MAVS -at- LAKERS - 3/15 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Search for the Killer Instinct Continues... You follow the trail of horse hooves through a dusty path. These tracks meet up with another set of hoof prints. You notice the difference immediately. Tracks of one are deep in the dirt, they carry the Horsemen and the Death Riders. The tracks of the others are light.

They met here. You struggle to read the signs of the battle, and then your cell phone buzzes in your pocket. It's her again, and uggh, what is she singing? "I've been lookin' for freedom, since I left my home town... I've been lookin' for freedom, still it can't be found..."

"What is that awful song?" you ask. "Hasselhoff. You should make that your ringtone," she replies. You're grateful when she stops the noise.

"No, thanks. I'm looking for blood," you say as you kneel in the dirt. "The signs of a kill. I don't see it."

"Still searching for the killer instinct? Hard to find today. Look for snakes. You won't see blood. They attack with speed and venom."

You spot the tracks, the Cobra circling around they prey. They lead you to a patch of dirt that has been wiped clean. Damn, DancingBarry messing with the evidence. He writes in the dirt:

Three of the Four Horsemen were here. It came too easy for them. They don't like easy. They let the advantage slip. Their opponent quickly had them on their heels, throwing punch after punch. Then, the Cobra and Mamba struck.

I will continue to follow them...

"I thought we had a better killer instinct earlier in the year..." Phil said after the Lakers beat the Mavs, 107-100. Once again, they blew a 15-point lead. "We tried to take the heart out of teams earlier in the year, and right now we kind of play around with teams at times and allow them to stay around in games."

While the starters can play too loose, it was once again the struggles of the second unit where the damage was done. This time, they had to deal with the dreaded ZONE. They seemed utterly confused and settled for jumper after jumper.

This effectively took Pau Gasol out of game. He had dominated the Mavs with a 10-10 shooting first half. He rarely saw the ball in the second half, just poor execution by the Lakers. Trevor Ariza brought some impact ball with a career-high 26 points. He was stroking the jumper in the first half and had some key scores at the rim in the second half. The move to the starting lineup seems to have sparked his game once again.

The bench, however, was out-scored 53-12. Luke, Sasha and Jordan played horrible. Meanwhile, Jason Terry sank 7 threes. "Our guys came off the bench and they were watching the whole quarter," Lamar said. Michael Cooper echoed those thoughts, saying they aren't studying from the bench like they should and are too focused on scoring. "They don't understand their roles," Coop said.


Kobe -- -- When order needed to be restored, Kobe helped do that twice in this game. He did a little bit of everything on both ends today. He dropped some perimeter bombs in the fourth. When our defense wanted to play, he had some very good rotations. ABC highlighted one sequence of man D by Kobe on Terry in second half, and another of a great swat on JKidd. Kobe didn't score in the first quarter, but he strung together several makes in the second quarter, swishing every one of them. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 11-20 shooting (3-6 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +22. The Action: He drew a double on the perimeter and it turned into an open Ariza three. Nice post double team himself from the baseline to get a pass thrown away. He missed in the lane taking contact and no call. He bricked off the side of the glass in the post. He missed a sideline jumper. He missed a wing jumper in transition. He attacked and kicked to Farmar for the open three. He didn't score in the first quarter, going 0-4. Back in after a rest, he swished a wing pull-up over Kidd. He swished a baseline jumper. He swished a wing three in early offense. He swished a wing turnaround over the double team. He swished a quick baseline turnaround. Nothing but net and he ended up with 11 points on 5-9 shooting at the half. Second Half: He set up Ariza for an open three. He spun away from a double and scored a reverse layup. He missed a three over the zone. Quick ups after a head fake by Kidd to swat his shot in the paint. He curled down the lane, took contact, hung and scored the And-1 off the glass with some reverse spin on the ball, he made the FT. He missed an early offense three. He sagged off Terry and gave up a three. He was blocked on the break. He swished an elbow jumper off the two-man game. He airballed a baseline jumper. He lost the handle, turnover. He sank a wing three over the zone (we had missed 9 straight from three until that one). He swished a ridiculous 30-footer with the shotclock low. Nice switch on Dirk to get a miss. He sank a 22-footer with Kidd on him. He missed a three. He was fouled with 7 seconds left, he made both.

