Are you CONVINCED by Duke & the SEC now?!

Summary

PTI Episode Summary: "Are you CONVINCED by Duke & the SEC now?!"

Release Date: March 31, 2025
Hosts: Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon
Podcast: PTI by ESPN

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1. NCAA Men's Tournament: SEC and Duke's Dominance

Tony Kornheiser kicks off the episode by highlighting the exceptional performance of the SEC in the NCAA Men's Tournament. All four number one seeds—Auburn, Florida (representing the SEC), Duke (ACC), and Houston (Big 12)—secured spots in the Final Four, marking only the second time such an occurrence has happened.

Michael Wilbon expresses his initial skepticism towards the ACC and Duke's chances but acknowledges their remarkable performance:

"I went into this, as you know, I would call you and say, okay, let's see what they got. They got plenty."
(02:55)

Tony praises Jay Bilas for predicting the SEC's success:

"Seven in the Sweet 16, four in the Elite Eight, and every single region had a finalist from the SEC, which had never been done before."
(03:02)

Key Discussion Points:

• SEC's Performance: Dominating with seven teams in the Sweet 16 and four in the Elite Eight.
• Duke's Defense: Tony highlights Duke's defensive prowess by holding Alabama to 65 points compared to Alabama's previous 113 points against BYU.

  "Duke plays defense. And Duke's the tallest team in the country."
  (03:10)

• Houston's Defense: Michael notes Houston's superior defensive strategies, especially under Kelvin Sampson, which poses a significant challenge to Duke.

  "Houston's better defensively than Duke is. They will go out and guard you."
  (04:25)

2. NCAA Women's Tournament: UConn vs. USC Showdown

Transitioning to the Women's Tournament, Tony introduces the matchup between UConn and USC, emphasizing the absence of key players like Juju Watkins for USC.

Michael Wilbon discusses both teams' strengths:

"UConn is UConn. And they're coming off of having, I guess, arguably the two best players... they are coming back and they are storming back."
(05:19)

Tony debates the potential impact of player absences:

"If Juju Watkins isn't in the picture, there's no question that Paige Becker is the best player in women's college basketball."
(06:24)

Key Discussion Points:

• UConn's Resilience: Despite injuries to top players Paige Becker and Az Fudd, UConn remains a formidable force.
• USC's Challenge: Without Juju Watkins, Tony questions USC's ability to advance, whereas Michael believes USC can still compete strongly.
• Potential Final Four Stories: Both teams represent compelling narratives, whether it's UConn's depth and talent or USC's ability to overcome key player losses.

3. Yankees' Introduction of Torpedo Bats

The conversation shifts to Major League Baseball, focusing on the New York Yankees' recent adoption of "torpedo bats," which have garnered attention for their increased girth and sweet spot.

Tony Kornheiser raises concerns about the legality and impact of these bats:

"Are these bats legal? ... If they're legal, then I am good."
(08:32)

Michael Wilbon discusses the potential implications and compares it to past equipment changes in sports:

"This is like Manjuro or one of those drugs that there's so little time to study that you don't have complete information yet."
(10:04)

Key Discussion Points:

• Performance Boost: Yankees have hit 15 home runs in the first three games using these bats.
• Legality and Regulation: Debate over whether MLB will approve the continued use of these bats or impose restrictions.
• Impact on the Game: Potential shift in batting strategies and how other teams might respond or adapt.

4. NBA Scuffle: Pistons vs. Wolves

A brief segment covers a recent altercation between the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Wolves.

Michael Wilbon minimizes the incident's significance:

"It's a skirmish. They're wrestling pretty good. A brawl is what NHL players do."
(13:00)

Tony Kornheiser echoes the sentiment, suggesting the event will soon be forgotten:

"I suspect it's no deal because these are teams from different conferences that are not going to play each other anymore this season."
(14:02)

Key Discussion Points:

• Nature of the Incident: Described as a minor skirmish rather than a full-fledged brawl.
• Consequences: Minor suspensions are expected, with no long-term impact on the teams involved.
• Public Perception: Likely to fade quickly amidst the season's ongoing events.

5. MLB Highlights: Jacob deGrom and Rafael Devers

The hosts compare the performances of Yankees' star pitcher Jacob deGrom and Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers.

