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
Wed, 30 Apr 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
Chapter 1: What is the current state of the Wizards and Knicks in the NBA?
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?
Chapter 2: How is the Lakers vs Timberwolves Western Conference series shaping up?
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 done knowing the result. But that series, how do you see that series going?
It's crazy because you just don't really know what you're going to get from either team on a given night, right? So the Timberwolves in Game 1, they just looked bigger. They looked more athletic. Nas Reed in Game 1 was that X-factor. You had Julius Randle 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.
Chapter 3: What impact does Mike Conley's performance have on the Timberwolves' chances?
Ant didn't even need to do that much. Nikhil Alexander-Walker was doing his thing. But I guess the question is, what version of Mike Conley and the Timberwolves are we going to get? Because Mike Conley was getting eviscerated in Game 2. Almost borderline unplayable. So... Lakers have basically said we're barely playing Jackson Hayes anymore.
We're going to 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 put up almost 40 a night? Can we get 20 to 25 from LeBron? And then can we get anything from anybody else?
Chapter 4: Can Luka Doncic and LeBron James carry the Lakers in the playoffs?
And if that is the case, I think the Lakers could win this series as it goes on, just simply because it's that Braun mentality, that X factor that he has. Luka loves crushing Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves. We've seen that a bajillion times. I think that Luka 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 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. He looked like the Drake meme when he guarded KD in that one video. He'd be out there trying. His feet would just get the tapping. I'd be like, somebody help Rudy out, man. Somebody, the perimeter, 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 have to see Dante DiVincenzo get – Maybe even slid into that starting line-up over Mike Conley in certain games.
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Chapter 5: What defensive strategies are affecting Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves?
Not every game, because we've got to keep the respect on the OG. But I think that they get out to such big leads or get out to such momentum in the first quarters when the Lakers do win. Like, Luka 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 is still up in the air.
Definitely.
Especially how they locking Ant down. They double teaming him. He can't really breathe out there. So it's going to take, like you said, Julius Randle or somebody.
To your point, Ant Edwards said 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. Every time I got the ball, they went into zone. And it's like, Ant Edwards is a very smart basketball player. He knows how to read defenses. There is something that J.J. 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 Randle did put up 27 in Game 2, but this whole team as a whole cannot score 85 points.
You need 100 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 hell, what the hell of Burton, what the hell of Yamas, what the hell of them. Oh, here we go. You feel me? Dame has returned to get all up in Halliburton's face whenever he can. But the efforts... Still haven't quite worked out. You feel me? I think the Bucs are a better team than they're putting out right now.
But them slow starts are killing them. Are they a better team? I know how you feel. I'm not going to... Are they a better team, Ju?
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Chapter 6: Are the Milwaukee Bucks a better team than their recent performance suggests?
You traded away one of the best on-ball defenders in our generation in Drew Holiday that got you a ring for a guy in Dame Lillard who's aging just as much as Drew 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 buy him.
So you wonder what it is that they were trying to do, and I think maybe just try to keep Giannis happy. Chris Middleton, he's now gone, obviously, in the Kuzma trade. For peanuts. For peanuts. Brooke Lopez is getting older, and there's just not a lot of guys. I mean, you've 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. It doesn't matter— Dame will have to put up 35. Giannis will have to put up 35. And you're going to 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've got to trade.
Chapter 7: How are trades and roster decisions affecting the Bucks' playoff potential?
You've got to look at trading Giannis if he wants to go. But you've definitely got to trade Dame. And I don't even know what you're getting back since he's basically like my age. I think he's like 37.
Damn, bro. Don't put your age out there. 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 glute is crazy.
Deep glute is insane. I almost texted Shams, you should not have put the deep in there with the glute. You just say glute, okay?
Right. 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, the Rockets 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 Jalen Green's game. Because he's like, all these G League night guys. I just am like, do you really know how to play basketball? Or do you just know how to get buckets, right? And Jalen 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 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.
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Chapter 8: What is the status of the Rockets and Jalen Green's playoff performance?
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 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 going to 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 lineup, big lineup, I don't know why I said two deep, two bigs lineup, right, with Steven Adams and with Shang-Goon 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 going to play? Because Jonathan Kaminga, what we saw from him, he's not ready. He says, oh, I stay ready. It's disrespectful that you ask me if I'm ready. I'm getting pissed. It's like, no, we're asking you because you don't seem ready.
Miss Rebecca will be having a call. Miss Rebecca, what's next?
Yo, 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, D.C. 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 know the Wizards ain't shit, like, the last 30 years, right? But, like, my question is, like, what's it going to take? Like, why have they been so bad for so long? And, like, what's it going to take for them to be in the conversation amongst those, like, the Knicks, like, the Celtics, like, the Thunder, et cetera? 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, like, what do they got to do to be competitive? And why had they not done it yet? Thank you. Have a blessed day.
And have a blessed day.
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