Speaker 1: Your cure. You're listening to the Hottest, the Hottest.
Speaker 2: It'd be a podcast out here. I said what I.
Speaker 1: Said, heating up. It's the heat check check.
Speaker 3: It's here's a little appetizer before we get into the
Speaker 3: main event interview with James Hamm. We had the great
Speaker 3: Keith Smith on through spoke track on my nightly show
Speaker 3: bet MGM tonight. By the way, I have a betting
Speaker 3: show that's on Monday through Friday seven to eleven Eastern
Speaker 3: Standard time. It's a lot of hours, so why don't
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Speaker 3: all around the association, the NFL, college football, college basketball,
Speaker 3: and women's hoops. I was joined by my co hosts
Speaker 3: Nick Ashe and Ryan Horvack. Keith always insightful, so let's
Speaker 3: get right into it.
Speaker 4: Keith Smith jumps on with us now and uh, you know,
Speaker 4: you know what, Let's start with your Celtics a little bit.
Speaker 4: I'm looking at a team right now, Keith. That God,
Speaker 4: they look like, if not the best team in the NBA,
Speaker 4: pretty damn close. But we got the Sixers up four
Speaker 4: on them about two minutes to go here in the
Speaker 4: second quarter. When you watch the Sixers and you see
Speaker 4: what's going not just tonight, but just just in general
Speaker 4: for the Sixers team. I don't want to say, like, hey,
Speaker 4: are they better than what they could have been with
Speaker 4: James Harden, But it just felt like there was a
Speaker 4: distraction there and in some ways, I don't know, maybe
Speaker 4: he held them back somewhat. Do you see a Sixers
Speaker 4: team that is maybe I don't know, has a higher
Speaker 4: ceiling now just give it the way they're playing without
Speaker 4: James Harden, I don't know that.
Speaker 1: They have a higher ceiling, but but I do think
Speaker 1: sometimes you know, it's addition by subtraction. There was clearly
Speaker 1: a major distraction going on with him and the way
Speaker 1: things were going and the way you know, things were
Speaker 1: headed with this situation. Where getting that out of there,
Speaker 1: we're moving that distraction, allowing everybody to just basically take
Speaker 1: their role and slot in and do what they're going
Speaker 1: to do. That puts them in a great, great place,
Speaker 1: you know, moving forward. Now, you know, anybody worrying about, all, right, well,
Speaker 1: when he gets back, what's my role going to be
Speaker 1: when he is not around? What? You know, then what
Speaker 1: do I have to do? Now? Everybody can just play
Speaker 1: what they're going to play and just move forward with it.
Speaker 1: So I think there's a chance it's edition by subtraction
Speaker 1: for Philly. This ceiling that will ultimately be determined, you know,
Speaker 1: when we get into the playoffs and we'll see do
Speaker 1: they have enough offense creation?
Speaker 3: And like this question is random but near and dear
Speaker 3: to my heart because people are calling me a hater
Speaker 3: on Twitter right now.
Speaker 5: What is your.
Speaker 3: Thoughts on Cam Thomas and how the Nets have basically
Speaker 3: allowed him to have superstar green light right now, he's
Speaker 3: attempting the most amount of shots in the NBA with
Speaker 3: the lowest assist ratio. As you can tell, Keith, I'm
Speaker 3: not super high on building a team or building an
Speaker 3: offense around him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the problem for the Nets right now
Speaker 1: is they just don't have enough offense. So it's a
Speaker 1: lot of Michale bridges and then they need anybody else
Speaker 1: who can create their own. Look, Cam Johnson hasn't been there,
Speaker 1: he's been out, so you got to you know, figure
Speaker 1: things out, sort through it for as long as it's
Speaker 1: going to take to get him back on the floor.
Speaker 1: So that that's been you know, a challenge for sure
Speaker 1: for the Nets. So that's going to be a you know,
Speaker 1: a whole thing for them. So for right now, I'm
Speaker 1: kind of okay with them letting Cam Thomas go, but
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, you're going to struggle to find yourself
Speaker 1: in a spot where if Cam Thomas has taking thirty
Speaker 1: shots a night, you're probably not going to be a
Speaker 1: very good team unless all of a sudden he develops
Speaker 1: into the most efficient score in the world, because he's
Speaker 1: not always doing it with the most efficient levels.
Speaker 6: Keith, it's only a seven game sample size, but are
Speaker 6: you a believer in what the Dallas Mavericks are doing
Speaker 6: here early at six and one?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think you know what they did really
Speaker 1: well was they want with shooting in defense around Luka
Speaker 1: Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and that's that's how you're going
Speaker 1: to have to win. You know, Grant Williams is one
Speaker 1: of the best value signing this summer because it'll play
Speaker 1: defense and it'll make open shots. He did that with
Speaker 1: Boston at a pretty good clip. We saw him do
Speaker 1: it also in you know, high level important games, so
Speaker 1: no reason to think he can't still do that with Dallas.
Speaker 1: And then Derek Lively has injected just some energy, some
Speaker 1: you know, bounce into that starting group. He's really figuring
Speaker 1: it out pretty quickly. And their depth is all of
Speaker 1: the nonstin They've got enough guys kind of round the
Speaker 1: two stars that they need. So when you build a
Speaker 1: team like that, you're gonna probably have pretty good levels
Speaker 1: of success. So I think it's sustainable. I don't know
Speaker 1: that it's you know, one loss every six to seven
Speaker 1: games sustainable, but I think they should be a top
Speaker 1: six team when all a said and done in the
Speaker 1: Western Conference, which really you should be if you're building
Speaker 1: the team around Doncich and Irving Keith.
Speaker 4: We're looking at the Bucks right now give up almost
Speaker 4: one hundred and seventeen points a game, which is actually
Speaker 4: slightly better than where they were earlier in the season
Speaker 4: when they were twenty eighth and points allowed. Do you
Speaker 4: look at this and say, ah, it's a team, got
Speaker 4: some new players on there, Dame's not really a defensive guy.