Tony Kornheiser praises deGrom's return from injury:

"He wasn't there on the World Series team last year. ... He just went five innings, gave up two hits, no walks, no earned runs, and struck out six."
(16:12)

Michael Wilbon highlights Devers' struggles:

"They can win without him, right? They've won without him."
(16:03)

Key Discussion Points:

• Jacob deGrom: His impressive performance signals a strong comeback after previous injuries and Tommy John surgery.
• Rafael Devers: Facing an unprecedented slump with 0 for 19 and 15 strikeouts, raising concerns about his impact on the Red Sox.
• Team Dependence: Dever's slump poses a significant challenge for the Red Sox, whereas deGrom's performance is crucial for the Yankees' success.

6. Coaching Changes and Historical Reflections

The episode touches on recent coaching changes and honors retired players.

Tony Kornheiser discusses Kevin Willard's departure from Maryland:

"This fiasco really hurts Maryland in my mind both in finding a coach and the perception of their program."
(21:53)

Michael Wilbon briefly mentions Gonzaga High School's long-standing coach leaving:

"They have head basketball coach Steve Turner who's leaving after 26 or 27 incredibly successful seasons."
(22:36)

Tony also commemorates Jerry Lucas's 85th birthday and Purvis Ellison's NCAA championship performance:

"Lucas was a tremendous player at Ohio State... a memory expert... he embodies what it means to have an unstoppable drive."
(19:49)

Key Discussion Points:

• Coaching Departures: Impact on programs like Maryland and Gonzaga High School, with emphasis on the legacy left behind.
• Honoring Legends: Celebrating Jerry Lucas's contributions to basketball and reflecting on Purvis Ellison's pivotal NCAA championship game.

7. Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon conclude the episode by touching on various minor topics, including MLB player injuries and Novak Djokovic's loss at the Miami Open, emphasizing the fluid nature of sports news and ongoing narratives.

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This episode of PTI delves deep into the current landscape of college basketball, both men's and women's tournaments, scrutinizes innovations in Major League Baseball, and reflects on noteworthy performances and coaching changes across sports. Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon provide insightful analysis, blending statistical observations with personal anecdotes, ensuring listeners are well-informed on the day's hottest sports topics.

Transcript

[Damian Lillard]

In case you didn't know, these young men are driven. They are prodigies, the savants, the ones we've been waiting for. Like Damian Lillard, for instance. He doesn't seek guidance or mentorship. He's a leader. He isn't waiting for the baton to be passed to him. He's taking it for himself. He's relentless in a pursuit of greatness, always pushing to one up himself. He is accomplished, but far from satisfied. He embodies what it means to have an unstoppable drive and are shaking up the status quo in their community and beyond. And. And Damian Lillard drives a Toyota. A new generation of Toyota drivers are here. And they want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive.

[Mike Wilbon]

Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. It's National Prom Day, Tony. Do you even remember your prom?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm Tony Kornheiser. I stayed home. Eleanor Roosevelt turned me down. I had no date. What could I do?

[Mike Wilbon]

I mean, it's the 1st of April. What prom is that an April Fool's joke? A day early? I mean, my prom, like May 7th or May 10th, something like that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. It's actually March 31st. Do you remember who you went to the prom with? Did you have a promise? Yes.

[Mike Wilbon]

Marguerite Martin, dear friend. All these years later. All these years.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, I went with Jill Rosenberg. Lost touch with her. Have no idea what she's doing, if she's watching. Hi, welcome to PTI. Boys and girls, in today's episode, UConn, USC play for the Women's Final Four. The Yankees bulk up their bats and an NBA scuffle leads to seven ejections. But we begin today with the NCAA Men's Tournament where all four number one seeds made the Final Four for only the second time ever. Auburn in Florida out of the SEC, Duke out of the ACC, and Houston out of the Big 12. Wilbine, you've been skeptical all year of the ACC and of Duke. Have all your questions been answered?

[Mike Wilbon]

I think so, Tony. I'd be hard to not have a man. You make the Final Four the definition of success in college basketball. You know, unless you're ucla, maybe Duke, North Carolina is to get to the Final Four. And even for those schools, the start of the success is to reach the Final Four. And they've done that, even the blue Bloods. And so, yes, the sec, which Jay Billis told us on day one, like going back to Halloween was going to be as good a conference as we've ever seen. He's right. He's Right. And I know Jay wasn't the only one. He was our expert. But my goodness, how can you be skeptical after what they did? After getting, you know, half the sweet 16 and then bombarding the elite eight? And now two is not Big East 1985, but it's damn good. And Duke, Tony, I think Duke is getting better now, like in the tournament. And that's the definition of greatness. And so I went into this, as you know, I would call you and say, okay, let's see what they got. They got plenty.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. I join you with a shout out to Jay Bilis, who had all four number ones on his bracket.

