Tony Kornheiser (2:34)

Okay. You know, I'm going to get to Maryland in a second because like you, I find it the most compelling game. But before I do that, I will say that I find all these games watchable. I don't see any routes out there. There is no Cinderella. Mid major team up against the behemoth. The lowest seeded team is Arkansas. They are a 10. But if you watched Arkansas knock off Kansas and then St. John's it'd be hard to call him an underdog. I will watch Duke because like everybody else, I want to see Cooper Flagg. I want to see if he can get through a game without getting his eye poked out. I want to see if Tyrese Proctor is as sizzling hot from three as he was the other day. You know, I mean, I do want to see those things, but I think it's. You know, I'm not going to say that's a compelling game because Arizona is going to have to step up. Duke beat Arizona by 14 points, I think, in the regular season, and that was at Arizona. So I'm going to settle like you did on Maryland versus Florida for a variety of reasons. And one is that Maryland was lucky to get there, lucky to beat Colorado State on that last second shot in which the person who took it, who you talked about, took three steps, so three big steps. I want to see Florida as a number one, because they were. I think they were fortunate, a little bit fortunate to beat UConn. And I've seen Florida score right around 100 points. They can run somebody out, but I haven't seen it. I didn't see it against UConn. And then let's get to Kevin Willard, who is the coach at Maryland, who publicly said. He publicly basically threatened to leave Maryland if they didn't come up with more money for the basketball team. He is essentially holding Maryland hostage. And he has won nothing. He has won nothing there. When I read that, I know a lot of people in this area, in D.C. who love Maryland. I'm not saying I like Maryland very much, but when I read that, I said, wow, if I'm the chancellor of that school, I'm gonna call them up and say, what are you doing? Like, you don't wanna be here. There's the door if you don't wanna be here. And he's a very good coach.

Pablo Torre (4:33)

So he's negotiating in public, as all these guys do. But I do wanna. If we're gonna talk about coaches, I do just wanna do a tip of the cap to Calipari. Tony, the idea that this guy gets to. He gets to wear the costume of Cinderella while being so much better than that. This is a sport, as we know, in which the coaches tend to stay the same. This is a guy who has now moved to a new experiment, has thrived, and is going to get credit as a former David who gets to be Goliath and then David again. And that is a remarkable. Again, as a matter of what I want to write about, it's Maryland, and to me, it's Cal and it's Arkansas. Okay, we should turn the page in our metaphorical newspaper to the Lakers needing every second to get back into the win column last night because down one to the Pacers. With time draining, Luka missed a floater, but LeBron tapped it in for the buzzer beater. And that win is the lakers first since LeBron returned from a groin pull. Tony. So does it restore your faith in the Lakers?

Tony Kornheiser (5:30)

My faith? I didn't know that I had any particular faith in the Lakers. I would have more faith now in Denver or Oklahoma City. But, okay, I'll play the game. Here's what the Lakers did last night. They went on the road against a playoff team, Indiana, a team whose home record, I believe, was 24. Nine, the second best in the entire conference. A team that had won five straight games and its last eight straight home games. They went there to play them and their Two best guys, LeBron and Luka, had not played together for weeks, and then they got two games together and they lost both games. And then on top of that, LeBron had no baskets for the first three quarters, zero baskets from the field. He's been in the league over 20 years. That had never happened before. And with all that working against them, the Lakers won. So, yeah, whatever faith I had would certainly be replenished and restored after last night. Yeah.

Pablo Torre (6:31)

But I do want to continue the thought experiment of what if you were a beat writer covering this game? Right. You begin to write your lead by halftime, and you're saying LeBron James in the middle of a media firestorm that he had a large role in. Although I'm not here to debate who caused what. It's just clear that if they lose this game and LeBron is playing like that, this is a whole different conversation today. That's a whole different conversation potentially for the rest of the way. And so, to me, this is LeBron James not only coming through in the clutch, it is him truly forcing lots of people to delete the things they were going to publish and say and yell from the mountaintops and that too is a testament to the power of that guy and the awareness of that guy.

Tony Kornheiser (7:19)

So he had 13 points in the game. That's all. That's 10, 12, 15 points below what he normally gets. But he got the winner, which is exactly what you're paying him for. Luka misses the shot, LeBron tips it in. So in a sense, they are working together. And I would highlight this. Did you see them hug after the game? They looked like champions, Pablo. They really did. They had that look of champions. Everything you're saying is true. But they won it. You know they won it.

Pablo Torre (7:48)

The math, the math of the NBA is a very simple one. We spend a lot of time trying to figure out the advanced statistics, or at least I do on this side of the aisle. But it's always about superstars. They got two big ones, and if they like each other and the coach knows what to do with them and the other noise they can enjoy but not get undermined by then. This is a formula for the Lakers to make a deep run.