Speaker 4: This is going to take some growing pains to figure
Speaker 4: out everybody's role on both ends of the court. Or
Speaker 4: do you maybe see a bigger issue in Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: I think there's that part with Damian Lillard and some
Speaker 1: other new guys that are playing, you know, pretty big
Speaker 1: roles there Milwaukee. But I think the other challenge that
Speaker 1: you have with them right now is you've got the
Speaker 1: Bucks are playing a very different scheme they have. You
Speaker 1: gone through a period where they're bringing Adrian Griffin's new
Speaker 1: scheme in and they're putting Brook Lopez up at the
Speaker 1: level of the ball. And the challenge with that is
Speaker 1: that's not taking advantage of what he does well. Even
Speaker 1: when he was much much younger, he was not going
Speaker 1: to be a hedge hard, hedge high guy and then
Speaker 1: quick hard recover to his man. He was always going
Speaker 1: to be someone who is going to be all right,
Speaker 1: they need to lay back a little bit, And that's
Speaker 1: just not taking advantage of what he's done and what
Speaker 1: the real kind of skills are of him that's made
Speaker 1: him the defensive Player of the Year candidate year in
Speaker 1: and year out. But I'm okay with trying it and
Speaker 1: trying some new stuff because you're never going to know
Speaker 1: if it will work unless you give it a shot. Now,
Speaker 1: but it's one of those things where I think eventually
Speaker 1: they'll probably scrap some of that, at least when Lopez
Speaker 1: is in the game and go back to what they
Speaker 1: know works real well for them.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's a really good point.
Speaker 3: What is it time for us to panic about the
Speaker 3: Sacramento Kings.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's see what happens. You know, it's two old.
Speaker 1: How long is Darren Fox out for him? What do
Speaker 1: they look like when he is fully backed in the fold,
Speaker 1: Because that's gonna be something they're certainly going to have
Speaker 1: to figure out, you know, because if he's there and playing,
Speaker 1: then you're probably doing, you know, pretty well. If he's not,
Speaker 1: you know, if they're not winning games when if he's back,
Speaker 1: and that's worrisome for them. And in the Western Conference,
Speaker 1: you can't give up too many games. There's too many
Speaker 1: good teams. So you're gonna end up in a spot.
Speaker 1: You know, we've seen the Grizzlies. They're kind of in
Speaker 1: that spot already, and you're gonna end up in a
Speaker 1: spot if you're the Kings where if you look up
Speaker 1: a month from now and you're five six games already
Speaker 1: out of the playoff picture, you're making your task in
Speaker 1: the second half of the season really really difficult.
Speaker 6: If you're a Miami fan, is there any reason to
Speaker 6: be concerned at all? I mean, you're three and four
Speaker 6: you're the ten seed in the East, but really all
Speaker 6: you have to do is get into the playing tournament
Speaker 6: and you're probably guaranteed to go to the finals again
Speaker 6: for whatever reason.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they did. There's some of that, right,
Speaker 1: but it also I think what you saw with Miami,
Speaker 1: much like with the Lakers in the Western Conference, but
Speaker 1: it definitely with Miami was they ran out of gas
Speaker 1: by the time they get to the finals because they
Speaker 1: had to push so hard, you know, to get all
Speaker 1: the way there. You know, you don't want to make
Speaker 1: that path more difficult if you don't have to. But
Speaker 1: you're also seeing some limitations of a team that they
Speaker 1: make the big trade. They didn't build out their roster
Speaker 1: because it felt like they spent most of the summer
Speaker 1: anticipation of making the big trade. So that bele comes,
Speaker 1: you know, a major thing for the you know Miami
Speaker 1: heat of you know, all right, you know they're gonna
Speaker 1: have enough, you know, we know their top line guys
Speaker 1: are pretty good, but are they gonna have enough to
Speaker 1: really get you know, all the way you know where
Speaker 1: they need to be, and you can't just count on
Speaker 1: every year we're going to get in the playoffs. We're
Speaker 1: going to make a run from the you know, playing
Speaker 1: tournament deep into the playoffs, because that's just not a
Speaker 1: sustainable thing.
Speaker 4: Keith, I'm looking at the NBA Most Improved Player right now.
Speaker 4: Tyrese Maxie is the favorite of plus two twenty five,
Speaker 4: Scottie Barnes is five to one, and then Cam Thomas
Speaker 4: that we just mentioned obviously seven to one, kgs way
Speaker 4: back at sixteen to one. It's it's kind of a
Speaker 4: weird award, like, you know, there's no real It just
Speaker 4: kind of feels like you have different situations every year
Speaker 4: when a player wins. Sometimes a guy could just jump
Speaker 4: up and be an All Star. Sometimes it's bigger role,
Speaker 4: sometimes it's new team, whatever the case is. Does this
Speaker 4: kind of just feel like as long as Tyrese Maxi
Speaker 4: keeps pace with just the season that he started to
Speaker 4: have already, this is his award the loser. Could you
Speaker 4: see anybody like a Scottie Barnes, of Cam Thomas, maybe
Speaker 4: even a kid Cunningham jumping up and maybe winning the award?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think fair or not. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of time team record get involved in these kind of
Speaker 1: awards too, and that probably really shouldn't be it it
Speaker 1: should just be based on, you know, what did the
Speaker 1: guy do, But like a guy like Cam Thomas, for example,
Speaker 1: it's more role. He's always kind of been this guy.
Speaker 1: I don't know that he's any improved. I think he's
Speaker 1: just always been a guy who can score buckets if
Speaker 1: he's given the opportunity, and he's certainly been giving it
Speaker 1: right now, Maxy, I think what you're gonna see is
Speaker 1: can he keep up the playmaking and keep up to defense.
Speaker 1: If he can keep up those two things, that's much
Speaker 1: improved because now he's not simply a scorer. I'll give
Speaker 1: you another guy, though, who I really think by the
Speaker 1: end is going to be someone that people will be
Speaker 1: talking about, especially if the team can win a little bit,
Speaker 1: is Albern Shangoun of the Houston Rockets. He is playing really,
Speaker 1: really good basketball, and you can see now. When he
Speaker 1: came into the league, one of the things that a
Speaker 1: lot of really smart draft people said was he's not
Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic, so let's not get it confused. But there's
Speaker 1: a lot of Nikola Jokic in his game, and you're
Speaker 1: starting to really see that with Shangdun at this point.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Shangun's been really good. He has dominated Sabonis those
Speaker 3: last couple of games as well. Yeah, I'm curious your
Speaker 3: thoughts about some of these rookies, right, Like Scoot Henderson's
Speaker 3: been injured, but I think maybe he started off a
Speaker 3: little bit slower than a lot of people expected. Brandon
Speaker 3: Miller's been kind of up and down, Kyanty George finally
Speaker 3: in the starting lineup, Like, who's been the most impressive
Speaker 3: rookie so far to you outside of Wemby?
