Loading summary
Transcript57 lines
- [00:00]
Toyota Advertiser
I don't just stand on business. I live it 24 7. Because you don't become a young entrepreneur by staying stagnant. Whether I'm chasing deals, networking, or taking calls from behind the wheel of my Toyota Crown, I'm always in motion. You may think launching a successful startup is enough to be satisfied, but me, I'm just getting started. It's a new day at Toyota, led by a new generation of drivers. And we want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive. Toyota. Let's go places.
- [00:32]
Mike Wilbon
Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. Tony. The winner of last night's Westminster Dog show was a giant schnauzer named Monty.
- [00:41]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm Tony Kornheiser, and if that event happened in a week, it would be our lead story. Cause there's no hockey, there's no basketball. Everybody's off. We got nothing.
- [00:52]
Mike Wilbon
We got college hoops. We got golf.
- [00:54]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, we got little college hoops. Dogs are great. I'll tell you something. My dog Chessie was in that show. She'd have won or she'd have bit one of the other dogs that did win. Welcome to pti, boys and girls. Today's episode, college upsets. Four nations face Off. And Tim Leger joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with Dak Prescott not getting his money, but having this observation. Dak has complimented the Eagles on their super bowl victory, then took into account that the Eagles and commanders are in the NFC East. And he concluded, quote, we're very close, especially even watching the NFC Championship and those two teams that we battle against every year. It's our turn, and it's on us, unquote. Woban. How do you assess Dax? Logic.
- [01:37]
Mike Wilbon
You know what, Tony? I know you really often zero in on what particularly prominent and worthy athletes say, and I don't. I just think we've reached a time where everybody, present company, half of it included, has a podcast and everybody has to say something, and. And there's talk 24 7. And let me just point out, in Dak's case, he was speaking, apparently, at some sort of fundraiser to fight cancer. So I care much more where he was and the need to say something than I care about sort of what he said in parsing all the words and whether they're as good as the Eagles or the commanders and what's going on in the NFC east, it doesn't sway me. It doesn't really move me. I don't care what Dax says. I don't. I want to see him on the field next season. I hope he's healthy enough following this latest ailment and surgery to be. I want to see him play. I don't really care what he says. I really don't.
- [02:35]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, it's a stump speech. It's something you say to make the fans happy and give them hope. I have no problem with it. The logic is flawed, though, because if it was as simple as playing a team twice every year, then your Chicago Bears would be in the playoffs because they played Detroit twice every year, and. And they played Green Bay twice every year. Or the Raiders would be in the playoffs because they play Kansas City twice every year. The fact of the matter is that last year the Cowboys lost to the Eagles twice by a margin of 73 to 14. It's an unbelievable margin, you know, and they are. In the last three years, the Eagles have gone to the super bowl twice, and the Cowboys have been 1 and 2 in the playoffs and have watched the super bowl and at home, you know, on tv. I mean, they're in a situation. And Dax gonna make them better. Mike, if he plays the whole season, gonna make him better. But they're in a situation where Philadelphia is discernibly better than they are, and Washington is probably better than they are also. And to be fair, they haven't been to the Super bowl in 29 years, so that's important.
- [03:40]
Mike Wilbon
But the other thing is, there's nothing Dak can say that's gonna reverse what you just said about what happened with the Eagles last season or the fact that he's got two division teams ahead of him. Apparently, nothing he says is going to change it. In the meantime, we had a spate of top 25 upsets in men's college hoops last night. 15th ranked Kentucky, top number five Tennessee. For the second time in two weeks, 20th ranked Michigan took over the lead in the Big Ten, at least for now, with a win over number seven Purdue. And three unranked teams pulled off wins. Indiana beat number 11 Michigan State. Kansas State won a tight win at home over number 13 Arizona. And UConn, recently now unranked, beat number 24 Creighton on the road. So, Tone, which was the biggest deal.
- [04:30]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. So my initial reaction is to say it's Kentucky winning because we'd seen Kentucky lose at home right. About a week ago to Arkansas, and things weren't going well. And then I would convince myself to say this because it's an SEC game and we're told every day that the SEC is the best basketball conference in the country. And A lot of people stand up and say it could be an all SEC final four. And Tennessee was number five and Kentucky. Now Mike is seven and one against teams in the top 15, which is fabulous. But if I pick that game, I'm just going along with the crowd, you know, and I, I don't know, I have to admit I haven't kept up with college basketball that much this year. Cuz I was one of 127 million people that watched the super bowl instead. So I'll give you two quick ones. Indiana, because Mike Woodson said he's stepping down at the end of the season before they fire him and UConn. And here's why. UConn beats a good team. They beat Creighton, not Creighton. That's a good win. They're a ranked team. But here's what I do know about college basketball. The last two years, UConn won the national title. No SEC team won the national title.