Tony Kornheiser (8:11)

We move on and we go to baseball. Today is opening day, which as I said before, is why we are on ESPN2. There are 15 games on tap. But let's talk about the feature game tonight. That's the Tigers at the Dodgers. Okay, The Dodgers have already played twice this season, but those games were in Japan. This is opening day for the Dodgers in the United States. And here's the draw. The unanimous AL Cy Young winner, Tarek Skubal of the Tigers against the unanimous NL MVP winner, Shohei Otani. Pablo, what will you be watching for?

Pablo Torre (8:41)

I'm going to do the thing where I get to pretend for a day like this is a preview of something as opposed to the beginning of a very, very long ultramarathon. And so to me, I'm watching Ohtani. I'm getting to imagine what it's like when Shohei Ohtani, the greatest talent in the sport, goes up against a guy he is hitless against in school.

Tony Kornheiser (8:59)

That's right.

Pablo Torre (9:00)

So to me, that's the one on one matchup I want to envision. Yeah, exactly. And so beyond that. Yeah, Tony, the big picture is going to be the fact that the Dodgers are more than four times as likely, according to Las Vegas, to win the World Series. Then the next closest team, the Yankees or the Dodgers, depending on how your mileage varies on that. So to me it's, can we see the pock marks? Do we see the holes in the dam that is the LA Dodgers, who look to be set up to be exactly as dominant as they were last season.

Tony Kornheiser (9:29)

Here is what I am going to be watching for. First of all, I want to see the belt that Mookie Betts puts on to hold his pants up after he has lost at least 20 pounds to this virus. 20 pounds that he cannot afford. The program weight for Mookie Betts is a very generous 175, which means he's in the 150s now. I don't think you can go 162 games down 20 pounds. He is no longer light heavy. Now he is a welterweight. And Mookie Betts, he's just not some guy. He's one of the three or four best players in. In all of baseball, right. And he's playing shortstop this year, which is a stressful position. Like you, I want to see Scubal against Shohei. And luckily for me, it's going to be the first at bat of the bottom of the first inning. So after that I can go to bed. And he is 0 for 6 against scuba lifetime. So if he gets any sort of a hit at all, it's really good. And I also want to see Blake Snell in his first start for the Dodgers. He won with Cy Young internationally a couple of years ago, I believe, in San Diego. Look, he's a great pitcher, but he doesn't last long. To quote Justin Verlander, he's a five and fly guy. So for five innings, Pablo, what we're going to have and what we could have is two Cy Young winners, two playoff teams and three MVPs for the Dodgers, which to me would be worth watching.

Pablo Torre (10:53)

Well, and by the way, one of those teams that you just mentioned that is full of all those stars, all those new Japanese players, you know, they use. I say this to you all the time. They use that country like it's their farm system. I'm also excited to meet those guys. An advantage that nobody else in this sport, in any sport really has when it comes to a geopolitical pipeline that feeds talent.

Tony Kornheiser (11:16)

Well, what I would say about that is if they didn't treat those players well, they wouldn't keep getting those players, right?

Pablo Torre (11:22)

Correct.

Tony Kornheiser (11:23)

And I think people want to play with Ohtani. Let's take a break. Coming up, what's the word for Nikola Jokic's no look assist last night and.

Pablo Torre (11:31)

After all the speculation as to where he's going to play next year, could Aaron Rodgers actually retire?

Tony Kornheiser (11:38)

Could Mookie Betts put on suspenders? Could he use suspenders? That would be fun to see.

Pablo Torre (11:44)

You want to Know how light these boxers are? I'm a light heavyweight. Me, I qualify in that weight class. A little dissonant.

Tony Kornheiser (11:54)

Yeah. Mookie is a welter right now.

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Unknown (12:28)

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 (13:10)

Time to showcase our spectacular vernacular. And what's the word? That's a good phrase. What's first?

Pablo Torre (13:16)

Nikola Jokic's pass was blank.

Tony Kornheiser (13:20)

My word is magic. And you can use the allusion to Magic Johnson or to Houdini because it was that good. Brook Lopez still hasn't seen it. Pablo, it took me three replays to figure out exactly what was going on. I mean, nobody expected that pass. Maybe Aaron Gordon expected that pass, but nobody else expected that pass. And I sort of wonder with Jokic, who does this so often, he's so good at this. Is there a signal that he gives to teammates to indicate here's I'm coming to you, even though it doesn't look like I'm coming to you? Now, I don't want to get in an MVP debate here. I don't need you to put up a spirited defense of Shea Gilgamesh Alexander, but he can't do this, all right? He doesn't have 30 triple doubles this season. He has none. He doesn't have any. That's not what he does. This guy. Last night, Jokic had 39 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists. If you ask me who I want to Build a team around. It's Jokic.