Speaker 1: All Right, I was gonna say, if we're taking him
Speaker 1: off the table, I mean I'll throw Chat Holmgren in
Speaker 1: that mix too, because he is still rookie the way
Speaker 1: the league classifies him. So I think he's played really,
Speaker 1: really well and done a lot of good stuff. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you mentioned a couple of guys who who have looked
Speaker 1: Yeah at times. I think Brandon Miller is starting to
Speaker 1: figure stuff out a little bit, and he's starting to
Speaker 1: get a little bit more opportunity with Terry Rogier out.
Speaker 1: I think it's just Charlotte's in such a weird place.
Speaker 1: They have a lot of guys at that forward spot.
Speaker 1: We don't know what it to look like when they
Speaker 1: get back to Miles bridges in the lineup and when
Speaker 1: that comes, if if it comes, you know, with his
Speaker 1: more recent trouble, so we'll see what that all looks like.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think it's you know, this is obviously
Speaker 1: it's one Minyama's race to lose here. But I think
Speaker 1: Holmgren has done some stuff for Shore and I think
Speaker 1: Scoot Henderson I know what you're saying, and I've heard
Speaker 1: a little bit of that where a couple of people
Speaker 1: have said, yeah, yeah, some you know, it started off slow.
Speaker 1: But I think the one thing is that's a really
Speaker 1: really hard position in the NBA to adjust to, especially
Speaker 1: when your coach is a former point guard. The level
Speaker 1: of expectation there is quite high. So I'm still very
Speaker 1: very high on Scoot Henderson. I think he's going to
Speaker 1: be a great player. It's just gonna take him a
Speaker 1: little bit to get there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you kind of just give a little bit more
Speaker 3: detail in terms of how difficult it is to step
Speaker 3: in and be a.
Speaker 7: Point guard on a and have to lead a team
Speaker 7: as a rookie.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're processing a lot right out of the gate.
Speaker 1: You're running the offense, so not only are you making
Speaker 1: the calls in transition, generally, which especially before and they're
Speaker 1: playing a lot up and down games right now, so
Speaker 1: that they're looking for him to kind of run those things.
Speaker 1: The guy he thought was going to be his backboard
Speaker 1: running mate, who should have made life easier on a
Speaker 1: Manfreny Simon's got hurt right away, So that makes it
Speaker 1: a little bit more difficult. Then you're trying to process
Speaker 1: when you do get into that, or your coach is
Speaker 1: setting you up and all right, this is what I
Speaker 1: want to run, and you know, let's make sure we
Speaker 1: get into it, and you're trying to make sure we're
Speaker 1: on a team with a whole bunch of new faces
Speaker 1: too that you know, all right, let's uh, you know,
Speaker 1: get everybody on the same page here, and that that
Speaker 1: makes it hard as well. And then defensively, you know,
Speaker 1: you're you're kind of the head of the snake there
Speaker 1: at that position. You're the one stepping out, you know,
Speaker 1: up there, if you're guarding on ball, you're going to
Speaker 1: be involved in a lot of on ball actions, a
Speaker 1: ton of picking rolls, and you're gonna put that guy
Speaker 1: through quite a bit. So I think scut Henderson's, you know,
Speaker 1: he's done well considering all you have to absorb at
Speaker 1: the point guard position. But there's a reason why, you know,
Speaker 1: everybody says point guard, you got to give him a
Speaker 1: year or two to really adjust to the speed. And
Speaker 1: this is even for a guy who played at a
Speaker 1: professional level for the last couple of years with the guage.
Speaker 1: The NBA is just a whole different ballgame.
Speaker 6: Keith, I have to ask a selfish question here as
Speaker 6: a bull stand because I knew it was going to
Speaker 6: be bad, and I know they won their last game.
Speaker 6: But now they're three and five and they've scored ninety
Speaker 6: eight point one points per one hundred possessions. They've been
Speaker 6: outscored by twenty point eight per one hundred. So it
Speaker 6: hasn't been good. It's been actually worse than I thought.
Speaker 6: Any chance that they're sellers at the deadline, I.
Speaker 1: Would like to say yes. I think the challenge is
Speaker 1: it's just not what they do. You know, under Jerry
Speaker 1: Rehyinstorp ownership, they've never really bought him the team out
Speaker 1: when it's happened a couple times, but it's happened naturally
Speaker 1: through all right, just the wheels came off. We'd wait
Speaker 1: too many injuries and now here we are to Derrick Rosier,
Speaker 1: for example. So that's the challenge is, you know, unless
Speaker 1: they are willing to lean into saying, all right, the
Speaker 1: best thing is, let's trade a bunch of guys really
Speaker 1: bottomless thing out be bad. I just don't know if
Speaker 1: they're going to go in that direction. And that's unfortunate
Speaker 1: because as the roster is built right now, they're never
Speaker 1: going to be better than a team that's battling around
Speaker 1: the playing line. And that's just for my money, that's
Speaker 1: not good enough. But I don't want to be there
Speaker 1: every year.
Speaker 4: Thanks Keith, always good to talk to you, buddy.
Speaker 7: Thank you to Keith Smith and the whole crew. I
Speaker 7: bet MGM tonight.
Speaker 3: Let's now welcome James Ham to the show. They call
Speaker 3: him the Hammer. He is a Sacramento icon covered the
Speaker 3: team for more than a decade. I think fourteen years
Speaker 3: he's been on the beat. He co hosts The Insiders
Speaker 3: on ESPN thirteen twenty with my man Kyle Manson on
Speaker 3: an Odyssey station Buddha Doo. So let's get right back
Speaker 3: into it. Welcome to the show, James Ham. James Ham
Speaker 3: is a Sacramento Kings guru, been covering the beat for
Speaker 3: a long ass time Insider co hosts actually The Insiders
Speaker 3: with My Guy, My Guy Kyle Madn on ESPN thirteen twenty.
