Alley Oop 7 (Part 1): Rooting for the Pistons, KAT, Schroder, is Steph the GOAT w/ Trysta Krick

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Episode: Alley Oop 7 (Part 1): Rooting for the Pistons, KAT, Schroder, is Steph the GOAT w/ Trysta Krick
Release Date: April 30, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, hosts Dan Le Batard and Stugotz delve deep into the current NBA playoff battles, offering their unique perspectives on the Detroit Pistons' performance, the ongoing Grizzlies-Thunder series, and the ever-debated topic: Is Steph Curry the Greatest of All Time (GOAT)? Featuring insights from guest Trysta Krick, the conversation is both engaging and thought-provoking.

Detroit Pistons vs. New York Knicks: A Heated Rivalry

Dan and Stugotz kick off the discussion by exploring the intense first-round matchup between the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks.

• Pistons' Underdog Surge:
  Stugotz expresses his unexpected support for the Pistons, highlighting their determination despite past struggles. He remarks, "I didn't imagine that I would be rooting for the Pistons as much as I am" (01:59).

• Knicks' Fanbase Frustration:
  The hosts criticize the Knicks' loyal fans who consistently chant "Knicks in five." Dan shares his annoyance, referencing Carl Anthony Towns ironically: "We have friends, Carl Anthony Towns in the corner. Like, he's selling weed sacks" (01:59).

• Game One Analysis:
  Discussing pivotal moments, Stugotz points out, "And we have friends, Carl Anthony Towns in the corner... what they're trying to do" (03:13), emphasizing the Pistons' strategic plays. He also critiques the Knicks' critical free throw miss: "Jalen Brunson shoots the free throw and misses unintentionally... And then it's like, oh, that's a violation" (03:13).

• Dennis Schroeder’s Impact:
  The Pistons' recent addition, Dennis Schroeder, is lauded for his performance. Dan highlights, "Dennis Schroeder, NBA champion... he stepped up. I got to keep respect on his name for that last game" (05:17). Stugotz adds, "Dennis Schroeder... shot three and four threes, respectively" (06:15), underscoring his vital contribution.

• Coaching Excellence:
  Both hosts commend JB Bickerstaff, asserting that he "deserves the mantle for coach of the year" (06:07), acknowledging his role in steering the Pistons through tough matchups.

• Looking Ahead:
  Anticipation builds as Dan suggests the series could extend to seven games: "This thing could go seven" (04:02), reflecting the unpredictability and competitiveness of the matchup.

Grizzlies vs. Thunder: A Series of Ups and Downs

Transitioning to another playoff series, Dan and Stugotz examine the Memphis Grizzlies' unexpected collapse against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

• John Morant’s Injury:
  The hosts express concern over Morant's injury, stating, "John Morant goes down with an injury... John Morant out for game four as well" (08:12), highlighting its impact on the Grizzlies' performance.

• Grizzlies’ Performance Breakdown:
  Stugotz critiques the Grizzlies' inconsistency: "You're up 29 points... then they just fell down" (09:01). He questions the team's resilience, especially with key players like Alex Caruso underperforming until crucial moments.

• Alex Caruso’s Role:
  Discussing Caruso, Dan remarks, "You can't go against Alex Caruso and then look like that when you're 12ft tall" (10:40), pointing out his sporadic yet impactful contributions.

• Emotional Toll:
  The hosts reflect on the psychological aspect of the series: "I don't know how you emotionally come back from that loss" (09:01), emphasizing the mental resilience required in high-stakes games.

Is Steph Curry the GOAT? A Listener’s Perspective

The highlight of the episode is a listener call-in from Graham, offering his perspective on Steph Curry's standing in NBA history.

• Graham’s Argument:
  Graham asserts, "Steph Curry is the goat... far more technically skilled at the game than honestly either of them [LeBron or Jordan]" (11:28). He acknowledges Curry's skill without discounting his athleticism: "He is not to say he's not a great athlete... just not at the worldly level that those two other two are" (11:28).

• Hosts’ Reactions:
  Dan reacts positively to Graham’s take, stating, "I think Steph Curry is one of the goats... you, sir, out of goat to me" (12:01). Stugotz counters by emphasizing Michael Jordan's unparalleled athleticism and defensive prowess: "The things that Jordan did around the rim are just absurd... his defense, right? ... Steph Curry is very much up there. Just would not put him in front of LeBron or Jordan" (12:44).