- [05:34]
Mike Wilbon
Indiana at Michigan State. That's the answer to the question. I mean my man Mike Woodson, who, you know, got that school, that team to the NCAA tournament and then, okay, it's not a good year. But the avalanche that's fallen on him is completely, you know, exaggerated and out of proportion as far as I'm concerned. And he stopped Izzo from baking Tom. His record is tied with Bob Knight. That's a big deal. But let me say quickly, Tony, there's no great team in college basketball. Teams won at home last night where they ought to win at home. And that would include Kentucky where they ought to win that game. Michigan beat Purdue. Michigan playing in Ann Arbor ought to win that game. And Kansas State playing against Arizona where people are stopping and starting six game streaks. They ought to win that game at home and they did. So we haven't had any Giant Giant upsets. Not from last night. Not in my opinion.
- [06:28]
Tony Kornheiser
Let's move to the NHL All Star Game. Or what is taking the place of the NHL All Star Game this year it is the four Nations Face Off. It's a round robin tournament with teams from Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden. Players are quite enthusiastic about it. Wilbon, you've agitated for something like this in the NBA All Star Game for years. The US versus the world. Do you like the NHL experimenting with this thing instead of an All Star Game?
- [06:53]
Mike Wilbon
Yes, Tony, yes I do. I like the NHL trying something, realizing its All Star Game like the NBA All Star Game and the Pro bowl are dogs. They'd all turned into dogs for various reasons. I don't mean the Westminster show either. So the NHL said, okay, let's do something. Let's do something. Let's not just sort of smooth it over and trot the same thing out there in shirts and skins or whatever it is. And so, yes, I applaud the NHL. I don't know that it will work. It's a long deal. It goes to, like, a week from tomorrow, but I applaud it. I want to see, you know, guys who are rivals and teammates mix it up and go against each other. And the NHL, NBA in particular, ought to be taking notes because it needs to do something radical, and it won't.
- [07:45]
Tony Kornheiser
Shirts and skins in a hockey game would be fabulous. I like that idea right away.
- [07:49]
Mike Wilbon
Sure.
- [07:49]
Tony Kornheiser
The NHL moved away from their All Star game because they had a score like 17 to 12 and 10. It's junk. Baseball is the only All Star game that works. Look, this is a good idea. This is a good try. You represent your country. I think you're gonna be motivated to play hard. I think the hits will probably be real. So my fear, Mike, is if someone gets hurt badly and misses a lot of time. But I think it's worth the opportunity to see this happen. My only question is, what happened to the Russian team? There is no Russian team. And there's a reason there's no Russian team is because of the sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine. I'm not gonna get political here, but There are almost 50 Russian players in the league, one of whom is gonna break Wayne Gretzky's record for the most goals of all time. So it feels a little empty to not have a Russian. This is the complicated part of this, when you have nations. But I agree with you. It's a good try, we think. Let's take a break. Coming up, Foster tries. Yeah, the new look Lakers are back on the floor. Tonight, we're gonna ask Tim Legler what stands out to him about them.
- [08:57]
Mike Wilbon
Will also ask him whether he sees any hope for the downcast down in the mouth. Dallas Mavericks. The NBA had every chance to go international versus the US and they punted. They bailed because the players apparently don't want to have real competition.
- [09:14]
Tony Kornheiser
No, there's no defense. People go 200 points. You can't have that, Mitch.
- [09:19]
Tim Legler
And you can't have it.
- [09:23]
Mike Wilbon
In case you didn't know, these young men are driven, quite remarkable, magnificent and unmistakable. These are the prodigies, the savants, the ones we've been waiting for. And they are not asking for you to pass the baton. They are methodically planning the perfect moment to take it. A new generation of Toyota drivers are here, and they want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive.
- [09:52]
AT&T Advertiser
In life, there are plenty of things that feel like they should be guaranteed but just aren't. Like when your friends text on my way but you're left wondering if they really are. Or when you toss your laundry in the dryer only to find one sock is missing when you finish folding. Or when your favorite pair of jeans just don't fit the same anymore. It's the little things that we expect to be reliable, but sometimes they let us down. And that can be frustrating. But here's something you can count on the brand new AT and T Guarantee. The AT and T guarantee means connectivity you can depend on, deals you want and service you deserve. And if anything's not up to par, they'll make it right. That's the AT and t guarantee. Visit att.com guaranty to learn more. AT and T Connecting changes everything. Terms and conditions apply.