Pablo Torre (14:22)

Yeah. I understand why you generationally go to Magic. It also allows you to do the big picture case for why he's a historical generational player. All of that is true. I'm sticking with the micro, though, with the past in specific. Which reminds me of Jason Williams, who of course was nicknamed White Chocolate. And so my word is white. Toblerone. You remember Toblerone? You know Toblerone?

Tony Kornheiser (14:44)

I do, I do. I know Jumbo. Yeah, I know what Toblerone Jumbo size.

Pablo Torre (14:49)

Like Jason Williams, but Jumbo, that is Nikola Jokic too. He is of course a superstar. You should build your team around. We know that. But stylistically, in terms of that pass, in particular, the bounce, the offhand, the look away, that's Jason Williams as much as it is Magic Johnson. And the fact that he has that at that size, presenting like a sloth but moving like something closer to, I don't know, a flying swirl. White. Toblerone.

Tony Kornheiser (15:17)

Toblerone. That's so interesting to me because, I mean, I would rather have chocolate than Toblerone with all that stuff in it. You're keen too. I saw a two minute clip today comparing Jokic's passes. Exactly. To Magic Johnson's. Fascinating clip. It really was much closer than you would ever think. What's next?

Pablo Torre (15:38)

Aaron Rodgers retiring would be blank.

Tony Kornheiser (15:43)

It would be shocking to me. I know that Adam Schefter of ESPN has said he's hearing that it's possible that Aaron Rodgers would indeed retire. Okay. But he's going to go out on a very low note if he retires now. His time with the jets was really bad. You know, it just. It didn't work.

Pablo Torre (16:04)

That's a good vocabulary. It was.

Tony Kornheiser (16:06)

Yeah. He lost a lot of credibility with the general public over the vaccine stuff. He lost credibility as a quarterback because he couldn't get very many wins. I just think if he goes out now, he'd be loathe to go out now. Pittsburgh presents him with an opportunity for redemption. Pittsburgh's a playoff team. He can get much closer to a Super bowl or get there with Pittsburgh than he ever could with the Jets. I think now I'm willing to accept, Pablo, that if he doesn't sign with Pittsburgh, then he is saying that truly he doesn't think he can be a quarterback anymore. But what about the drama? What about the spotlight? Isn't that oxygen for him? So I would be shocked.

Pablo Torre (16:49)

Well, that's why my word is semantic. I think he is talking about retirement and this is a semantic discussion that is largely superficial. And also to your point. What Aaron Rodgers became, mostly in terms of the last half decade of how he's lived his life, is an unreliable narrator. So I see this as an attempt to gain leverage. I see this as an attempt to gain oxygen by developing a story that really isn't all that complicated. The guy was so terrible that everybody who put trust in him got fired at his last job, and now he's trying to think of whether I can plausibly threaten to do the thing that everybody expects me to do. So, look, I am somebody. Tony, who has made peace with the fact that Aaron Rodgers, even when he does actually retire, will never leave us. He's gonna be podcasting. He's gonna be on television. He'll be everywhere. He'll be selling you all sorts of stuff. He may even be wearing a doctor's coat just like you. So semantics.

Tony Kornheiser (17:45)

That's so good.

Pablo Torre (17:46)

A semantic distinction.

Tony Kornheiser (17:47)

I like that word. While you were talking, I remembered the chocolate I specifically like a lot more than Toblerone. And it's Lindt. L, I N D T. Have you.

Pablo Torre (17:55)

Ever had that stuff in there?

Tony Kornheiser (17:55)

It's really good.

Pablo Torre (17:56)

Yeah.

Tony Kornheiser (17:56)

Yeah, it's really good. That's the final word. Let's take one last break. Still to come, the Flyers have seen enough of John Tortorella.

Pablo Torre (18:04)

And as Steph Curry looks to return to the court, the warriors lose a different rotation player.

Tony Kornheiser (18:11)

So if the Lind people want to send me a big box of that, that'd be fun, because I really like that chocolate. Yeah, I like that chocolate.

Pablo Torre (18:18)

As another great quarterback once said, I would like a big box of that as well.

Tony Kornheiser (18:22)

Send me a big box of that. That's right.

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Tony Kornheiser (19:31)

Happy time people. Happy 32nd birthday, Clay Holmes Juan Soto wasn't the only player to jump from the Yankees to the Mets in the off season. Top reliever Holmes won his well, Holmes was an All Star closer for the Yankees last season, saving 30 games, 68 strikeouts and 63 innings. Now with the Mets, Holmes will be a starter. In fact, Holmes is the Mets opening starter today. Holmes has started four big league games in his life and none since his rookie year in 2018. In spring training, Holmes went 19 and a third innings and five starts with a 0.93 ERA. Holmes is starting today because two of the Mets starters are injured. One of the reasons Holmes went to the Mets was to become a starter.