Speaker 3: Find them on Twitter. James underscore Ham NBA. He is
Speaker 3: here to tell us what the fuck is happening with
Speaker 3: the Sacramento kegs Man.
Speaker 2: That's a good question, Trista. I wish I had all
Speaker 2: the answers. First of all, the pace has fallen off
Speaker 2: a cliff the last three games, slowest pace in the NBA.
Speaker 2: They actually posted a pace of like eighty nine and
Speaker 2: one of the losses to the Houston Rockets. Dearon Fox
Speaker 2: is out and they just don't look like themselves without
Speaker 2: him pushing the tempo. But that's not an excuse.
Speaker 5: It's okay.
Speaker 2: This is a fast paced team. They should be moving
Speaker 2: the ball up and down the court. It shouldn't be
Speaker 2: all on Davion Mitchell to deliver pace. But they are
Speaker 2: searching right now, and they definitely did not expect something
Speaker 2: like this to happen in the first week of the season,
Speaker 2: where they went from really high with a win opening
Speaker 2: to open against Utah, a win over the Lakers, a
Speaker 2: couple of losses to the Golden State Warriors, and then
Speaker 2: to just fall on their face against the Houston Rockets twice.
Speaker 2: They did not expect that.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know the question, you mentioned Davion Mitchell, and
Speaker 7: you know, I'm a big fan of Davion.
Speaker 3: I love I've got no negative things to say about Davion,
Speaker 3: But his player comp isn't the same as d'erran's. They're
Speaker 3: not like, you can't just substitute Davon into the lineup
Speaker 3: and it be anywhere close to the same style of offense.
Speaker 3: The closest player to meet on the roster is Malik Monk.
Speaker 3: Why isn't Malik Monk taking the Deer and Fox role
Speaker 3: and Davion staying in the role that he was in
Speaker 3: when deeron Fox is running the show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Monk has carved out a different role for
Speaker 2: himself on this team. Of course, he's a six man extraordinary.
Speaker 2: He's a guy who brings all kinds of energy off
Speaker 2: the bench. That's not who Davion is even when he
Speaker 2: comes off the bench. And so to take a guy
Speaker 2: out of that role would really upset the avl karte
Speaker 2: with your second unit as well. Just think of all
Speaker 2: the Malik Monk and JaVale McGhee like hookups that we've
Speaker 2: got going on right now. These lobs that they have
Speaker 2: going that would go away if they weren't playing together.
Speaker 2: So I think Monk needs an expanded role. I would
Speaker 2: like to see him play thirty five minutes. I'd like
Speaker 2: to see him come in at the five minute six
Speaker 2: minute mark of the first quarter and play a huge
Speaker 2: stretch to the first and second quarter. But for right now,
Speaker 2: Mike Brown has been reluctant to put him in the
Speaker 2: starting lineup. He didn't do it last year. Deeron Fox
Speaker 2: miss nine games last season, and I believe that all
Speaker 2: but one of those games that Davion Mitchell started, and
Speaker 2: this team, you know, outside, if we take the one
Speaker 2: game at the end of the season, there was a
Speaker 2: total throwaway where Fox didn't play. This team was four
Speaker 2: and four without Fox. So they shouldn't have this type
Speaker 2: of disparity when he walks off the court. And it's
Speaker 2: something that they're going to have to figure out because
Speaker 2: it's gotten really, really ugly very quickly here in Sacramento.
Speaker 3: Why do you think the pace is so bad and
Speaker 3: like the offense has fallen off.
Speaker 7: Of a cliff.
Speaker 2: Well, I think if you take Fox off the floor.
Speaker 2: It does allow oppositions to just stack everything they've got
Speaker 2: right on Sabonis. Take away his passing lanes, take away
Speaker 2: his dribbling lanes, take away his ability to get into
Speaker 2: the paint and score or for himself. I mean against
Speaker 2: the Rockets this last game out get four shot attempts
Speaker 2: and that's just not going to cut it. You know,
Speaker 2: this is a very very high end player. He's an
Speaker 2: All NBA player, and to see him his numbers kind
Speaker 2: of fall off so quickly is really strange. But I
Speaker 2: think it also has something to do with the fact
Speaker 2: that the Kings haven't been able to get their shooters going.
Speaker 2: Keegan Murray and Kevin Herder have struggled to hit the
Speaker 2: three ball to open the season. Both of them are
Speaker 2: shooting around twenty five percent, maybe a little bit less
Speaker 2: for Keegan now, and they just haven't found a rhythm
Speaker 2: as an offense. They made some subtle changes to this
Speaker 2: offense during the offseason, and I think it's time to
Speaker 2: look at those changes and maybe pull those changes out
Speaker 2: and go straight back to what you're doing before and
Speaker 2: then just try to build nuance into your offense. And
Speaker 2: we haven't seen that so far. I really think the
Speaker 2: offense looks so far different than it did last year.
Speaker 2: And it's not just because they're missing shots. It's for
Speaker 2: a lot of reasons. It's not just that.
Speaker 7: Explain that to me.
Speaker 3: What are those changes that you can see with your
Speaker 3: and which ones that are specifically the ones that are
Speaker 3: not working.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So the Kings basically have you know, a system
Speaker 2: where four guys run to four spots on the floor
Speaker 2: and then Demonis Sabona settles in in the high post,
Speaker 2: and then they use those guys to rotate and switch
Speaker 2: off of each other and set screens for each other.
Speaker 2: And it feels like they're trying to do way too
Speaker 2: many backcuts, Like the guys that are usually setting screens
Speaker 2: for other players, players that they would typically set a
Speaker 2: screen for in the corner isn't coming off of that
Speaker 2: screen and coming back to the top of the dhow
Speaker 2: Like we've seen in the past, a lot more cuts
Speaker 2: or resets, guys going either straight to the basket or
Speaker 2: just going to the other side. And that's one major change.
Speaker 2: I'd also say like teams are just pushing the Kings
Speaker 2: further and further away from the basket, and so Sabonis
Speaker 2: might be running the dhow like you did last year,
Speaker 2: but he's doing it from the three point line. And
Speaker 2: then when guys are coming off the screen at the top,
Speaker 2: you know, Kevin Herder is getting quote unquote wide open shots.