- [10:43]
Tim Legler
Foreign.
- [10:48]
Tony Kornheiser
We have NBA questions for our great friend, our longtime friend Wilbon. We were there at the launch of his career. ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler let's start with this. Luka LeBron and the Lakers are at the Utah Jazz tonight. You saw the Lakers the other night in Luka's debut. You're lucky to have done that, it seems to me. What stood out to you?
- [11:12]
Tim Legler
Well, first, just a buzz in the arena. Walking in two hours before the game. It felt like a major playoff game or maybe even a finals type environment. Walking in and you're talking about, you know, a game against the Utah Jazz who weren't playing freely for anything. A 12 win team. So that was the first thing, just the electricity that was created. But then once I saw them play, really what I saw was limitless possibilities offensively for J.J. redick. And what these two guys represent playing together, you're talking about along with Nikola Jokic. I think there are three guys in this league that can beat you in every conceivable way as a scorer or a passer. And that means making any play that needs to be made with your passing. Vision, anticipation because of their size and their strength and their ability to get the ball from one side of the floor to the other. They're making the right reads combined with their threat as a scorer. Those three guys are in a special class. And now the Lakers have two of them and they have them potentially on opposite sides of the floor. They can involve them in similar action to try to get the Switch of the mismatch that they want. That to me, is what stood out, just what they can eventually become the more time they have together.
- [12:24]
Mike Wilbon
Well, that's one side of the seesaw, Tim. You're at the other one tonight in Dallas where the Mavericks are back on the floor. When you look at what's going on with that team, all the injuries to the bigs, I mean, my goodness, it's like half a roster of bigs being down the fan base, being unhappy. Tim, is there a silver lining you see at all for the Mavericks franchise right now?
- [12:49]
Tim Legler
I'm going to be honest, I really don't. And I know people might think, hey, you got AD back, you've got a good team still, and all those things are true. And heck, you know, this year might be tough with these injuries. I don't know how long it's going to take to get fully healthy. You're going to be coming from a really difficult spot, the west, maybe a play in team, and then trying to roll through three series on the road in the West. I don't know that they do a lot of damage this year, but even if you're able to do something like that, make a run this year, make a run next year, hey, maybe win a title in the next three years, I don't know that that would salve the wounds of the people in Dallas. Because you, number one, they're thinking, hey, we might have done that with Luca too. We'll never know that they went to the Finals a year ago. So who knows ultimately what their upside would have been. But more importantly, you took away a guy that represented what will be the favorite player for many, many, many people in Dallas, and that will be forever. No matter who comes in after him, no matter how short his time was here, what he does in LA or beyond, it represented a gut punch to the fan base and to the community. So I don't even think short term winning is going to be enough. When you look at what Luka Doncic potentially represented over the next 10, 12, 15 years if he stayed in a Mavericks uniform.
- [14:10]
Tony Kornheiser
Let me go to the warriors at this point. Steph Curry has been very praising of Jimmy Butler. He's basically said, jimmy Butler getting here has made me a better player, made me more comfortable on the court. Is this fit strong enough to overcome the fact that the warriors have no.
- [14:28]
Tim Legler
Size at all to ultimately overcome it? Tony? Probably not, because number one, Oklahoma City is, is the barometer now. That's the measuring stick in the west and they can play big. They can play small, they can play fast. They're the best defensive team in the NBA. So I don't know that anybody's overcoming that this year in the West. But what it does do is make the Golden State warriors have a little juice here down the stretch, and it's a little extra. And I've seen extra even as Steph Curry's bounce and rhythm and the way he's moving, he looks quicker. He looks more into it, I think, because he has hope. And what Jimmy Butler addresses are a few things. One, he's a very underrated passer, so he has already made reads in a couple of games that the guys that they had occupying those minutes before couldn't make. He knows how to play. He has a very high iq, and when he's motivated, he really impacts the game on both ends. And I think he is highly motivated. I think he's got a lot to prove after what went down in Miami and just some of the hits he took, he is ready to come in and contribute, play in a system that's fun. And he has already had a direct contribution on what Steph Curry's been able to do offensively and freeing up some space for him and then doing things defensively to help this team. Their size is a factor, though, Tony, or lack thereof, I should say. No doubt about it, Tim.
