was missing to help have gotten them by Bamberg.

No season is fully satisfying for any FC Bayern Munich club if the league title isn´t achieved. Maybe it´s something extra special that the football players are being served for meals that has made them so successful winning the last 5 Bundesliga titles, but then again one can´t deny the fact that the budgets that both have and what kind of players they can reel in just isn´t comparable, because if the basketball department had the money that the football team had, then you would have a starting five of top Euroleague players.

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Quo vadis Alba Berlin?

After firing Ahmed Caki Alba Berlin looked desperate and noone thought they could compete with powerhouse FC Bayern Munich in the quaterfinals of the BBL Playoffs. But after a devestating loss in game 1 (95:68) Alba bounced back and made Bayern work extremely hard to reach the semifinals. Even though Alba Berlin ultimately lost 3-1 to Munich, the team somehow managed to win back the hearts of their supporters and earn the respect of the whole german basketball community.

Interim coach Thomas Päch, who took over after Caki was fired, brought back the spirit and passion the team lacked for most of the season. Alba’s twitter hashtag #mitleibundseele (transl.: with body and soul) finally made sense for the first time this season. One has to wonder why it took so long for the players to break free and play with the kind of energy and effort they showed against Munich. Was it all Caki’s fault that Alba struggled after a 7-game winning streak in December and never fully recovered throughout the season? First of all one has to mention that Ahmed Caki seemed very unfortunate as the team had to handle so many injuries over the course of the season. Just remember: Brandon Ashley, who should have been a keyplayer on Alba’s frontcourt, decided to leave the club before the season even started. Malcolm Miller broke his hand at the end of the preparation and missed the first nine games of the season. That’s two starters out before the season even started. When the team finally seemed to have found their rhythm Peyton Siva, with whom Alba had a 14-5 record, had to deal with a stubborn adductor injury that made him miss most of the second half of the season. Without Siva the team finished the BBL regular season with a miserable 4-9 record. Then just days before the start of the Playoffs Alba’s most important offensive player Dragan Milosavljević suffered a season-ending injury to his elbow. But bad luck aside, retrospectively hiring Caki seems like a big misunderstanding.

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The Miles Basketball Minute: BBL Semi-Final Playoff Preview EWE Baskets Oldenburg-ratiopharm Ulm 3-2

Witnessing those special basketball playoff head to head battles is something that is always appetizing for any fanatic watching the intense focus of both guys giving 180% on both ends of the court until full exhaustion. The NBA has had these amazing and unique duels seemingly forever as it is always a pleasure to look back on these NBA legends making history. In the 60´s, you had the fierce battles between the two best centers of all-time with Boston Celtic Bill Russell and Mr 100 points Wilt Chamberlain with the Celtic winning in 1964 and 1969 in seven games amassing 11 titles in his career while Chamberlain only could boast having two NBA rings. In the 70´s a fondly remembered duel was Chamberlain against New York Knick Willis Reed who had 37 and 38 points in the first games, but only four points in game seven, but it was enough to win the 1970 final despite Chamberlain averaging 23 points and hauling down 24 rebounds in the series. The 80s had two unforgettable duels with the most famous possibly the 1984 classic Bird vs Magic encounter where both owned the court where their teammates could have easily taken the bench and watched the two legends fight it out to the finish which Bird won in seven and the 1988 match up between Isaiah Thomas and the bad boys of Detroit against Magic and the Lakers and despite 43 points by Thomas in game 6, the Lakers won the title. In the 90´s few will forget the 1992 battle between Michael Jordan and Clyde Drexler and the Trailblazers pitting the leagues best two shooting guards, but Drexler´s supporting cast couldn´t match Jordan´s as the Bulls won. In this decade the 2012 duel between Lebron James and Kevin Durant is a classic as the best player on the planet finally won his first NBA title with the Miami Heat while Durant  might get his first in a few weeks. Even if the easyCredit BBL is far from the NBA, even here there have been incredible head to head battle over the years and last season in the quarterfinals, the EWE Baskets Oldenburg faced off against up and coming team ratiopharm Ulm as the last three games were decided by a combined total of only 9 points. Two BBL identity figure players Ricky Paulding and Per Guenther had the games of their lives where Per Guenther dropped 35 points and dished out nine assists in game two  while Paulding had 26 points in the loss. In game three, Paulding dropped 30 points in the win while Guenther had 16 points and eight assists. In game 4, Paulding had 16 points in the 80-79 loss while Guenther was held in check with six points, but his front court of Raymar Morgan and Augustine Rubit combined for 45 points to send Oldenburg into summer vacation. Now a year later and with Paulding at age 34 and Guenther at age 29 and not getting any younger, both are back again facing off against each other on a big stage for the ticket to the final, but despite Pauldings loss last season to Guenther, he still leads their head to head title chase at 2-0 while the German has the Buffalo Bill phobia with 4 final appearances and still yearning for that first title.