[Mike Wilbon]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Who told us the SEC was by far the best conference. Seven in the Sweet 16, four in the Elite Eight, and every single region had a finalist from the SEC, which had never been done before. And I join you about Duke because I will tell you the most impressive thing that I have seen in the entire tournament so far is Duke holding Alabama to 65 points. Alabama against BYU the previous game had 113 points. So that's minus 48 right there. In the previous game against BYU, Alabama shot 51 threes and made 25. Never happened before. Nobody shot that many. Nobody ever made that many against Duke. Eight for 32. That's minus 51, just on threes. And that's because Duke plays defense. And Duke's the tallest team in the country. And that kid Mark Sears, right, who's so good for Alabama, who had like 32 or 34 against BYU and 10 threes. He had six against Duke, six points and one three. So can they beat Houston? I don't know. Houston's really good. Houston's better defensively than Duke is. They will go out and guard you. That is a game I want to see. I also, I want to see Florida and Auburn, but I worry about Janai Broom. Can he play? Because if he can't play healthy, he's the best player they got. And that hurts them a lot. Yeah, it hurts them a lot.

[Mike Wilbon]

Tony, I'm glad you mentioned Houston before we get out of this segment, because their defense, Kelvin Sampson's defense against Michigan State, I mean, they just don't allow anything. They didn't allow them anything. And so they dominated. They smothered them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They did.

[Mike Wilbon]

But again, just to answer the initial question, to start this show, the sec. Yes. Duke. Yes. And it continues. It does.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, let's go to the NCAA Women's Tournament. They have two Final Four teams in already. They're both number one seeds. Defending champion South Carolina and ucla. Tonight, TCU plays Texas for the third spot in the Final Four. And the Marquee matchup is UConn against USC. USC without Juju Watkins. Wilbon, you are knee deep in the women's tournament. Would UConn or USC making the Final Four be the better story?

[Mike Wilbon]

I'm not going to try to judge that because they'd both be great stories.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, that's the question.

[Mike Wilbon]

UConn is UConn. And they're coming off of having, I guess, arguably the two best players. Certainly the best player. Paige Beckers has missed a recent tournament with a knee injury. Az Fudd missed a tournament with a knee injury. And they are coming back and they are storming back. And the most significant game they played in the regular season, they just beat down South Carolina. And a lot of folks would like to see that rematch. And so that's a great story. If Southern Cal with without their best player. Come on now. Without juju Watkins. If they are able to win two games without her and get to the Final four. And look, Tony, they can do it. You know Kiki Irafin, she's Iriafin. She's tremendous as a transfer from Stanford. I'm not saying she can take up all the slack, but that would be a great story. And I'm not going to say either one of those teams would be a lesser story. People will have to make way for both.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, so this question asked me to put on my newspaper sportswriter hat and I will do that. And I will agree with you that if USC were to get there without juju Watkins, that is a terrific story because it validates the coaching, it validates the other players. It says they are not a one man team when in fact Juju Watkins to USC is sort of like LeBron James to the Lakers. But my question is this, looking forward, could they win two more games without her? I don't think so. Which is why if I have to choose, I think UConn going to the Final Four is a better story because Paige Becker is going to play. All right, Juju Watkins is not going to play. Paige Becker's got 40 in the last game. And if Juju Watkins isn't in the picture, there's no question that Paige Becker is the best player in women's college basketball. So you get her and you get Geno. Remember last year when Gino was hinting he was going to retire? How's that working out? He just went 34 and three. Now one of those three, Mike is against USC. One of the losses, but it's with Juju Watkins. I just sort of feel that you want your healthiest teams in the final four. It's how I feel about, about Auburn. If Janai Bruhm can't play like cuz I don't think you can win the best teams at this level. I want the helpiest.

[Mike Wilbon]

I want the best team. I want the team that earns it. I don't care about distinctions at this point. If you can go out there and you are Southern Cal and you can say, okay, next woman up and you can go out there and you can be UConn, I'm sorry, that is the biggest story of the tournament. If Southern Cal is able to do that. And now to fat bats being made notorious by the Yankees. The Yanks hit nine home runs Saturday, four more yesterday, with quite a few of them swinging a new kind of lumber nicknamed the Torpedo bat. The sticks feature more girth at the sweet spot and hence more barrel with which to hit the ball. You know, right around there. Baseball says it doesn't have a problem with these bats, Tony, do you?

[Tony Kornheiser]

So the most important question to me is, are these bats legal? I had Mark Feinsand on my podcast today. He appeared after you appeared this morning from MLB.com and he assures me that these are legal. So if they're legal, then I am good. Yeah, I'm good with that. This is going to make you happy because I know how much you hate analytics. This whole concept of this bat came out of an analytical study about where to hit on the bat, where's the best place to get on the ball. And a lot of people found out that the sweet spot wasn't exactly where they thought it would be. It was a little bit further down the barrel. The Yankees invent this bat, and if I'm not mistaken, they have 15 home runs in the first three games. Everybody's going to want a piece of this bat now. And not everybody uses it. Aaron Judge doesn't use it. Why should he use it? He's happy hitting 62 home runs, you know, with the bat he's got. But, Mike, I am hoping that whoever invented this bat has a patent on it, because this guy's going to be a billionaire.

[Mike Wilbon]

Tony. Well, I don't know. Is the aluminum bat inventor a billionaire? I mean, they never got to.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's illegal. Beyond that's illegal in the majors.

[Mike Wilbon]

Okay, okay. We don't know how long this bat may be around. People may decide something else. The competition committee. The NFL is not the only sport that has a competition committee. But let me just say this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So you think this is the Tush push? You think this is the Tush push and it'll be controversial and people want to ban it.

[Mike Wilbon]

Tony, if the Yankees continue to score 10 runs every week, you know, I mean, every day. I'm sorry, every day. It's not the NFL. Every day, then it might be good. Fair question, though. I hear you. But, Tony, here's the thing. Look, you and I played a lot of baseball, watched a lot of baseball, covered a lot of baseball. What happens to the end of the bad hits? I mean, it seems like so many, even great players, even Tony Gwynn, you don't square it up. Every. Every at bat, every hit, every safe at bat, you've got to have some hits off the bottom of the bat, off the end of the bat. I don't know. You know, this is like Manjuro or one of those. One of these. One of these drugs that there's so little time to study that you don't have complete information yet.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's like going to a golf place to get new clubs and you hit a ball into the simulator, you know, and they do the thing with the trackman and boom, you got new clubs, you can get a new bat. I would point this out. The brewers gave up 10 today. Brewers have given up like 3000 runs already. Maybe they stink. Maybe it's not the bat. Let's take a break.

[Mike Wilbon]

Maybe they stink.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Coming up, how big a deal was the dust up between the Pistons and the Wolves?

[Mike Wilbon]

Rafael Devers may need a bigger bat himself to get out of the slump he's in. It's deep.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're right about the weight loss drugs. That there may be a downside. Giancarlo Stanton thinks that this bat contributed to his injury. Well, if that's the case, you're not gonna lose the bat.

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TaxAct knows you probably don't need help filing taxes. But if you get stuck, we have live experts you can talk to. And who knows, you could hit it off and become long term tax friends. Staying up late at night talking about deductions, refunds, personal exemptions. Heck, you could even in love and create a little dependent of your own one day. Or they could just answer your filing questions. Tax act. Let's get them over with.

[Damian Lillard]

In case you didn't know, these young men are driven. They are prodigies, the savants, the ones we've been waiting for. Like Damian Lillard, for instance. He doesn't seek guidance or mentorship. He's A leader. He isn't waiting for the baton to be passed to him. He's taking it for himself. He's relentless in a pursuit of greatness, always pushing to one up himself. He is accomplished but far from satisfied. He embodies what it means to have an unstoppable drive and are shaking up the status quo in their community and beyond. And Damian Lillard drives a Toyota. A new generation of Toyota drivers are here and they want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Time to give the pros a role in mail time. That's a good line. I wish I'd written it. Let me see what's first. Let me get this. The dust up between the Pistons and Wolves. Big deal. Little deal. No deal.

[Mike Wilbon]

Very little, Tony. Because you know people are using the word brawl on every show, every channel and it wasn't a brawl cuz there are no punches thrown cuz guys would have been suspended for a much longer time. It's a skirmish. They're wrestling pretty good. A brawl is what NHL players do. Particularly people apparently named Tkachuk. And then a lot of people on the air applaud and laud. That is not what happened here. There's still going to be some small suspensions. It's not that big a deal if punches have been thrown and people had to be thrown out for five or six games. Given that we're at the end of the season with fewer than 10 coming into the play in that would have been a big deal. Divincenzo. They got to get him under control because they need him in Minnesota and he was in the thick of that. I like Isaiah Stewart's new nickname in Detroit, Beef Stew. He's a tough guy in the old bad boy Pistons image. But in all it's a very little deal.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, if I have to pick, I'm going to say it's no deal. I suspect it's no deal because these are teams from different conferences that are not going to play each other anymore this season. And when this rolls around next year, I just think it'll be mostly forgotten. Half the people who were in this thing are going to be on different teams anyway. I have. I have no real idea what happened, but when I watched the replay, what stood out to me was there are more assistant coaches than there are players on these teams. Yeah, it looked like an ant colony milling around out there. Again. I don't really know what it's about. I know that Minnesota was losing when this happened and I know that they won the game by 19. Whether there's cause and effect, I have no idea. But if you want to use the word brawl or fight or dust up or skirmish, I do know this, that in every sport, every day, somewhere, there's one of these things. And they usually get resolved. They usually get resolved.

[Mike Wilbon]

So almost always.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't want to go crazy. Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

More mail.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What's next here?

[Mike Wilbon]

No overreaction on this show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Bigger deal from the Red Sox, Rangers series. Jacob deGrom success or Rafael Devers lack of it.

[Mike Wilbon]

All right, I'm going to match you by going to the glasses, going to the readers. Jacob deGrom. Tony, you know he's on a five year deal still fairly early in it for 185 million. But he had Tommy John and he missed 23 and most of 24. And then he's back out there today, goes five innings, two hits, no earned, six Ks, while Rafael devers, who we've been talking about all spring, it seems he goes over his first 19 with 15 strikeouts. That. That's not a bigger deal because they can win without him, right? They've won without him. The Rangers are not going to win without deGrom. So deGrom coming back like this, five innings and then he's going to go more innings in the next game. Apparently they're going to try to creep him up.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Am I crazy? I thought they won a World Series without him. Am I nuts on that? Somebody get in my ear. He wasn't there on the World Series team last year.

[Mike Wilbon]

Last year he wasn't a factor at all. And they struggled. They're not gonna win without him. They gotta have him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I am Happy for Jacob deGrom. This is his second Tommy John surgery. He just went five innings, gave up two hits, no walks, no earned runs, and struck out six. And then he did what Verlander talks about, five and fly. Good for him. That does not compare in my mind to the start that Rafael Des has had. As you said, 0 for 19 to start with 15 strikeouts. No one in the history of baseball has ever has opened up a season with those kinds of numbers with that amount of strikeouts. And I know he has said, mike, it has nothing to do with Alex Bregman taking his position at third for the Red Sox. And he moves to Dharma. Maybe he's right, but I think there's something there, Mike. I think this is a potential Jimmy Butler situation where a veteran making a lot of money says, I don't want to be here. This is not working out for me. I gotta get out of here.

[Mike Wilbon]

But keep in mind he had shoulder problems. Okay? He comes to spring training. He barely takes at bats at all. I mean, he's just taking bp. He beats Bare. So he wasn't ready to play? It appears so. You know what we're gonna find out tomorrow? They've got him on the injured list. They're gonna put him on. You might go to DL. That's fine. And just go from there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's fine.

[Mike Wilbon]

It'll be all right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Enough email. Let's take one last break. Still to come, Kevin Willard officially flees Maryland. Or fleeces. Flees. Or fleeces.

[Mike Wilbon]

And could the brotherly shove get shoved out tomorrow? See what I did there again, Mike?

[Tony Kornheiser]

The Rangers won the world series without deGrom. He wasn't on that team. They won the World Series.

[Mike Wilbon]

It was a different team from two years ago. It's different personnel.

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Welcome to AutoZone. What are you working on today?

[Damian Lillard]

My car is making this noise.

[Mike Wilbon]

Sometimes it's like.

[Damian Lillard]

And sometimes it's like.

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Oh, yeah.

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[Mike Wilbon]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Damian Lillard]

Foreign.

[Tony Kornheiser]

People. Happy 85th birthday yesterday, Jerry Lucas. History lesson, kids. Lucas was a tremendous player at Ohio State, leading a Buckeye team that included John Havlicek and Bobby Knight to the national championship in 1960 and another final four in his three seasons of eligibility. Lucas was the territorial pick of the Cincinnati Royals in 1962. He was Rookie of the Year, a seven time All Star and played on a championship team with the Knicks in 1973, their last one. Lucas averaged 17 points and nearly 16 rebounds per game for his career playing center and forward. After his playing days ended, Lucas became celebrated as a memory expert and made tons of appearances where he memorized all sorts of random things.

[Mike Wilbon]

I know how much you love Willis Reed. I know that. But after Willis, where was Lucas on your fave Knicks meter? Where was he?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. He was only there for a couple of years. No, no, no, no. His career was mostly done by then. No, it's like Walton with Boston, you know, that's what it was like. Happy anniversary, Purvis Ellison. On this day 39 years ago, the freshman scored 25 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and hit two free throws with 27 seconds seconds left to seal Louisville's national championship win over Duke. He earned the nickname Never nervous. Purvis played four years at Louisville, was the overall number one pick in the 1989 draft by Sacramento. But a rash of injuries earned him the nickname out of Service Purvis given to him by his Kings teammate Danny Ainge. Ellison had a most improved player year down the road for Washington, but injuries reared up again. In his last four NBA seasons in Boston, Ellison played in only 69 games out of a possible 246 Joel Embiid type numbers.

[Mike Wilbon]

I remember that NCAA championship game, Tony. And he had like a 2011 season for the Bullets or Wizards or whoever they were at the time. And we thought he was going to take off and leave them. And he could, couldn't stay out there, which was too bad. He had some skill.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, couldn't stay upright long enough. He just couldn't do it. Happy trails to Maryland for Kevin Willard. After days of blundering around it, Willard is leaving College park to take over at Villanova. When Willard acknowledged the possibility a week and a half ago, if I was still writing a column, I would have written, if you don't like it here, there's the door. Don't let it hit you on the way out. And if I were the Chancellor of the University of Maryland, I would have called Kevin Willard up and said, what exactly are you doing? If you don't like it here, get out. What have you ever won? In 1989, Michigan man Bo Schembechler dumped Bill Freeter on the eve of the tournament for agreeing to the Arizona State job. And the Wolverines went on to win the title under Steve Fisher. This fiasco really hurts Maryland in my mind both in finding a coach and the perception of their program.

[Mike Wilbon]

Tony speaking to DMV coaching news in basketball. Gotta say goodbye to Gonzaga High School in the district. They have head basketball coach Steve Turner who's leaving after 26 or 27 incredibly successful seasons. Near and dear to my household. Hate to see him go, but wishing him well.

[Tony Kornheiser]

One error. Houston played great defense yesterday against Tennessee, not Michigan state. They got 15. They killed him. Let's go to the big finish. The passion for basketball to ban the tushbush reportedly received heated debate at league meetings yesterday. Your thoughts?

[Mike Wilbon]

Tony supposedly goes to a vote tomorrow. I can't see there being enough votes to shove that thing out. I can't see that. The Dodgers pulled Roki Sasaki in the second inning Saturday night after he again struggled with control. Are you concerned?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Nine walks and five innings. This is major League Baseball. It's different than in Japan. It's different. Stanford hired Frank Reich as their interim head football coach. As that makes sense. Sense to you.

[Mike Wilbon]

If you're going to have a. A bridge coach, an interim coach, Frank Reich makes all the sense in the world. Yes. Novak Djokovic lost in the finals of the Miami open to a 19 year old check check player Jakob Menchik. Is that a significant loss? Tony?

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's more significant if it happens in a major. I don't know how significant it is. Last one. Kevin Durant left last night's loss to the Rockets with a sprained left ankle. Your reaction?

[Mike Wilbon]

The Sun's look done, Tony. And I. I don't. It's hard to see Kevin Durant coming back in the Sun's uniform. That might have been his last night in one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We are out of time. We will try to do better the next time. And I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Mike Wilbon]

I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads. You can get the PTI podcast on the ESPN app or Apple Podcasts.

[Brian Buckmire]

And rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame and power until it all came crashing down.

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Federal investigators raiding two homes owned by hip hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs.

[Brian Buckmire]

I'm Brian Buckmire, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall. And what could be next? Listen to Bad Rap the Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Brad Milkey]

Hey, I'm Brad Milkey. You may know me as the host of ABC Audio's daily news podcast, Start Here. But I'd like to add aspiring true crime expert to my resume. And here's how I'm gonna make it happen. Every week, I'm gonna unpack the biggest true crime story that that everyone is talking about. ABC's got some unique access here, so I'll talk to the reporters and producers who have followed these cases for months, sometimes years. We'll bring you the latest developments and the larger context on the true crime stories you've been hearing about. Follow the crime scene for special access to the people who know these stories best.