- [15:46]
Mike Wilbon
We'll let you wrap up with this. I'm in Arizona right now. As you can probably see, I was in the building last night for Kevin Durant, surpassing 30,000 points in his career, a point that only Wilt and Michael Jordan got to faster than kd. But I want to ask you about a very complex thing with Kevin Durant right now. He's on a team as great as he's playing. He's on a team which is like 12th, I think, in the standings, right? Nowhere near a real playoff spot. What do you make of KD at this point in his career? The talent, but the fit with the Suns, where he may wind up? What do you make of all of it?
- [16:27]
Tim Legler
Well, first, I want to just acknowledge the accomplishment, because sometimes you hear a guy, you know reaches a milestone and you show the highlight and everybody kind of goes, oh, that's great. He got a milestone. And then you actually see the list of players that they put up on the screen on SportsCenter last night, and you look at that and take that in for a second, and there's eight guys in the history of this league have done that, and you look at the names. LeBron, Kareem, Karl Malone, Kobe, Michael Jordan, Dirk Wilt, Kevin Durant. Let me look at that list. I just first want to pat him on the back. He's one of the greatest players this league has ever seen. He's certainly one of the most entertaining. Unfortunately for Kevin Durant, he's in a situation right now with a team that just doesn't have enough fight. And that's what I see most nights when I watch Phoenix. I. I don't think they handle adversity great. I don't think they're necessarily a particularly tough team. They can be very good offensively on given nights. The consistency isn't there. They just haven't been able to gel and figure it out since they brought these three scorers together. They even made a coaching change. They surrounded him with different role players. None of it has really translated to winning at a high level. So unfortunately for Kevin Durant, he did something incredible and it's a little bit obscured by the fact that Phoenix right now is, is not looking like a legitimate threat in the Western Conference.
- [17:47]
Tony Kornheiser
Tim, so good to have you on. So good. Thank you so much.
- [17:50]
Mike Wilbon
Really appreciate it, man.
- [17:52]
Tim Legler
Always enjoy it, guys. Anytime for you.
- [17:56]
Tony Kornheiser
Let's take one last break. Still to come, why did Joel Embiid, Wilbon's boy, pass on a three point attempt that could have given the Sixers the lead last night? Why?
- [18:05]
Mike Wilbon
I knew you were going to lock in on that. I knew you'd find that clip.
- [18:08]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [18:08]
Mike Wilbon
The Dodgers decide whether Shohei will pitch in the Cactus League. I'm here. I'm in the Cactus League. Let's see Shohei. Okay, enough. Promise. Let's see him.
- [18:21]
AT&T Advertiser
When you're a small business owner, having your bookkeeping and taxes in order comes at a cost. I'm not just talking about your money. I'm talking about your time, hours and hours that you could have spent actually growing your business. But guess what? It doesn't have to be that way. Thanks to Found. Found is a banking platform that doesn't just consolidate your financial ecosystem. Found automates manual activities like expense tracking and finding tax write offs. Found makes staying on top of invoices and payments so easy. Oh, and by the way, other small businesses are loving Found too. This Found user said Found is going to save me so much headache. It makes everything so much easier. Expenses, income, profits, taxes, invoices, even unquote. And found has 30,000 five star reviews just like this. Open a Found account for free at F o u n d.com sports. That's found.com sports. Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Piermont bank member fdic. Don't put this one off. Join thousands of small business owners who have streamlined their finances with foundation as the number and severity of third party breaches continue to rise, companies are increasingly vigilant not just about how they handle their own data, but how their vendors do as well. For security and compliance leaders, this means more security reviews are coming across your desk every day and valuable time is being wasted on manual security reviews. With Vanta questionnaire automation, security and compliance teams can complete security reviews up to five times faster, giving you time back to focus on running your security and compliance programs. Over 8,000 global companies like ZoomInfo, Smart Recruiters and Noibu use Vanta to save time on security reviews. Visit vanta.compodcast to learn more about questionnaire automation. That's V A n t a dot com podcast.
- [20:28]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy Time People. Happy belated birthdays. 28th to Saquon Barkley and 22nd to Cooper de Jean. These birthdays were on Sunday, the day the Eagles won the super bowl, making these Eagles teammates world champions. Barkley didn't do much in the game, 25 carries for 57 yards, six catches for 40 yards. But the Chiefs completely keyed on Barkley because he'd been so destructive in the three previous playoff games where he had rushed for 442 yards and five touchdowns. And the Eagles wouldn't have gotten to the super bowl without Barkley. Dejeet is a rookie cornerback out of Iowa and he made maybe the biggest play in the Super Bowl, a second period 38 yard pick six off of Patrick Mahomes that made the score 17 nothing Philly and it was almost good.