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Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Chris Kramer of the EWE Baskets Oldenburg in Oldenburg after winning the 2015 BBL cup

The EWE Baskets Oldenburg marched into the quarterfinal playoffs not getting buried in the mega hoopla of the surprising successful medi Bayreuth season and jumped on them taking a 2-0 series lead seemingly quicker than Oldenburg legend Ricky Paulding could ever utter the phrase “Ich Bin Ein Oldenburger” in Japanese.

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The Miles Basketball Minute: BBL Semi-Final Playoff Preview Brose Bamberg-FC Bayern Munich 3-2

It may only have reached #42 in the American Billboard charts, but the classic Rolling Stones song “You can´t always get what you want” is not only a fan favorite at concerts, but one of those songs that even non fans will sing along to and would probably even be known in the most remote spots in Somalia or in the most smug igloo in Tasiilaq, Greenland. It is just overall a very well-liked song all over the world and about the only one that has got the big disapproval from the Rolling Stones for using their song for publicity has been US president Donald Trump who uses it after his speeches to public audiences. The Rolling Stones track “You can´t always get what you want” would fit perfect now in conversations in the NBA Western Confernce finals and the easyCredit BBL semi-finals as fans are witnessing that kind of “should be final” atmosphere already now. It may not be the case now, but not too long ago the San Antonio Spurs-Golden State Warriors would have been like the perfect NBA final had not both been in the same conference, but now with the injury to new NBA superstar Kwahi Leonard, fans are now wondering how badly the Golden State Warriors will slaughter the Spurs in game three and four and if a Steph Curry will pull a Klay Thompson. In the German easyCredit , one could chant the same song “You can´t always get what you want” in terms that the real final is already being played in the semi-final with Brose Bamberg against FC Bayern Munich. With all due respect to ratiopharm Ulm that were able to raise their game again from last season and steal the regular season show from Bamberg and Munich having the best record, but they will never be a better draw than these two teams who just are at a different level with their brand name. The song “You can´t always get what you want” is surely a perfect phrase for not only the Bamberg/Munich series, but also for fans and Per Guenther  in that if ratiopharm Ulm  can´t hold Raymar Morgan then one just has to accept it and team identity figure Per Guenther has been singing that song for years as he is still looking for his first BBL title after reaching 4 finals like the Buffalo Bills did with 4 Super Bowl finals.

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Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Devin Booker in Strassburg, France

When one hears the big names of the German basketball clubs Brose Bamberg and FC Bayern Munich, one immediately expects easier outings in the Quarterfinals of the playoffs, but that was far from the case in the last 10 days as both teams struggled and one has to ask were these two teams just under worth or did the Telekom Baskets Bonn and Alba Berlin just step up their play to special proportions and just overachieved?

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Kyan Anderson (medi Bayreuth) Is Way More Than Just A Scorer And Wants To Pass John Wall Further On The Playoff Run

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Kyan Anderson (left), Miles Schmidt-Scheuber, Demon Brooks (right). Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Anderson and Brooks after a pre season game in Frankfurt in September 2016

At first glance when you look at top point guard John Wall of the Washington Wizards and up and coming point guard Kyan Anderson of German easyCredit BBL team medi Bayreuth from top to bottom, the NBA superstar is 13 centimeters taller, 10 kilo´s heavier and this season a little more than 15 million dollars richer, but at the end of the day they are both point guards and both going through a Cinderella season story with one having ended last night and the other continuing tonight. Last night basketball Boston was back to where it once was in the 80´s where the legendary Larry Bird teams were involved as much in typical game 7 affairs against their two most hated rivals Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers almost as much as Russell Westbrook served up a triple double this season as it seemed facing the surprising Washington Wizards as both were going through their own special Cinderella season. Many were asking could this game become one of those epic games that will be remembered almost 20 years later like that epic Celtics-Hawks playoff game in the late 80 where Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins owned the fourth quarter and played like two basketball starved kids on a basketball court trying to get the attention of a Red Auerbach and could easily have had a Robert Parish mumbling “Ok let Larry go to work and get us this win”. Bird and Wilkins combined for 81 points while Bird scored 20 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter. The Boston Celtics got the win then and again last night 115-105 as fans didn´t see as many points from their two star players Isaiah Thomas and John Wall like Bird and Wilkins served up, but both top point guards played their hearts out as the Celtic dropped 29 points and dished out 12 assists while his opponent Wall scored 18 points, gave 11 dimes and hauled down 7 rebounds. Of course there were two other guys who left it all on the court with Bradley Beal scoring 38 points and Canadian national player and ex Gonzaga forward Kelly Olynyk exploded for 26 points. A few hours before tip off, Kyan Anderson  was shacked up in a tiny hotel room in Oldenburg preparing for another do or die playoff game and had this do or die game in Boston on his mind. “I hope that it will be one of these games that will always be remembered. I want to say that Boston will win at home, but John Wall has been playing very well. I think that Wall and Beal will have major games. It will be a good game and close”, warned Kyan Anderson. The diminutive 180cm point guard was right in his prediction and only laughed when warned to get a good night sleep and refrain from watching the game. If he watched the game was unknown, but the Texas native surely was a good boy and crashed and checked out the highlights in the morning.

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Why Can´t We Get Players Like That Haunted The Fraport Skyliners At The Point Guard Position

If iconic Boston sportscaster legend Bob Lobel was describing the Boston Celtic highlights today for channel WBZ where he was strapped in the 11pm news slot for almost 30 years from 1981-2008, he would most definitely have unwrapped one of his most famous catch phrases again concerning the 2017 Boston Celtics-Chicago Bull series. Back in the day Lobel would spice up his Celtics game reports in the highlights with the words “Why can’t we get players like that?” These magical words would surface in his report when any former player for a Boston team was shown making a big play for his new team. It was born after the Boston Red Sox traded unknown prospect Jeff Bagwell to the Houston Astros in return for journeyman pitcher Larry Anderson in 1990. Anderson didn´t pan out for Boston, while Bagwell became a star with the Houston Astros and was one of the best sluggers in the second half of the 90´s hitting 449 home runs in his career. Lobel´s catch phrase “Why can’t we get players like that” was widely emphasized in plays when the former a Boston player burned a Boston team. In his tenure as WBZ sports chef in the 80´s and 90´s he had countless examples where he could of used that phrase with ex Boston players like Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs or Nomar Garciaparra as these stood out with their new teams especially with the dreaded New York Yankees or ex New England Patriot Curtin Martin who fled to the New York Jets or ex Boston Celtic Bob Mcadoo who was injury plagued in 1979, but would move on to the glitz of the Los Angeles Lakers and win 2 NBA titles in 1982 and 1985 against Boston. In 2017  Lobel  would have had a field day with 2008 Boston Celtic NBA champion Rajon Rondo who haunted his ex team in game one and two in Boston with Chicago. Not only in American sports could Bon Lobel have given his catch phrase life, but also in European basketball. Recently ex Fraport Skyliner Jordan Theodore who led Frankfurt to only their third club title last season with the Fiba Europe cup fled for the big bucks to Banvit Basketbol Kulubu (Turkey-BSL) this season and won another title with the Turkish Cup collecting MVP honors. Recently Jordan Theodore kept up his special tradition from last season where on countless occasions, he needed the ball in his hands and delivered in key situations. With time running out in the Champions League quarterfinal return game in Ludwigsburg and Banvit down by four and needing to win by five to reach the Final 4 went coast to coast and scored on an off balance shot propelling his team to Tenerife to go for their second title of the season in the Champions League Final 4. This would have been the perfect time for Lobel to share his legendary phrase “Why can’t we get players like that?. Lobel would of gone bananas in the Champions League semi-final where Theodore once again showed why he belongs to the top point guards in Europe where he scorched Monaco with a 21 point and 11 in the Champions League Final 4. This season Fraport Skyliner head coach Gordon Herbert could have sung this song with “Why can’t we get players like that” as as Theodore burned the Fraport Skyliners twice in the Champions league leading Banvit to victory over Frankfurt with 12 and 8 and 25 and 6 performances.  Herbert would surely have doneabout anything for reaching the playoffs except giving away Isaac Bonga for free to have obtained Jordan Theodore this season as his misfortune of the point guard selection put the Fraport Skyliners off playoff course.