Speaker 2: But they're not twenty three to six. They're at twenty
Speaker 2: seven feet and that's a big deal, you know, like
Speaker 2: they're pushing the whole offense further and further away from
Speaker 2: the basket. This team was number one and two point
Speaker 2: field goal percentage last year. They shot I think it
Speaker 2: was fifty eight point three percent from two. They got
Speaker 2: a lot of easy baskets. This year, they're all the
Speaker 2: way down, like number twenty two. They're shooting like fifty
Speaker 2: three percent. They've lost five or six percent off of
Speaker 2: their their two point field goal percentage. Not to even
Speaker 2: mention like they're number two in three point attempts, but
Speaker 2: they're twenty two in three point percentage. So they're shooting
Speaker 2: a ton of threes, they're not hitting them. That's a problem.
Speaker 2: But more than that, they're just not getting easy looks
Speaker 2: like they were last year. And I don't think the
Speaker 2: league just magically caught up to them, or that they
Speaker 2: were able to watch game film of a seven game
Speaker 2: series against Warriors, and somebody's got the magic recipe and
Speaker 2: they've passed it along to every other team in the league.
Speaker 5: I don't think that that's the case. I changed.
Speaker 2: I just think that they're starting off playing a little clunky,
Speaker 2: a little different, and they've got some to find their
Speaker 2: soul a little bit here.
Speaker 3: Do you think Mike Brown and I agree that the
Speaker 3: Kings didn't play great defense during the regular season.
Speaker 7: I think we all kind of knew that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 7: If that really matters. Honestly.
Speaker 3: I think they played really good defense against Golden State
Speaker 3: in the first round, which shows what they're capable of.
Speaker 7: And they had.
Speaker 3: Timely defense during the regular season, which, yeah, you lose
Speaker 3: some games that way, you win some games that way,
Speaker 3: but it shows that you have that ability. It kind
Speaker 3: of feels to me like there was such this huge
Speaker 3: emphasis on physicality and defense because everyone banged on them
Speaker 3: for not playing defense, or maybe there was just some
Speaker 3: soul searching internally.
Speaker 7: Where we have to be better. But it feels like.
Speaker 3: That pendulum has swung so much to that emphasis that
Speaker 3: getting buckets has now kind of become too less important.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I agree with you to a certain extent.
Speaker 2: I'd also point out that they're not playing good defense
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 7: Seconds right now in defensive rating.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so what we've seen so far is the
Speaker 2: emphasis to be physical, to pick up shooters way further out,
Speaker 2: to try to blow up pick and roll situations, you know,
Speaker 2: sort of charge the pick and roll that hasn't worked.
Speaker 2: And you know, you got guys like Chris Starte who
Speaker 2: come in and almost every single time he steps on
Speaker 2: the court, he's got three fouls, and it happens so
Speaker 2: quickly he gets he picks up three fouls, and the
Speaker 2: next thing you know, the Kings are in the penalty
Speaker 2: like I've never seen a team be in the penalty
Speaker 2: so often. Like they're giving their opposition free throw after three,
Speaker 2: free throw after free throw, and they're they're really struggling
Speaker 2: to translate what it means to play defense, physical defense
Speaker 2: without fouling.
Speaker 5: They are. You can see it.
Speaker 2: And it's funny because you go out there and you
Speaker 2: watch a Houston Rockets play, and that's exactly what I saw.
Speaker 2: I saw physical defense from a young team without fouling,
Speaker 2: and is what the Kings will face when they play Okay,
Speaker 2: see on Friday, they'll face a team that really plays physical,
Speaker 2: hard nosed defense without fouling, and sometimes they pick up fowls,
Speaker 2: but overall, the concept is to play without valuing. This
Speaker 2: is not what the Kings have done the other the opponent.
Speaker 2: I don't know what the number is, but I'm going
Speaker 2: to guess that they're giving up eight free throws attempts
Speaker 2: more than they're getting every single night on average.
Speaker 5: And that's just not going to cut it either.
Speaker 2: So they've got to figure out a way to translate
Speaker 2: what Mike Brown is asking for. But also Mike Brown
Speaker 2: needs to realize that there's something wrong with his offense
Speaker 2: and he needs to go back to the basics of
Speaker 2: we're there last season. They haven't made enough structural changes
Speaker 2: or replacement pieces in place to actually change what they
Speaker 2: were doing last year. The only difference is Trey Lyles
Speaker 2: hasn't played a game this season because the cap injury,
Speaker 2: and Dearon Fox has missed three going on four games.
Speaker 2: Outside of that, this offense should have been flowing like
Speaker 2: it was before and we're seeing a lot of standing around.
Speaker 2: So the emphasis on emphasis on defense, it very well
Speaker 2: could be a big part of the problem here.
Speaker 3: I'm very curious about Kevin Herder because he was so
Speaker 3: good for a lot of last year hit game winners
Speaker 3: and was the kind of a part of the soul
Speaker 3: of the fun and the vibe, and he was just
Speaker 3: atrocious in the playoffs. It was just like unplayable. And
Speaker 3: it feels like that has carried over into this season.
Speaker 3: And I'm not sure if it's a confidence thing. I'm
Speaker 3: not sure if it's something else, but like, what the
Speaker 3: hell is going on with Caveon?
Speaker 2: He seems to be finding himself a little bit. I
Speaker 2: think that Mike Brown really singled him out early in
Speaker 2: training camp, and I mean he kept saying, hey, this,
Speaker 2: everyone has to be better at this, everyone has to
Speaker 2: be better. But it's it's Kevin who is losing his
Speaker 2: spot in the rotation or potentially losing his spot in
Speaker 2: the rotation, or literally had Chris Darte start for him
Speaker 2: in a preseason game. And so I think he Mike
Speaker 2: Brown maybe overestimated the psyche of Kevin Herder. He put
Speaker 2: a lot of onus on him to be better defensively
Speaker 2: and to make all these changes, but also like he
Speaker 2: just became the poster child for everything that was wrong,
Speaker 2: and I don't think that was Mike's intention. His intention
Speaker 2: was to say, like, look, everybody is struggling on these
Speaker 2: these issues that we have. But for some reason, you know,
Speaker 2: Herder was not picking up on the changes quickly enough
Speaker 2: in training camp, and so I feel like Mike accidentally
Speaker 2: piled on a little bit, and then the fans piled on,
Speaker 2: and then Kevin got off to a rough shooting start,
Speaker 2: and next thing, you know, this saying snowballed a little bit.