- [21:14]
Mike Wilbon
Night, let them eat cake. A phrase that has never been more appropriate for those two guys to have. What I mean, what bigger birthday present are you going to get the rest of your life? Even if they win another super bowl on their birthday, which they can't, it's not going to be better than the first one. Wow. Happy Birthday.
- [21:36]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy Anniversary Vince Carter. On this day 25 years ago, the second year Raptors guard put on arguably the greatest exhibition in the history of the dunk contest with a master class in Oakland. With all due respect to Jordan and Dominique, Carter's collection was incomparable. His set included a 360 degree windmill, a between the legs bounce, alley oop, an elbow in the rim dunk, also known apparently as a honey dip, and a two handed dunk from one step inside the foul line. Carter played 22 seasons in the NBA, spanning four decades. Before retiring on March 11, 2020, the day the NBA was suspended due to Covid. Carter was a first ballot hall of Famer. He was inducted this past October.
- [22:21]
Mike Wilbon
Cheers to Vince Carter. Just a great guy, first of all. But Tony, you mentioned apologies too. And yes, Dominique and Jordan and Julius Irving, I mean, those are the three guys. And Vince. Vince might have won this dunk contest if he had participated when he was 40. I mean, he might have done that. He's just that great at that thing.
- [22:42]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy trails to a go ahead three point attempt by your boy, Joel Embiid. The Sixers center had a chance to give the Sixers the lead over the lousy Raptors late, but passed on a wide open three and then drove into traffic and immediately lost the ball. Said Embiid after the game. Quote, I thought I could step in and shoot the mid range. Looking back at it, I probably should have shot the wide open three pointer, unquote. The Raptors went on to win by three in Philly over a Sixers team that played all three of its big stars. Philly is now 20 and 33. They're a game and a half out of the play. In. Mike.
- [23:18]
Tim Legler
Out.
- [23:19]
Mike Wilbon
I know. Behind the Bulls. Tony, that's his shot, too. Look, Embiid owned it. Let me give him credit for that. You give credit to people who make a mistake for owning it. He owned it. But he's at the top.
- [23:31]
Tony Kornheiser
That's right.
- [23:32]
Mike Wilbon
That's his three point shot. Not a corner three, not an extended elbow. It's a shot. You think he's going to take it and drain it? It's just not going well for the. For the Sixers. I. I'm rooting for.
- [23:43]
Tony Kornheiser
I've seen him make that. I've seen him make that shot. Let's go to the big finish. The Thunder. Let's do their seven straight wins tonight at home against the Heat. Do you like their chances?
- [23:52]
Mike Wilbon
Yeah. Tony. 24 and three at home. They just. They. They just. They win. They're the best team in the league. Yes. I like their chances against anybody. Shohei will not pitch in the Cactus League here in Arizona this spring. I'm disappointed. What about your thoughts?
- [24:09]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm sad. I want to see him pitch. He says he thinks he's ready in May. I hope that's true in the majors. NFL Network reports that Bengals defensive captain Jermaine Pratt has requested a trade. His that a big deal?
- [24:22]
Mike Wilbon
No. Angel's third baseman, your boy Anthony Rendone. Out again. Indefinitely. Again. After this time hip surgery. You disappointed?
- [24:34]
Tony Kornheiser
He's never been the player at all that he was in Washington. He gets hurt every single year with the Angels. It's really sad. He doesn't play 50 games a year sometimes. Last one Ohio State will replace reportedly hire Matt Patricia as its new defensive coordinator. Does that make sense to you?
- [24:50]
Mike Wilbon
Sure does. It makes as much sense as Chip Chubby being a coordinator there this past. Absolutely. Sure, Matt Patricia.
- [24:58]
Tony Kornheiser
We're out of time. We'll try and do better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [25:02]
Mike Wilbon
And I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads. You can get the PTI podcast on the ESPN app or Apple Podcasts. And now.
- [25:14]
Tony Kornheiser
I'll see you tomorrow. By the way, you'll be home, right?
- [25:17]
Mike Wilbon
You sure the snow gonna let me.
- [25:19]
AT&T Advertiser
In D.C. this episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible financial geniuses, Monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations.