The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Alley Oop 7 (Part 2): Mike Conley and the Timberwolves, Luka and Lebron, and the Wizards stink with Trysta Krick

Episode Date: April 30, 2025

Juju Gotti and sports analyst Trysta Krick discuss the initial playoff games of the Western Conference NBA finals. Will it be Lakers, Timberwolves, Pacers, or Bucks? Alley Oop talks all things basketball and hoopers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Conditions apply to all benefits. Visit pcfinancial.ca for details. What could they trade? Who would people want? Who would wanna come play? Is Cooper flag enough? The Knicks for so long were one of the teams like the Wizards that we made fun of.

They were the team. Was they ever Wizards bad? Moving on to the West Coast, you dig? We got the Lakers, we got the Timberwolves, they got another game tonight. Probably by the time this come out, we'll be the unknown to result but that series, how do you see that series gone? It's crazy because you just don't really know what you're gonna get from either team on a given night, right? So the Timberwolves in game one, they just looked bigger. They looked more athletic Nasreed in game one was that X Factor you had

Julius Randall doing things and so I thought to myself, okay, like it was sort of a like a very balanced effort, right? Jaden McDaniels had 25 and didn't even need to do that much. Nikail Alexander Walker was doing his thing. But I guess the question is what version of Mike Conley in the Timberwolves are we gonna get because Mike Conley was getting eviscerated in game two almost borderline unplayable so Lakers have basically said we're barely playing Jackson Hayes anymore we're gonna play LeBron or Rui at the four or the five so I think that's probably the smartest way to go about it. But it really comes down to is Luka going to continue to do, put up almost 40 a night?

Can we get 20 to 25 from LeBron? And then can we get anything from anybody else? And if that is the case, I think the Lakers could win this series as it goes on, just simply because it's that Bron mentality, that X factor that he has. Luca loves crushing Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves. We've seen that a bajillion times. I think that Luca will always play well in this series. I think he's like a guy if you're betting that you should just continue to bet his points prop every single game.

But like, are we going to get anything out of Rudy Gobert? Two points in game one? I mean we should. Come on. He'd be so worried about guarding brothers like he looked like the Drake meme when he guarding KD in that one video. Like he be out there trying his feet be just to get the tap in. I would like somebody help Rudy out man somebody. Primitive please somebody. Somebody. To that point Dante DiVincenzo, Najri, all the fellas had damn near four fouls in two minutes the last game. So you really couldn't judge that game off of like damn what could have happened if people

stayed out of the trouble. Like I would like to see Dante DiVincenzo get maybe even slid into that starting line up over Mike Conley in certain games. Not every game, because we've got to keep the respect on the OG, but I think that they get out to such big leagues or get out to such momentum in the first quarters when the Lakers do win. Like, Luke will be starting off the game with 20 points in the first quarter. He's like, uh-uh.

Somebody, look, use your files on him, please. Like, uh-uh. This can't happen. So, I don't know. I think that series still up in the air definitely especially how they lock in and now they double team And then he can't really breathe out there So it's gonna take like you said Julius Randall or somebody to your point and we're set after game two He was like whatever defense that they were doing was very confusing to me. I didn't understand. He was like, it was part zone. It was every time I got the ball they went into zone and it's like, Edwards is a very smart basketball player.

He knows how to read defenses. There is something that JJ was drawing up that was making him befuddled and the question is between that game and tonight, have they figured that out in film? Have they figured out what the Lakers are trying to do to stop Anthony Edwards and is there a way for him to break that code or break that defense down and be able to be more effective so that everybody eats because Julius Randall did put up 27 in game 2 but this whole team as a whole cannot score 85 points you need a hundred points in a game in order to beat the Lakers. Yeah you do. You got to know that. And you also got to know what the helly, what the

helleberten, what the helly amas, what the hellethem. Oh here we go. You feel me? Dame has returned to get all up in helleberten face whenever he can, but the efforts still haven't quite worked out. You feel me? Like, I think the Bucs are a better team than they put in right now, but them slow starts are killing them. Are they a better team? I know how you feel, I'm not gonna.

