12 Comments
Sep 12Liked by Marc Stein

Hey Marc,

Listening to Dirk critique your tennis game, on the DLLS Mavs pod, was the biggest chuckle I had yesterday. 🤪😝😜

Thanks for helping make that moment happen. It's so nice to see Dirk still making Dallas home and enjoying himself so much in retirement!

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Love the Tidbyt! It reminds me of the first time I saw a Reuters news ticker in some hotel in Florida when I was a kid. I was mesmerized!

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the 1962 mets hold the modern day mlb record for losses with 120, not detroit. the real record the white sox are chasing (?) is the 1916 philly a's, who only won 36 games in a 154-game season, lowest total since 1901. I'm following this way too closely in my own substack if anyone wants to dive in as well...

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author

Another reader sent in the same correction and I will do a follow-up next week. Thanks much.

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Sep 10Liked by Marc Stein

By the way, I tuned in today for a bit of the live version of the DLLS Mavs show on YouTube when you were talking about the Exum injury.

Even for a shoutout to @CharlieSaturday!!! 🙌

Great point you made, though, Marc about Exum's finger injury. I had forgotten he had that. Off-season injury news can be hard to come by, as evidenced by the Lakers latest sagas with Vando & Wood.

Mavs fans sure are lucky you're on top of it from their end...

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Spoiler Alert for the West:

I'm way more down on the Lakers than I was when I made my ballot predictions. The injury news regarding Vando & Christian Wood have sunk my battleship.

I think right now, they will be fighting for a 10th seed, if they can stay relatively healthy. Not exactly, starting out with a bang on that front, however! 🫠😩

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I can't remember by ballot exactly, but I think the Celtics are more likely to finish 4th, than 1st.

The Porzingis injury recovery to start the season, plus the general malaise of a championship hangover, has me thinking they will start out slow.

The East has gotten way better at the top, so to me, could be a tight grouping there, whereby only a few games separate all the top teams.

Other than that, I think the rankings reflect my feelings about the East. You could tell me Milwaukee, Orlando, Indiana, and Cleveland all could finish 4-5-6-7, in any order. They're on the same tier for me.

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Had the now debunked rumor about Al Horford retiring been true, then a drop in the standings would seem inevitable. I do think KPs health will play a huge role in their post-season success. I do think that there is some motivation for Tatum, Brown, etc. (especially after the negative attention the Olympics brought to them) that could counter the typical championship hangover. They were an elite team last year (historically elite, in fact), and for the same reasons I thought people discounting their playoff run being 'too easy' leading up to the Mavs series, I think it's easy to underestimate the type of cushion an elite team may have.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call them a championship favorite, but I do feel they probably have the juice to remain in the top-3. I agree with you on the next group, though. I said in my prediction comment that the most volatile part of the East is 4-8 (I included the Heat, out of respect, but don't see them making it up to 4.. but I could see them slip up to 6-7).

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Sixers

Knicks

Celtics

Bucks

Magic

Cavs

Pacers

Heat

Hawks

Bulls

Pistons

Raptors

Hornets

Nets

Wizards

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Sep 10Liked by Marc Stein

Appreciate the kind words, Marc 🙏

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Sep 10Liked by Marc Stein

Way to tabulate everything.

You're the real MV-Deven P!!! 🏆

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You guys are way too optimistic on the Knicks.

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