Speaker 2: We're seeing him figure it out slowly. The rebound numbers
Speaker 2: are way up. He's starting to pick up assists. But
Speaker 2: I mean, we're talking about a team that just lost
Speaker 2: a starter who averages thirty one points. But also, you know,
Speaker 2: twenty three and a half shots per game in dearon Fox,
Speaker 2: and instead of replacing those with guys like Kevin Herder,
Speaker 2: guys like Demona Sabonus getting more shots or you know,
Speaker 2: Harrison Barnes, they just don't shoot those twenty three shots anymore.
Speaker 2: They slowed the game down so much that it's almost
Speaker 2: like they just have a ghost as a fourth player
Speaker 2: that's not actually on the court, and they're really struggling
Speaker 2: to find it. And I think that Kevin's shooting wills
Speaker 2: are part of that, but also just like the transition
Speaker 2: to him having to play defense at a higher level
Speaker 2: is something. You know, Mike Brown pushing buttons, I think
Speaker 2: it sent him a little off kilter.
Speaker 7: Are they pray to be aggressive and.
Speaker 2: Gun I don't think so. We're seeing a lot of
Speaker 2: weird things that are popping up. So like as far
Speaker 2: as like three point shooting, I don't think that they're
Speaker 2: they're afraid to be aggressive. I mean, we watched all
Speaker 2: the way through preseason where they're averaging almost fifty three's
Speaker 2: a game, right, and we get into the regular season
Speaker 2: they're doing the same thing again. Like two games ago,
Speaker 2: they're second in the league in attempts from three point
Speaker 2: range and you know they're still they're still second at
Speaker 2: forty two and a half percent. It's just they're not hitting.
Speaker 2: You know, that's a problem. And so I think, you know,
Speaker 2: a guy like Herder, maybe he got a little gun
Speaker 2: shy initially, but a guy like Keagan Murray, we're seeing
Speaker 2: some I think he might be struggling with expectations, like
Speaker 2: we're watching him. Katie Rishinson described it as drifting while
Speaker 2: he's shooting, and I think it's a perfect way to
Speaker 2: describe what you're seeing, Like he's just not getting his
Speaker 2: feet set, he's not squaring his hips and his shoulders
Speaker 2: to the basket initially. He's doing all of his adjustments
Speaker 2: mid air, and he's missing. I mean, we've seen him
Speaker 2: airball threes, and we're so used to him just being
Speaker 2: so steady that the last thing he's been is steady.
Speaker 2: Throughout the first six games of the season, he's been
Speaker 2: all over the map. I also think it's just, you know,
Speaker 2: everyone is trying to adjust to their new roles. Everyone
Speaker 2: is adjusting to you know, trying to become like a
Speaker 2: guy like Keegan trying to become a third scorer or
Speaker 2: even a second scorer on a team, and sometimes those
Speaker 2: things come with some hiccups.
Speaker 7: Harrison Barnes also hiccups.
Speaker 3: Had that one big game thirty three gets the money,
Speaker 3: and he's right now nine point six points per game,
Speaker 3: two point rebounds per game, not counting that first game.
Speaker 7: Like, why do you think he's struggling?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great question. I think more than you know,
Speaker 2: Like his shooting percentages are fine right up until he
Speaker 2: had a like a clunker of a game in the
Speaker 2: second game against Houston. He was shooting well over fifty
Speaker 2: percent from three. Problem is he's just not taking any shots.
Speaker 2: He's not in the flow of the offense. And there
Speaker 2: has to come a point where Harrison has to be
Speaker 2: part of the solution and not just saying, well, you know,
Speaker 2: it wasn't really Harrison's fault.
Speaker 3: It.
Speaker 5: To me, it's really strange because.
Speaker 2: Overnight he kind of became Andrew Wiggins as a rebounder
Speaker 2: and as like the rest of the game outside of
Speaker 2: you know, the defensive prowess of Wiggins, And I don't
Speaker 2: know if Wiggins is still the defender that he was
Speaker 2: for that like one moment in time that.
Speaker 5: We saw him.
Speaker 2: But right now they're very similar players. Like he's not
Speaker 2: rebounding the ball at all. He's a career five rebounds
Speaker 2: per game and he's right around two rebounds per game.
Speaker 2: And this started this stated all the way back to
Speaker 2: like it started in February last year, started dropping off
Speaker 2: to like three three and a half rebounds per game
Speaker 2: to finish out the season, and like there's there's really
Speaker 2: not a huge reason for that outside of him just
Speaker 2: not going and getting rebounds. From what I can tell,
Speaker 2: it's not like someone else started stealing all the rebounds.
Speaker 2: Sabonis was there the whole time, so like, he's gonna
Speaker 2: have to make some adjustments here, and he needs to
Speaker 2: be more vocals. So if you don't have Dearon Fox
Speaker 2: out there and Demonic Sabonis and Harrison Barnes combined for
Speaker 2: ten shot attempts in a blowout loss to the Rockets,
Speaker 2: and you know, again they had plenty of time. They
Speaker 2: even played in the fourth quarter. That's just not acceptable
Speaker 2: and there needs to be some accountability, not just for
Speaker 2: you know, Davion Mitchell, who isn't pushing the tempo fast
Speaker 2: enough for you know, JaVale McGee who's got too many turnovers,
Speaker 2: or Malik Munk who came in the game and picked
Speaker 2: up three thousand like had to go leave the game
Speaker 2: and looked totally disinterested against the Rockets in the second game,
Speaker 2: but also for the guys that are out there that
Speaker 2: are your leaders, that should have a voice on what's happening.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'm curious.
Speaker 3: It feels like you kind of think one portion of
Speaker 3: it is obviously the accountability on the players, but a
Speaker 3: lot of this is just tweaks that maybe shouldn't have
Speaker 3: been made by Mike Brown.