Are they a better team, Ju? I think this Bucs team- Are they better than this? Are they? What is this roster really? You know? Yeah. What is this roster? And it's kind of like the GMs put them in this

place, right? Like John Horst has just got extended and I'm like, you just traded for Kyle Kuzma. What? You got AJ Green out here getting minutes. The draft picks haven't been great. The trades haven't been great. You traded away one of the best on ball defenders in our generation and drew holiday that got you a ring for a guy in Dame Lillard who's aging just as much as you holiday is but never wants to play a lick of defense he's one of those guys who you know is a certified cone out there just letting guys go by him so you wonder what it is that they were trying to do and I think maybe just try to keep Yon

as happy. Chris Middleton, he's now gone obviously in the Kuzma trade. Brook Lopez. For peanuts. Brook Lopez is getting older and there's just not a lot of guys. I mean you got Kevin Porter Jr. out there and Torian Prince out there. Bobby Portis finally comes back from his suspension. But these are not enough guys to be able to compete with anyone they're just not

good enough doesn't matter Dave will have to put up 35 Giannis will have to put up 35 and you're gonna have to have a big Bobby Portis game in order for them to compete for a full four quarters this team to me is headed for a full rebuild I think you got a trade you got to look at trading Yannis if he wants to go, but you definitely gotta trade Dame. And I don't even know what you're getting back since he's like, he's basically like my age. I think he's like 37. Damn, bro.

Don't put your age out there. I know. Yeah, I thought she was 25. I know. It's cool. 37 is the new 27. There we are. You feel me?

Warriors, Rockets, before we get out of here. Rockets, Rockets, Warriors. That's interesting because Jimmy Butler dodged a serious injury but got a stupid glute situation going on. Deep glutes. Deep glutes is crazy for Shams to be tweaking. Deep glutes is insane. I almost texted Shams, you should not have put the deep in there with the glue.

You just say glue, okay? Will he sit out next game? Will he not? Knowing Jimmy Butler, he going to come out there and get a horse tranquilizer and be out there looking normal as hell. But without him, Iraqis look crazy. They look like they was doing whatever they wanted to do a little bit even though their offense is not necessarily

getting out of the blocks like you would want to. What you think of that series? Man, I was cooking Jalen Green for not being that guy and game one. I've never really been a believer in Jlen Green's game because he's like all these G League night guys I just am like I do really know how to play basketball or do you just know how to get buckets right and and Jaylen Green obviously a top pick but a guy who's like he's a bucket he's a bucket he's a bucket and he makes a bucket, he's a bucket. And he makes these crazy decisions. He just barrels into the defender and throws it up trying to foul bait. He's throwing it to the side of the backboard

and that killed him. And then he ended up coming back after, you know, I criticized him a lot for game one and I think a lot of people did. And he came back with eight threes, eight of them. people did and he came back with eight threes. Eight of them. One of the, I think it's the highest amount of threes for a player in their first playoff series. It's like in a game. That is just an insane amount. Fred Van Fleet I worry about. I worry about him. I'm over here with the same thing. Like, what brother? Are you an NBA champion? Because you're looking like me over. I could do it. Hey, keep going. Am I bad? Yeah. You're right. You're right. I got triggered. It's like, what is Fred doing right now? And I think he and Jalen together as a backcourt,

I'm questioning that. I think this team obviously can make it ugly. They can touch up and rough up Steph as much really as they want to, because the refs can't call everything and if I think it all is predicated on Jimmy if Jimmy's playing Jimmy's effective then the Warriors can win this game because when Steph is having an off game Jimmy's gonna take over and vice versa and if they're both hitting on all cylinders God forbid Houston should want that then it really can get out of control pretty fast. Now, Brandon Pajemski, he was dealing with a stomach illness, so how is he looking?