Pablo Torre (20:15)

Yeah, I'm at this point in my life where I'm weirdly, despite being an unrepentant Yankees homer, jealous of the Mets and their new ownership. But Klay Holmes, man, I watched him blow 13 saves to lead the major leagues last year. A good a good choice to switch him to a starter. Also, Bon voyage in general.

Tony Kornheiser (20:35)

Happy Anniversary Shaka Smart on this day 14 years ago, Smart, then just 33 years old, coached VCU, passed number one seed Kansas and into the Final Four. Since then, Smart has grown hair and coached at Texas and then Marquette. In six seasons of Texas, Smart was 109 in 86, never got past the NCAA's first round. Now at Marquette, the Wisconsin native is 98 and 41. He reached a Sweet 16 last year, though went out in the first round last week. Smart has not utilized the transfer portal at all, opting to develop his own recruits. In fact, Marquette is the only major conference team that has not signed a transfer from another D1 school since the 202223 season. That is the Dabo Swinney playbook.

Pablo Torre (21:24)

Yeah, he's always done things differently. It was 14 years ago that I covered that run that you mentioned to the Final Four. I was at Sports Illustrated. He started in the first four. That was the history of it. And he was an underkin. He was one of these guys who immediately was considered a coaching prodigy. The Texas thing made me think, did I get something wrong? The Marquette thing makes me think he's doing it different and it's kind of working and that makes it even that much more impressive.

Tony Kornheiser (21:50)

I found him to be a very likable fellow. Happy trail is John Tortorello. The Flyers fired their head coach this morning. With just nine games left in the season, Philly is second to last in the Eastern Conference. They've lost 11 out of 12 on Tuesday night. Tortorello took responsibility, saying, quote, this falls on me. I'm not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season where we're at right now. But I have to do a better job. Well, now you don't have to do a better job because you have no job. The 66 year old Torts has coached five different teams. He won a Stanley cup with Tampa Bay in 2004. I am guessing he'll get another chance or three.

Pablo Torre (22:28)

But he is on the books for one more year. He has another year of payment and it's worth pointing out since he left the Rangers, which is how I really first started thinking about Torts. He only made it past the first round once. So, you know, another chance maybe, but I don't know if it's deserved.

Tony Kornheiser (22:46)

I think he's going to get at least one more. One error today. And Pablo, it was yours, naturally. Maryland is playing Florida tonight, not Texas Tech. Arkansas is playing Texas Tech. Let's go to the big finish if we could. Anthony Davis is on track to play for the Mavs against the Magic tonight. Are you intrigued?

Pablo Torre (23:01)

I am. Because so much bad has happened to the Mavs that's not self inflicted. That getting him back makes it feel like a bit of mana from heaven. Orioles outfielder Tyler O'Neal, meanwhile homeward on opening day for the sixth straight year. Tony, are you impressed?

Tony Kornheiser (23:16)

Impressed? This is amazing. Four in St. Louis, one with the red Sox last year. Now with the Orioles. Has anybody else ever done this? Warriors swing man Gary Payton is out indefinitely with a torn ligament in his left thumb. Is that significant?

Pablo Torre (23:31)

It is. The warriors are operating at the margins right now. Even with Jimmy Butler. They need that guy defensively especially. Penn has named Fran McCaffrey as its new head basketball coach. Does that make sense?

Tony Kornheiser (23:42)

He played there. He was an assistant there at one time. He's also a screamer. I don't know if that works in the Ivys. Last one. Will Alexander Ayala beat Jessica Pegula tonight in Miami?

Pablo Torre (23:54)

Absolutely. Iyala. Filipino origin. My family group text out of control because. Because of her. She's gonna do it.

Tony Kornheiser (24:02)

We are out of time. We'll try and do better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

Pablo Torre (24:06)

And I'm Pablo Torre. PTI's back on ESPN2 tomorrow. This is my show. Pablatore finds out. And this I'm told is SportsCenter.

Tony Kornheiser (24:15)

Yeah. Did your family ever like. Is she a patient of the doctors in your family? IYAMA they wish.

Unknown (24:24)

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.

Unknown (24:59)

Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame and power.

Tony Kornheiser (25:05)

What's up?

Pablo Torre (25:06)

Welcome to New York.

Unknown (25:07)

Until it all came crashing down.

Pablo Torre (25:09)

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

Unknown (25:15)

I'm Brian Buchmire, 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.