Speaker 5: That's possible.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you need to be better defensively, and
Speaker 2: I understand that everyone should understand that that this team
Speaker 2: needs to be better defensively. But at the end of
Speaker 2: the day, it's really about net rating. It's not about
Speaker 2: offensive rating or defensive rating. It's about having a higher
Speaker 2: net rating and winning games. I think he did put
Speaker 2: a lot of focus on the defensive end, and I also, like,
Speaker 2: let's be honest, it's not like anyone did him any favors.
Speaker 2: You know, you went into an offseason knowing that you
Speaker 2: didn't have enough length in athleticism at the wing to
Speaker 2: play elite defense. You knew you didn't have great defensive players.
Speaker 2: You came back with virtually the same exact rotation, except
Speaker 2: for you have JaVale McGee there, and you have Sashova
Speaker 2: Zinkoff and you have Chris Dwarte. But again, these aren't
Speaker 2: major pieces that are playing, you know, tremendous amounts of minutes.
Speaker 2: So you're asking the same group of players to do
Speaker 2: something different than what they've done before.
Speaker 5: And it worked. Yeah, well, no, it did.
Speaker 2: But I think that like you expected some organic growth
Speaker 2: on the defensive end, and maybe you're not twenty fourth.
Speaker 2: Maybe you somehow get to eighteenth by just adding a
Speaker 2: couple of small pieces, but I don't think that was
Speaker 2: enough for Mike, and I think he wanted to take
Speaker 2: a major jump to get up to you know, number twelve,
Speaker 2: number fifteen, and that seems to I don't buy that
Speaker 2: the Kings are tired because they're playing a more physical
Speaker 2: brand of defense. I don't buy that at all, because
Speaker 2: they're not playing that that great on the defensive end.
Speaker 2: And I don't see that there's so much exertion on
Speaker 2: the defensive end that it should be costing them or
Speaker 2: their legs should be shot shooting the three ball. But
Speaker 2: at the same time, I don't understand the tweaks on
Speaker 2: the offensive end, and like they're subtle and whatever it was,
Speaker 2: you know, Mike Brown said, we had this specific playset
Speaker 2: in our bag last year, but we only used it
Speaker 2: like three times a game. Now we're going to use
Speaker 2: it like thirty and whatever that playset is and needs
Speaker 2: to go because there's something wrong right now. You can
Speaker 2: bring it back and maybe you can go, you know,
Speaker 2: double it up to six times a game that you
Speaker 2: do that, But for right now, they've lost the soul
Speaker 2: of who they were last year, which was his fun,
Speaker 2: crazy offensive juggernaut that everybody in the league is like,
Speaker 2: look at that. I mean, it's kind of like what
Speaker 2: we're looking at the Indiana Pacers right now and going,
Speaker 2: oh my goodness, that that short does look like fun.
Speaker 2: Everyone wants to go play in that's in that offense,
Speaker 2: and that was the Kings last year, and all of
Speaker 2: a sudden they've lost sort of like a direction of
Speaker 2: who they are.
Speaker 3: Mike Brown said, nobody's position on this team is sacred,
Speaker 3: which felt like changes could potentially be coming.
Speaker 7: Like, what do you think he meant by that?
Speaker 2: Well, I think the biggest change it comes is that
Speaker 2: Dearon Fox steps back into the starting lineup and everybody
Speaker 2: like takes a step backwards. I mean, it is a
Speaker 2: big deal that, you know, Demonista Bonus has to be
Speaker 2: the number one on your team for you know, the
Speaker 2: better part of the week and a half now, and
Speaker 2: that means that just out of default almost it's that
Speaker 2: Harrison Barnes now you're number two, and that Kigan Murray
Speaker 2: or Kevin Herder and you're number three, and your number
Speaker 2: four and Malik Monk you throw in there like it
Speaker 2: does matter that deeron fun is gone and that you're
Speaker 2: you're having to rely on guys that maybe aren't comfortable
Speaker 2: with where they have to be in your in your
Speaker 2: offense or you know, where they have to be is
Speaker 2: like part of your scoring group. But you know, again,
Speaker 2: like changes, there aren't a lot of changes. It can happen,
Speaker 2: Like what are they gonna do? Are they gonna put
Speaker 2: Chris Duarte in the starting lineup for for Kevin Herder?
Speaker 2: To be honest, Kevin Herder hasn't been that bad the
Speaker 2: last two or three games. He was bad the first
Speaker 2: two games, but then he's he's slowly starting to come
Speaker 2: out of whatever it was that was a problem. And
Speaker 2: so if it's not him, then who is it? I mean,
Speaker 2: is Kessel Or Edward's going to replace Harrison Barnes in
Speaker 2: the starting lineup? Are you gonna bench Keegan Murray? Like
Speaker 2: the answer to these no, like saschev Zenkoff is going
Speaker 2: to step in and take somebody's job. So and certainly
Speaker 2: there's no way that we're going to see JaVale McGee
Speaker 2: start over demonessta Bonus. So what are we talking about here?
Speaker 2: Like maybe it's your spot in the rotation, Maybe Davion Mitchell.
Speaker 2: If he can't push the pace, maybe they do go
Speaker 2: to Colby Jones. Maybe they give it a different look.
Speaker 2: Someone who's young and like will run and do things
Speaker 2: whatever they're asking to do. He's just saying yes, sir
Speaker 2: and going and doing it. But at the end of
Speaker 2: the day, you know, like you got to keep this
Speaker 2: group together. It's early and they're having a hiccup here,
Speaker 2: but you're still only two and four to start the season.
Speaker 7: Do you think this roster is the same come trade deadline?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think so at all, especially if they
Speaker 2: don't wake up very quickly, like their expectations here that
Speaker 2: have never been here before, and those expectations are going
Speaker 2: to play out in real time, like if this team
Speaker 2: takes a huge step back and all of a sudden
Speaker 2: is scuffling and misses the playoffs or is fighting for
Speaker 2: the back end of the playoffs, don't think. I don't
Speaker 2: think if a vecron A DV and his group are
Speaker 2: are ready for that. They've treated ticket prices like, you know,
Speaker 2: they flex this thing. You know, they've been waiting for
Speaker 2: a decade for this team to be good, so they
Speaker 2: can bump ticket prices and all of a sudden boom,
Speaker 2: ticket prices jump up. The last thing you want to
Speaker 2: see is this thing starts empty out towards the end
Speaker 2: of the season and a bunch of finger pointings start
Speaker 2: to happen. So I think they'll be aggressive. I think
Speaker 2: they'll be aggressive. You know, after December fifteenth, that's when
Speaker 2: you know you can move guys that you signed during
Speaker 2: the off season, But the Kings don't have a lot
Speaker 2: of those players. I think later in December on twenty eight,
Speaker 2: twenty ninth, is when a person like Harrison Barnes, who
Speaker 2: signed exten an extension during the off season, becomes trade eligible.