And I know he's not like a role player people really care about, but the Warriors aren't a particularly deep team. So that Rockets two deep line up, big line up, I don't know why I said two deep, two bigs line up, right, with Steven Adams and with Shangoon out there on the floor at the same time. I think that's super effective It really just comes down to how physical they can be whether Jalen Green shows up like he did in game one or in game two and

Then is Jimmy Butler gonna play and cuz Jonathan coming to what we saw from him. He's not ready He says oh oh I stay ready It's disrespectful that you ask me if I'm ready. I'm getting pissed. It's like no, no We're asking you because you don't seem ready Miss Rebecca be having the call miss Rebecca was nice. You know, what up juju? Hey man, listen I got a question for you. Like it's NBA related and it's odd timing with the playoffs, right? I'm primarily a hockey fan from the washington dc area But like i'm trying to be into basketball like the past couple years i've been getting up to speed

And my question to you is like the wizards. I I know the wizards ain't shit like the last 30 years, right? But like my question is like what's it gonna take like why have they been so bad for so long and like what's it gonna take for them to be in the conversation amongst those like the Knicks like the Celtics like the Thunder etc like I just like you know I'm new to the basketball like fandom but I want to get behind my Washington Wizards team, but what do they got to do to be competitive and why had they not done it yet? Thank you, have a blessed day. Have a blessed day.

What's it gonna take? Right? Salute to my dog for calling in. What's it gonna take? Okay, a zombie apocalypse, number one. One of these Aladdin style. Oh, you got an Aladdin genie bottle. It's gonna take, look, three wishes, you feel me?

Rub it when you're ready. That's what it's gonna take. It's gonna take some supernatural stuff to happen for the Wizards organization to get back on track because I do not see a scenario in my, I'm racking my brain right now. What can they trade? Who would people want? Who would wanna come play? Is Cooper flag enough?

Is, like, I don't know, sis. What you think? What's it gonna take? Well, I think, cause he put him up there, he was like, when can this team be like the Knicks? But remember, the Knicks for so long were one of the teams like the Wizards that we made fun of they were the team was they ever Wizards bad they weren't Wizards bad but they were pretty damn bad they were rolling out Taj

Gibson and every Morris twin and they had like five or six power forwards in the depth chart plan in the starting five together it was like what are they doing and we were worried about James Dolan and his he involved too much and then they ended up getting Leon Rose and World Wide West and then they moved Scott Perry up out of there and then they said we got the adults in the room and then they slowly piece by piece found themselves a superstar that the team he was on didn't think he was a superstar in Jalen Brunson because his dad was on the team like mom my kids nice like that and he is nice like that and so then you just

need like one player or two players and you need good culture you need one or two players that other players are like I want to go there think about the Spurs the Spurs have pedigree for a long time But they over the last Seven eight years have been since Kwai left kind of a dumpster fire, but then they get Wemby a Generational player and all of a sudden deer and fox is like the only place. I want to go is San Antonio So you get you got pieces now, I don't think the Wizards have a piece like that yet, but I think they're working on their culture. They've got some young kids who

are fun, like Keyshawn George is pretty fun, Jordan Poole, we know he's got some fun in him, you know, NBA champion. I think Bub Carrington could be fun. But at this point, it's gonna be a long ride, right? And I think what it would take is like, Cooper Flag will have to go to Washington and he'll have to be really nice, really fast. And hopefully Washington doesn't f*** it up. That's my take. You know what, I don't wanna do this show

like too much more times without you in VibeSys because you make it so much more fun. Every guest on here is hilarious and fun, but you and I share the same blood. You and I come from the same womb, you feel me? So I always love having you on here. You my dog. Anything you ever need, I got you no matter what. Likewise, Ju.

You feel me? You're just one of the most fun, supportive human beings that I've ever met and I'm happy to call you a friend, Ju. Appreciate you sis, always. And we hit that NFLPA party like this. Yeah we did! We were in there! Yeah, sneaking me in, getting me arrested. We ain't gonna tell them all that. You feel me?

Don't expose all that. Look, and thank you for blessing us with your presence. You feel me? For another episode of the Alley-oop. And we gonna be back next week. Same bad time, same bad channel. You diggers.