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The Miles Basketball Minute: BBL Playoff Preview FC Bayern Munich-Alba Berlin 3-0

 

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Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Bryce Taylor after a game in Frankfurt

Who could forget the amazing one on one battle last season in the easyCredit BBL cup semi final in Munich between Jordan Theodore and Jordan Taylor as the Jordan´s produced a duel on the court that wasn´t near as great as the game 2 Thomas 53 and Wall 40 point performances this week in the NBA, but for German fans they gave their all as Taylor went on to the final leading his team past the home team FC Bayern Munich and gave Alba Berlin their third cup in four years while Theodore would get revenge on Taylor in the playoffs and win his title with the Fiba Europe Cup. However after the gratifying German cup win against FC Bayern Munich, their season abruptly ended there as mentally and physically they have been a totally different team which somehow carried into this season. Last season Alba Berlin closed out the season in poor fashion having a very unsatisfactory 6-6 record and then got majorly embarrassed by the Fraport Skyliners as they got swept out of the Fraport arena as the only thing missing from their flight home to Berlin was unearthing the supermarket bags to cover their faces as they landed back at Tegel in Berlin. Except for a very potent run from November to February this season where they won 12 of 13 games including 10 in a row, it has been a very inconsistent season and especially since that run, the club has played under their worth losing 9 of 14 games as many have been wondering what has happened to the once mighty Alba Berlin that once won 7 titles in a row? This poor run from February to the playoffs has that parallel from last season as they stunk up BBL buildings until the end of the season. There are some guys that have won cup titles with Alba Berlin like Elmeden Kikanovic, Ismet Akpinar or Akeem Vargas who has two and even Nils Giffey owns one, but he has something else that none of them have. Giffey is only one of 13 players that has ever won two NCAA titles with UConn and with ex ratiopharm Ulm guard Lee Humphrey the only two that have won two and balled in the BBL. Now would be the perfect time for Giffey to remember his title runs with Uconn in 2011 and 2014 with top point guards Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier and let some of that special inspiration carry over to his teammates, because if their play doesn´t drastically change to the better and become more consistent then Alba Berlin could experience back to back sweeps and getting the Munich broom treatment is a lot more bitter than that of Frankfurt.

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The Miles Basketball Minute: BBL Playoff Preview: Brose Bamberg-Telekom Baskets Bonn: 3-0

In the second last game of the season, Alba Berlin were embarrassed in Frankfurt 83-71 and at times made unbelievable mistakes on the court as if the 8 time BBL champion was still in pre season instead of right before high noon and the playoffs. One of the more experienced Alba Berlin players Tony Gaffney made one of those “did he really do that” turnovers when on a broken play there was a miscommunication and he threw the ball into his own end which had Niklas Kiel scoop up the loose ball and go for the easy bucket as he was all alone. This is a play that the ex Boston Celtic would want to forever erase from his memory, but then again the ex Los Angeles Laker does have other more memorable highlights from his BBL days including one that occurred a little more than 5 years ago when he was playing with the Telekom Baskets Bonn. They faced off against the then seemingly unstoppable Brose Baskets Bamberg that showcased 3 NBA players in their starting lineup with Casey Jacobson, PJ Tucker and Brian Roberts and surprisingly won game one in Bamberg 75-74 on a last second buzzer beater by his teammate Benas Veikalas. The Telekom Baskets Bonn could surely rewatch that buzzer beater from Veikalas again or just ask current German Florian Koch who saw that game from the bench as he registered a DNP for some special motivation. Then again, the Telekom Baskets Bonn don’t really need to look back for advice since they have their own array of snipers and buzzer beater shooters like Ken Horton or guys like Josh Mayo and Ryan Thompson that could make their own sweet history against Bamberg.

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Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Bamberg forward Nicolo Melli after the 76-57 victory in Frankfurt

After missing the BBL playoffs for only the third time in the last 20 years last season, the Telekom Baskets Bonn rebounded from their trauma from last year and had a very strong season that was up to the usual Telekom Baskets Bonn standard. Despite head coach Silvano Poropat taking a leave of absence due to health problems, the team reacted quickly and brought back Predrag Krunic who had had success in Bonn more than 10 years ago. The combined work of Poropat reeling in the right character players and Krunic forming the team chemistry, it was suddenly fun again to watch games in the Telekom Dome. After a slow start losing two of three, the team then won four in a row against weaker teams, but got their self confidence growing. There best span came from February to April as they won eight of ten games. Their biggest wins of the season were against FC Bayern Munich, Alba Berlin and the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. It also helped their self confidence that they were playing a very successful Fiba Europe Cup.

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