Speaker 2: And you know, again it's not like Harrison Barnes makes
Speaker 2: so much money and that you know teams wouldn't take
Speaker 2: on Harrison Barnes like seventeen eighteen and nineteen million this
Speaker 2: year in the next two that's an easily movable contract,
Speaker 2: especially with the salary cap set to skyrocket again you're
Speaker 2: looking about twelve percent of the salary cap. That's a
Speaker 2: player that, like teams understand as part of business in
Speaker 2: the NBA. So I definitely think that they're going to
Speaker 2: be active, and you know they clearly they need that
Speaker 2: one more big piece or maybe two big pieces to
Speaker 2: get them into a conversation of something much, much bigger.
Speaker 7: You know what has been absolutely awful this year and
Speaker 7: not used at all is Pascal Siakam. He's on an
Speaker 7: expiring Do.
Speaker 3: You think he's that piece for the Kings regardless of
Speaker 3: whether he's gettable or not, because Massia is a total
Speaker 3: wild card, But do you think someone like him is
Speaker 3: that piece or is that somebody else for you?
Speaker 2: No, I mean I think he would be under consideration.
Speaker 2: He's a player that the Kings have liked a lot
Speaker 2: in the past, but also like to stay with Toronto.
Speaker 2: The other guy is og and Anobi. That is the
Speaker 2: guy that I believe the Kings have tried to get
Speaker 2: multiple times and they believe is like the defensive tone
Speaker 2: setter that they need. And whether they can get him
Speaker 2: out of there or not, I don't know. The Kings
Speaker 2: do have they don't have their twenty twenty four. Well,
Speaker 2: if they make the playoffs, they don't have their twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four. If they miss the playoffs, then that hold
Speaker 2: that they have on the first round pick. It's a
Speaker 2: lottery protected in twenty twenty four to twenty five. In
Speaker 2: twenty six, so they can't trade it until twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 2: But they still have some assets that they can move.
Speaker 2: They have these these contracts like Kevin Herder or you know,
Speaker 2: Davion Mitchell or Harrison Barnes that you could package and move.
Speaker 2: I think there are they have movable pieces and movable contracts,
Speaker 2: but it's it's really whether or not they can pull
Speaker 2: the trigger.
Speaker 5: On something like that.
Speaker 2: I like Siakham and in that situation, of course, you know,
Speaker 2: you'd move Keegan Murray over to the three and you'd
Speaker 2: figure out how to you know, build around a different group.
Speaker 2: But I just don't think that Messi Usury is ever
Speaker 2: going to trade anybody. He'd rather let them expire and
Speaker 2: lose them like you did with Fred van Vliet than
Speaker 2: to do the right thing and actually, you know, get
Speaker 2: an asset for his players.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's that's a great point.
Speaker 3: I told Dlo and Casey also on your station that
Speaker 3: I wouldn't panic until deeron Fox is back and you
Speaker 3: see what this team is for ten games for you,
Speaker 3: When is the time to really be concerned.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, first of all, we need to see
Speaker 2: when Fox is going to be back, you know, like
Speaker 2: we heard the reports, oh we could play us early
Speaker 2: as Saturday, And then he was the first one to say, well,
Speaker 2: I haven't really heard that report.
Speaker 5: And that seems strange since it's about me. So I
Speaker 5: don't know.
Speaker 2: We need to see when Fox gets back and then
Speaker 2: what he looks like when he gets back.
Speaker 5: He's a guy who's had a history.
Speaker 2: Of ankle injuries, although it wasn't this ankle that he
Speaker 2: had the Grade three a few years ago. But once
Speaker 2: he's back in the flow and this team is rolling, like,
Speaker 2: I think you've got to give him twenty five games,
Speaker 2: Like you don't want to be embarrassed like what happened
Speaker 2: on Monday night against against a marginal Houston Rockets team.
Speaker 2: Not to be rude, but like that team is still
Speaker 2: a long ways away from being like a super competitive
Speaker 2: team and to just walk in there and get slaughtered
Speaker 2: two games in a row and have Alpern Shangoun look
Speaker 2: like the All NBA player and not Demones savonas like
Speaker 2: that's an issue. But again, this team is predicated on
Speaker 2: two stars to do very specific things. You take one
Speaker 2: of those stars out, you are going to have some struggles.
Speaker 2: I just don't think anyone thought it would be this
Speaker 2: kind of struggle. This early good stuff, James.
Speaker 7: Last question, what is your favorite vegetable?
Speaker 2: Oh, I hate all squashes. I hate asparagus. I do
Speaker 2: like broccoli, tomatoes, a fruit, or I would probably go there.
Speaker 2: If I'm choosing something to put on my plate, it's
Speaker 2: usually green beans, you know, So like if I have
Speaker 2: a choice of like six things, it's usually that I
Speaker 2: don't like Brussels sprouts.
Speaker 5: I don't like the bitter vegetables. That's an interesting question.
Speaker 5: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I do like, if I could say tomatoes, I grow
Speaker 2: a lot of tomatoes at the house, and we do
Speaker 2: a lot of like tomato and brota with basil salads
Speaker 2: and stuff.
Speaker 7: Yeah, good stuff, James, James Ham.
Speaker 3: James find him on Odyssey on ESPN thirteen twenty The
Speaker 3: Insiders with Kyle Mattson, who's also a hoot. He gives
Speaker 3: you everything up, straight up, no angel dust, gives it
Speaker 3: to you like without any.
Speaker 7: Filter, and he's on the ground. Thank you so much
Speaker 7: for joining us.
Speaker 5: James, Hey, anytime, Trista.
Speaker 7: That's all the time that.
Speaker 3: We have for this episode of the Heat Check Special.
Speaker 3: Thanks to Keith Smith and James Ham. Come back on
Speaker 3: Monday for an all new episode, and check out the
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