Gasol -- -- Pau was lighting up the Mavs. He was aggressive and attacking from the start and went 10-10 in the first half. When the Mavs went to the zone after the Lakers continued to pound on them to open the third, the Lakers offense bogged down. Pau started to see the ball less and less. He ended up taking just three shots in the second half. When we run him with the second unit, those guys need to get him the ball. He's the threat that will make things easier for his teammates. "When substitutions came in, the level just dropped," Pau said. "We settled for jumpers. That's what the zone wants you to do...I know the ball has to go inside-out, make them collapse. There has to be penetration." Defensively, look at Dirk's 6-20 shooting. Pau got some help and spent some time on Dampier, but did a good job on his own on Dirk. The makes Dirk had were generally on good looks. The Lakers were able to crowd him and challenge him throughout. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 12-13 shooting (1-3 from the line) to go with 8 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He swished a short wing jumper. He swatted Dampier on the other end to get a shotclock violation. He scored a layup off the extra pass from Lamar. He faced up on Dampier, quick step to the baseline to get past him and he scored the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He wheeled around the lane and hit the jumphook. He crashed the glass and cleaned up a Kobe miss. He posted up and went glass with his left for the score. He stole the ball from Dirk on one end, then tipped in the Luke miss with a nice follow on the other. He took the post entry, spun on Bass and gave him a facial with a reverse jam. Pau went 8-8 for 16 points in the quarter. He swatted Dirk's jumper, then faced up and buried one on him at the other end. He dunked in transition off the drive and dish from Farmar at the end of the half. Pau finished 10-10 for 20 points to go with 5 boards and 2 blocks. Second Half: He missed a turnaround, getting doubled and Lamar scored the easy putback. His pass to Lamar was deflected for FTs the other way. He drew FTs in the post, he made one. He got hit on a jumper with no call, but made it anyway. He and Lamar kept the offensive boards alive and it led to an Ariza score. Quick spin on the rare post entry and he scored the layup. He was stripped on a double team.

Lamar -- -- Great job on the boards by Lamar. That became one of the differences in the fourth quarter. The second chances we had to close the game and our ability to get some one-and-out stops (which wasn't happening when he was out), that made a big impact in the turnaround. He also did a good job swatting penetration or getting out to shots to get a piece of them. He missed a few chippies (seemed like he was fouled with no call on a few). The end of the game clock management when he decided to attack with a 5-point lead and under 24 on the clock...bonehead play. Phil then sat him for a freethrow shooter in Sasha when a deadball came. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-12 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 14 boards (6 offensive), 3 assists, 4 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He missed a drive to his left, but got it back and fed Fish for the three. He hit Pau under the hoop with the jump pass for a layup. He picked up his first foul a couple minutes in on a Dirk jumper. He hit a step-back pull-up over Dirk. He missed an easy look at a layup on a drive after pushing out a board. He got hammered under the hoop with no call. He swatted a drive on one end on a switch, then missed a three on the other. He grabbed a deflected pass from Farmar and hit a cutting Ariza for FTs. Second Half: He scored an easy putback when Pau missed after drawing a double team. He scored another layup next time down on an entry pass from Pau. He swatted Kidd's jumper on a switch. He drew FTs on the cut off Pau in the lane. He lost the handle on a great feed from Pau, blowing a sure score. He back-rimmed a short jumphook. He blocked a shot on one end and scored on the other, going glass while falling down off the offensive board. Poor outlet pass to Powell and it went out of bounds. He took contact on a layup with no call and it rattled out. He and Pau kept boards alive that led to an Ariza score. He grabbed an Ariza miss and reset the offense. A brain cramp by Lamar after we get the ball back, he drives and misses with under 24 seconds left and a 5-point lead. Phil then benched him for Sasha.

Ariza -- -- Maybe running with those starters isn't that bad of a thing for him, eh? Career-high scoring day from Trevor. He feasted off all the attention the others were getting and was knocking down the threes. Late in the game, he came up with several big plays, two drives and a bustout dunk. The Cobra strikes, indeed. Defensively, he spent some time against Kidd and Terry. His D on Kidd kept him from being a threat for most of the game. "He's doing all the intangibles, offensively and defensively," Lamar said. Phil on Ariza: "His defense and ability to change things up are the difference, and that's what he did late in the ball game." The Stats: He scored 26 points on 9-13 shooting (3-5 from the line, 5-5 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +21. The Action: He missed a turnaround to start the game. He missed an early offense jumper. He drained a wide open wing three on the Fish post-up and kickout. He swished another open three when Kobe found him next time down. He swiped a pass to Kidd. He scored a layup, cutting off Fisher. He had 8 points and a steal before having to sit with 2 fouls after 8 minutes. He took the interior feed from DFish and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He rattled in a corner three in transition. He cut off Lamar, took the pass and drew FTs, he made both. He had 15 points on 5-7 shooting in the first half. Second Half: He swished an open sideline three when his man left to double Kobe. He was short on a wing three. He drew FTs on a bustout and made both. He blew past Dirk and scooped in a layup over a help defender. He faked a three, attacked the paint, hung and hit the runner. He busted out after a loose ball was tipped to him and he dunked. He missed an open three. He fouled Kidd on a jumper with 1:32 left (was nearly a fouled three, then Kidd made just 1 of the two). He grabbed an offensive board off a Kobe miss and reset the offense (big board).

Fisher -- -- He got the assignment to cool off Terry in the fourth quarter. Terry was pretty much hitting on anyone. The real problem were the defensive sequences where no one was guarding him. Part of that was our defensive help schemes, but you have to recognize where you are getting bled and stay on that man. After Fisher came in, the Terry fire was put out in that fourth. Offensively, he did a good job moving the ball on the perimeter as well as setting up some others. We saw some very rare DFish in the post against a smaller Barea. That resulted in FTs and a three for Ariza. I'm glad to see us go after Barea like that because we seem to have trouble with him on occasion and don't look to exploit him like we should. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 6 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He swished a wing three on a kickout from Lamar. He posted up Barea and kicked out to Ariza for the three. He posted up Barea and drew FTs, he made one. Excellent bullet feed to a cutting Ariza for a layup. He curled around the top of the key, attacked and scored the layup. He missed a three trying to beat the shotclock. He attacked baseline and fed Ariza in the paint for the And-1. He picked up a tech, irked at the touch fouls being called on one end. He had to sit with three fouls and a couple minutes left. Second Half: He missed a three over the zone. Poor entry pass that was stolen. He missed a floater, but we took advantage of the penetration. He tipped a sloppy pass from Kidd to Ariza who took it in for a dunk.

Luke -- -- He came in after 8 minutes when Ariza picked up his second foul and it was all downhill from there. This was one of the worst games Luke has played in sometime. He was a turnover machine. A one-man momentum-builder for the other team. Ugly, ugly game. The stats don't lie. The 4 turnovers in 16 minutes seemed to take the baton from Farmar in that regard. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting (including 0-2 from the line) to go with 5 baords, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He dribbled right into a waiting Terry in the backcourt for a steal and score the other way. He attacked and threw a pass away. Nice hustle for an offensive board, he missed his layup. He set up Mbenga for the layup. He missed a baseline jumper. Second Half: He threw an outlet away at the end of the third quarter and Terry turned it into a three (he had Powell wide open for what would have been a dunk, but forced it to Kobe). Nice momentum play for the Mavs. He threw another pass away, layup for Kidd. He missed a turnaround from the elbow against the zone. He stole a kickout and drew FTs on the breakaway, he then bricked both. He gave up an And-1 under the hoop.

Farmar -- -- Again, he was another guy who watched Terry hitting threes from the bench, then came in and sagged off him defensively. His recognition of game situations is pretty sad at times. So is his freethrow shooting, he went 1-3 from the line and is 7 of his last 16. Some of our opponent runs have come when Farmar puts together a combination of missed shots and turnovers. They usually happen one after another, several possessions in a row. He needs to be more aware of getting the ball to Pau and others and letting them go to work. Some better plays from Farmar (breakaway And-1 and a pass to Pau for a dunk), but the second unit has still got major issues. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He got swatted badly, trying to go back up after we couldn't connect on the lob. He sank a wide open wing three off the Kobe kickout. He missed a wing three. He charged on the next possession. He swiped a bad pass, pushed it out against Kidd and scored the And-1 on him, he missed the FT. He drew FTs not settling for a jumper, he made one. Nice push out at the end of the quarter and he fed Pau with a no-looked at the front of the rim for the dunk. Second Half: He sagged off Terry and gave up a three. He then bricked a three on the other end.

Vujacic -- -- He was a brick laying machine today. No D on one end and bricking over the zone from three on the other. His impact was this: a team-high -16 in just 9 minutes. He's got to get more consistent from the perimeter. Sometime in the remaining few weeks, they need him to find his stroke with consistency. The only thing that seems to be working with regularity is running the two-man game. Defensively, after Terry just ended the third quarter lighting up the Lakers from downtown, how do you ballwatch off him and give up another three? Sasha usually sticks with shooters, but that was ridiculous. Just a bad game all around. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 9 minutes. The Action: He swiped a ball on one end, but tried to attack baseline and fumbled the ball away on the other. He swished a baseline jumper working the two-man game out of the timeout. He missed a step-back jumper, trying to create. Second Half: He bricked a three over the zone. He then ball-watched and let Terry get wide open in the corner for a three. Horrible D after Terry had just lit us for several threes. He bricked another three trying to shoot over the zone. He missed a corner three. He missed another open three.

Powell -- -- Not much to Powell's game in this one. Part of that is a sign of our second unit not knowing how to use him best. He was doing a decent job on the boards until some fourth quarter defensive stands where we couldn't secure them. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-2 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He got smacked under the hoop after taking a pass in transition, he made both FTs. Second Half: He traveled with no call off the pass from Kobe and missed, LO cleaned it up. He had some trouble getting a handle on some fourth quarter boards and Phil sat him for LO.

Mbenga -- -- He was the only guy on the bench with a positive +/- number. The Lakers went on a 9-0 run with him on the floor at one stretch in the first half. He didn't get in for the second half. Once again, we blew an opportunity to get him more run (along with Brown and Morrison). The more minutes we can get those guys now, the better chance they have to play in the post season. The Stats: The Action: He scored a reverse layup off the Luke pass. He got beat for a dunk on the other end. He missed a bank shot off the two-man with Luke. Second Half: Did not play.

Phil -- -- Both teams started out draining threes. The Lakers led 19-14 midway through the first quarter... With Pau going 8-8 in the first quarter and the Lakers knocking down those threes, they led 37-28 after one... After Farmar and Sasha both turned the ball over early in the second quarter and the Mavs chipped away at the lead, Phil called a timeout... Phil then went with a Mbenga, Powell, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup. He brought in Lamar for Powell shortly later. Kobe came back in and restored some order as we went on a 9-0 run... The Lakers led 66-54 and shot 61 percent to the Mavs 42 percent in the half. The Lakers shot 5-8 from three. This early success may have come back to bite them in the second half.. Phil stressed the first five minutes of the second half to take control of the game... The Lakers won the first three minutes and forced a Mav timeout after stretching the lead to 15. The Mavs brought in Terry and Singleton and went to a zone. The game changed... The Mavs went on a 14-6 run, and cut the Laker lead to 7 points when Luke threw an outlet away and Terry hit a three at the third quarter buzzer. The Lakers settling against the zone... The Mavs took a lead on a 21-2 run. They feasted against the second unit... Phil benched Farmar and Luke for Kobe and Fish... The lead stretched to 5 points, Sasha bricking several threes over the zone. Phil then sat him for Ariza as the Lakers trailed 95-89 with 7 minutes left... He then brought back in LO for Powell to start securing some boards... The starters took control of the game again with a 12-0 run... "I wasn't pleased with the way the second unit handled the zone," Phil said. He mentioned the first unit didn't do well, either, but did get some better shots out of it... The Lakers won the battle of the paint 46-24. This will likely be the Mavs downfall come playoff time. The Mavs shot 39.8 percent for the game. The Lakers 52.5 percent... The Lakers shot 3-16 from three in the second half... Looks like they need to spend a little practice time executing against the zone...

Game Flow -- LINK -- The Mavs big runs came against the second unit. Other teams are able to get impact players some minutes against our second unit and cause problems. Today, it was Terry and Kidd. Meanwhile, we continue to do a poor job using Pau with those units. The Lakers went on a 12-0 run when the starters returned to the floor in the fourth.

[X56]

I was waiting for this all day long since I wasn't able to catch the game, thanks DB!

Why do you think Mbenga isn't getting consistent playing time given the fact that he's been producing when he's on the floor and Pau needs some rest?

As for Brown and AM not getting any burn, aren't they showing enough progress in practice or is that "Phil being Phil"?

Still like the fact that we won and Boston lost. Hoping the Cavs falter too.
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Game 7 2010 NBA Finals - Lakers 83, Boston 79

[DancingBarry]

[Dr. Laker]

Farmar is killing us out there.

Sasha's misses don't bother me nearly as much as losing track of his man.

Walton's best role is as the 10th man in a 9 man rotation.

Your analysis is spot on.
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[angrypuppy]

It's painful to watch the Laker backup guards. As I've said before, Farmar looks for his shot, and if it's not there, he just makes a "whatever" pass without regard to setting up a teammate for a score. Sasha has a hair trigger on long jumpers, but hasn't shown much talent for hitting them. Like Farmar, he wears blinders, and has little talent for playmaking. Gasol was out there with the reserves, and was on a tear... and yet they couldn't be bothered getting the ball to him.

To be fair, I think Farmar is in a funk because the coaching staff is trying to turn him into something he isn't... a playmaker.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

jason terry just hit another WIDE OPEN 3
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[DancingBarry]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!!

I still think Dallas will be an easy match in a 7 game series, assuming our bench shows up for the playoffs I can see us taking them out in 4 or 5. Good to see Drew interviewed, I'm hoping he gets a few regular season games so he's ready to help us clobber this team in round 1.

[SpunkieLakerCat]

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB!

Ariza is the real deal. Hopefully he builds off of today's performance. PJ used to throw a 21/22 year old Kobe at the opponent's PG resulting in steals, break away dunks and total disruption of the oppositions's offensive flow. Nice to see PJ having the confidence in Trevor's defensive ability by putting him on HOFer J Kidd rendering him mostly ineffective.

Gang rebounding. LO and Kobe are very good rebounders at their respective positions. I would like to see a spike in Pau and Ariza's rebounding. Our team's collective athleticism is top notch - if we can totally control the boards we can fast break teams to death. Especially if we can convert before great defensive teams can get back to set up.

Oh, and Kobe Bryant is the MVP this year.

[LakerFan1972]

[ecksor]

Muchas Gracias! great read as usual.

Do you think the level of bench play is related to Ariza and LO moving to the starting lineup? These two guys, the ones always talking about changing the game, are no longer the spark for the team coming off the bench.
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[DancingBarry]

[LakerSanity]

Farmar has the talent... his problems are all mental and revolve around his immaturity.
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[Laker7]

I like the fact MBenga is playing more with the starters (Kobe) and not with the bench. Farmar and Sasha are so Goobered up right now that there is not much of a flow offensively and defensively. Better DJ be the 4th and 5th option with the starters and concentrate on defense than be giving the ball in bad spots or be asked to do too much with the second unit.
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[tw-lakbfan]

Farmar and Sasha can't be put on the floor at the same time.

Ariza got freed up leaving the 2nd unit.

[magic_bryant]

At what point does maturity stop being an excuse for Farmar.

Fact is he lacks decision-making badly. He lacks size, strength, and length. He only wants to take jumpers. He's Fisher-esque on post-entry.

He has become God-awful of late. Can not WAIT for the day to come when he joins Kwame and Smush as ex-Lakers.
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Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[LakerSanity]

^Immaturity isn't an excuse, it's a cause. No one is excusing him for anything. He's shown the ability to do well over the course of a lot of consecutive games in all the areas you're talking about.... particularly last year. However, then he would revert back to "bad Farmar"... of which has been mostly the case this season.

If someone can do one thing one day, but not do it the next day, generally speaking, the problem has to be mental.
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[jonnybravo]

[quote="LakerSanity"]Farmar has the talent... his problems are all mental and revolve around his immaturity.[/quote]

Indeed.

3rd year in the league and some HUGE regression.

Sasha...well, at least he hustles (and fouls guys 50 feet from the basket).

[lakerican]

My grip is with Sasha, I will get Farmar a break. He even dish an assist for Pau.

Now, Can anybody explain me why in the 4th quarter Sasha took the first 4 brick shots, even the 4th one when Kobe had already reenter the game??

My goodness

[abciximab]

[magic_bryant]

Smush Parker's problems were mental, too.

As in, he didn't know any other way than HIS way. Farmar suffers the same fate. Terribly driven by ego and touches, he fails to do anything that breeds winning. It's all about whether he can get his shot, otherwise, "Piss on it, it's above me" attitude.

I've heard every explanation in the world for Farmar. From lack of maturity to he's just an open-court player to he's just in a funk. You name it, and I've heard it. He's not a starting caliber PG. Period.

I absolutely CAN NOT WAIT until I can say "Hey guys, remember when Farmar was a Laker?"
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Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[LakerSanity]

I'm FAR from using Farmar and Smush in the same sentence (aside from as I did just now), but it's very true that if Farmar doesn't ship up, he'll ship out.

It's completely speculation on my part, but I'd wonder if Farmar isn't making basketball as large of a priority as he used to. His focus and discipline just isn't there. He looks like a very different player than to the one he was last year and even as late as this last pre-season.

I think Sasha just psychs himself out. He's overthinking every shot and looks like he's trying to "aim" the ball in rather than just shoot it. The only shots he seems to shoot comfortably these days is the baseline 15 footer off the dribble. It's a much quicker release than his 3 recently as well.
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[Shaber]