• Balanced Conclusion:
  While appreciating Curry's technical skills, Stugotz maintains a balanced view by acknowledging Jordan and LeBron’s superior athleticism and overall impact: "If it wasn't for Kevin Durant and it wasn't for Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving getting injured, I think probably the Warriors don't have any rings" (14:31).

Closing Remarks

As the episode wraps up, Dan and Stugotz share a light-hearted anecdote about their first meeting at the Super Bowl media area, reinforcing their camaraderie: "Me and Ju met each other in the super bowl media area... and now we just rock together" (14:47).

They tease future episodes with their signature humor: "But stay tuned next time. And we gonna be back next week. Same bad time, same bad channel. Ya diggas" (15:30), leaving listeners eagerly anticipating more spirited discussions.

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Notable Quotes

• Stugotz on Rooting for the Pistons:
  "I didn't imagine that I would be rooting for the Pistons as much as I am." (01:59)

• Dan Critiquing Knicks Fans:
  "We have friends, Carl Anthony Towns in the corner... they're trying to chop cheese on him." (01:59, 03:13)

• Stugotz Praising Dennis Schroeder:
  "Dennis Schroeder... shot three and four threes, respectively." (06:15)

• Graham on Steph Curry as the GOAT:
  "Steph Curry is the goat... far more technically skilled at the game than honestly either of them." (11:28)

• Stugotz Countering the GOAT Debate:
  "The things that Jordan did around the rim are just absurd... Steph Curry is very much up there. Just would not put him in front of LeBron or Jordan." (12:44)

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This episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz offers a blend of in-depth sports analysis, passionate debates, and the hosts' trademark humor, making it a must-listen for NBA enthusiasts and casual fans alike.

Transcript

[Unknown Speaker 1]

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[Unknown Speaker 2]

He be talking about I'm the best three point shooting big man in the history of the world. It's like, bro, we don't give it to get your ass in the paint. You feel me? And grab a damn board.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

But I do want to just say, like, you. You doing the RuPaul. Like, ain't nothing about to, you know, on Cat, that's just. That's mad disrespectful. That's mad disrespectful.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

That's three snaps in Z formation. That boy cat be out there zesty as Hel. What's the Leonardo DiCaprio movie where they was dreaming? You look like you got that going on, right? Inception.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

Is that. Was that about the dream?

[Unknown Speaker 2]

I think it was a dream within a dream.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

I'm just trying to be like you, Jew. Honestly, I'm just. Plus, like, let's be honest between us. It's just me and you on this, right? It's just nobody else is listening. I need to get my eyelashes redone. And so you don't even know. I gotta get a little swaggy out just to say I woke up like this. It's like, well, no, you didn't. You went to a salon and had them glue this mink on your eyes just so you can try to look glam, you know, it is what it is, true.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Yeah, it is what it is. Detroit basketball versus your. I don't know about your New York Knickerbockers. I know you love the Blazers, but you are. You are former New Yorker, so you know what's going on in the streets. Talk about this series. Where's this series putting you mentally?

[Unknown Speaker 3]

Well, I think I have to say I didn't imagine that I would be rooting for the Pistons as much as I am. When I was watching game three, I really wanted Detroit to win that game. I'm just very tired of the true blue Knicks fans being like, knicks in five, Knicks in five. And you know who I'm talking about, you know, I'm talking about. We have friends, Carl Anthony Towns in the corner. Like, he's selling weed sacks. Like, no, no, no. Karl Anthony Townes is walking like, is on a treadmill at two miles an hour is what Carl Anthony Towns is doing. We were at game one, and I think that was when I was like, oh, yeah, I don't really like this team. And I think. I think Tobias Harris said it best when they said, what's the difference between. What's the difference between this year's Knicks team and last year's Knicks team? He's like, oh, it's a whole other situation over there. They got a different composure. They got it. Basically. He was trying to say, Cat and them are soft, right? And we can bully those boys around. And that's what they're going to try to do. They're going to try to see him in the back dark alley with a. With a sock full of nickels. And you know what I mean? That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Cat.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

Yeah, the bodega cat. They're like, we're going to chop cheese on him right now. Put him on the hibachi. And I don't know if you saw it, they probably should have messed around and lost that game. The Knicks, that point. Five seconds left to go. Jalen Brunson shoots the free throw and misses unintentionally. It goes up in the air. No one touches it, right? And then it's like, oh, that's a violation. You can't do that. Actually, now all the Pistons have the ball, and so everything you were trying to do, you just failed at. And also, Jalen Brunson probably should have had a backcourt violation. So it was shaky. Good for the Knicks for having a gritty win on the road. But I think this thing has all kinds of ups and downs and side roads and little like story site, you know what I mean? This thing could go seven, Right?

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Right. It's all according to which cat are we gonna get from a night to night basis? Are we gonna get the bodega cat who got, like you said, got the weeds in his back pocket, walking up the court sagging with his Timberlands on getting back when he wants to, as he did in the game that we saw game one, or is he going to be this guy who's just got all the energy, long range cat in the bank, posting up, you feel me, like, getting the job done, cat. If he show up, it's going to Be trouble for them Detroit Pistons every night, because who can really stop him in that mode? But that's been Cat's whole entire career. If you play like that and stop trying to get the flowers and stuff. What was that again? Stop with all that then, Bro. You are the most dominant big man in the game. Every game you play in, he be talking about, I'm the best three point shooting big man in the history of the world. It's like, bro, we don't give it. Get your ass in the paint, you feel me? And grab a damn board. But yeah, he stepped up. I got to keep respect on his name for that the last game. And respect on the Detroit scoreboard operators, you feel me? They tried to get keep Detroit in the game. They said they put the clock on 0.5 and let it go. They're like, oh, oops, our bad. I guess it's our ball on the side.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

I do want to just say, like, you. You doing the RuPaul. Like, ain't nothing better, you know, on Cat, that's just. That's mad disrespectful. That's mad disrespectful.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

That's three snaps and Z formation. That boy cat be out there zesty as hell. Salute the cap. I ain't gonna do you like that, bro. You get. You're getting it done in the playoffs. One of the biggest surprises in the Detroit locker room has been Dennis Ruder. Like, bro has stepped up and been that guy who, when Tim Hardaway is having a bad night or when Malik Beasley take all game to get his shot together, shooter been consistent, you feel me? Talk about the consistency up and down that Pistons roster, even though they down 2 to 1 right now.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

Well, what's crazy to me is that we had this Pistons team win 17 games last year.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

And they didn't add a lot. And in fact, one of the players in Jaden Ivey isn't even playing right.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Damn.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

And so he's out for the rest of the season with an injury. But you add Dennis Schroeder, who, by the way, NBA champion, played for the Lakers. Fumbled the bag, as we know, back in the day. Also a German monster in fiba. So we know him, but, like, he's just kind of a role player. They add Tim Hardaway Jr. Who was getting put on the Twitter streets, getting cooked out there because he was just falling back in the rotation when he was playing for the Mavs, they wanted to get rid of him. They couldn't trade him. He ends up going, you got Malik Beasley, who's kind of been a role player, who's been a three point shooter. But none of these guys were guys we thought Tobias Harris, who was rejected and hated by the Philadelphia fan base for many years because that famous line, you chose Tobias Harris over me, you over Jimmy Butler. So you add these guys, we didn't have any clue how they were really going to fit into the picture, right? They needed shooting, they needed some veteran leadership. But are these the guys that can get that job done? And now you're in a war with the Knicks in the first round. So you're right. JB Bickerstaff deserves the mantle for coach of the year. And Dennis Schroeder, actually, in the game that me and you watched, he barely hit his point prop. We had seven and a half, he had eight in game one, and then finally became the Dennis Schroeder we knew he could be. 20 points in game two, 18 points in game three, shot three and four threes, respectively. So we just need more from the role players if we're gonna. If you're the Detroit fan, that's what you need. You need Tim Hardaway to hit all those threes like he did in game one. And you need game two. And you need game two, Cade. Every game. You can't have, like, oh, the lights are too bright for me, right?

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Bro, you. If we. If we could have had a camera on us at a random spot in the fourth quarter when Dennis Struder hit his points pro out of nowhere. We've been quiet the whole game, both of us. Like, there we go.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

Good sh.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

I thought y'all rooting for the damn Nicks. But moving on, you feel me? To the other series. Oh, my goodness gracious alive. John Morant goes down with an injury. They was up at least 974 points when he went out. They had the Memphis rocking. I think I seen Project Pat. I seen Juicy J, I seen Zach Randolph. They had that thing rocking for three quarters, two and a half quarters. And then the Thunder put the hat on and said, we still. We still are those guys and them boys. And then sadly fall down three to zero. The Grizzlies did and insult the injury. John Moran out for game four as well. Talk about this series, sis. What the hell can the Grizzlies do?

[Unknown Speaker 3]

I. I don't know how you emotionally come back from that loss. You're up 29 points. You're up 26 points in the first half. You're putting belt to ass. Shay Gilgis, Alexander, probably who's going to win the MVP is doing nothing. You're base, you're basically getting production from Everybody. Scotty Pippen Jr's out there doing his thing. You know, you got Desmond Bain out there doing his thing. Job barely had to do much. He had 15 at that point. And so as soon as jaw goes down, you kind of knew. I think even when it was a 20 point game, I was like, man, I think OKC is going to win this game. And I was watching the Clippers game at that point because it had. There was some like crossover, you know, And I was like, well, if this OKC series, I just beaten the hell out of them. I don't want to see a destruction to this level. So I'll go and watch the Clippers nugget series, which is much better. And then I'm like, okay, see, just cut that to nine. I should probably go back over here. Like, if they cut it to nine, they're gonna win this game. And Alex Caruso, the thing that kind of crushes, crushes fans is you've been putting Alex Caruso in the hyperbaric chamber pretty much all season. He was just not anywhere to be found. He's on a milk carton, right? And you're like, is Alex Crusoe hurt? And they're like, no, no, baby, we got a plan here. Don't you worry about us. And now Alex Crusoe's over here playing 30 something tonight. Playing strap down, put you in the seat belt, put you in your bassinet. Put the, put the. What's that pacifier in your mouth kind of stuff.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Wiping noses. He was Jaren Jackson Jr. One on one, silly. Come on, bro, you can't go against Alex Caruso and then look like that when you're 12ft tall. Alex Caruso looking like Elmer Fudd from Space Jam with the headband on, like salute to the boy. But bro, be out there doing a lot of work that you was. You would think like, bro, do you just got a couple of games of this per year or can you just turn it on for us in a random Tuesday in January? You feel me? But up and down the roster, the college be calling in with the great. Oh, I love calls, great questions, you feel me? We gonna load some of them up and answer some of them guys with my sister right now. Mr. Becker. Load us up, sis.

[Graham]

Juju, it's Graham from Seattle. Here's my crazy take. Steph Curry is the goat. He doesn't have the physical gifts that LeBron or Jordan has, but he's far more technically skilled at the game than honestly either of them. And he is not to say he's not a great athlete. He is, but he's just not at the worldly level that those two other two are. And that's my take, Steph Curry. Goats.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Steph Curry. Salute to Seattle, man. Yeah, y'all. Boys.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

What is going on? What is going on?

[Unknown Speaker 2]

I got nab crowd going wild for that take, brother. Look, I think Steph Curry is one of the goats. Just because you got little kids, you got adults, you got doctors walking around wearing Under Armour shoes, bro, I never thought I see the day when them ugly ass shoes would be as popular as they are. Them things be coming in pinks, yellows, it don't matter. Folks gonna buy them and eat them up. So for that, you, sir, out of goat to me. What you think, sis?

[Unknown Speaker 3]

You think Curry is the goat? This is a joke take.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

I gotta, I gotta take it with a grain of salt because I, of course I don't think he's the goat, but I'm gonna give him a little bail money.

[Unknown Speaker 3]

What I will say is the thing, that the things that Jordan did around the rim are just absurd. And his body control was crazy. His athletic ability, obviously above the rim was insane. Change of direction, handles, but more importantly, his, his defense, right? And so you even go back and watch him today. This guy, I can tell. This guy I can tell is like a Gen Z er. He's like a. Because. Because he needs to go to YouTube and check out some Jordan highlights. Because what you see that Jordan does is just more impressive. Now I will say the Steph Curry, he's one of the most unrealistic players because he'll get draped around and then all of a sudden he shoots, gets open somehow or maybe doesn't, and you're like, oh yeah, even from the logo that's going in. Doesn't matter when, doesn't matter how much they're down. There's nobody that instills this much hope. If you're a fan, then, then Curry does. You could be down 15, 20 points and you're like, all. All Steph Curry needs to do is shoot five threes. And he can do that in 30 seconds. If you guys don't score every time down, he will heat check you. And so to that end, this guy, probably from San Francisco, probably didn't grow up. When Michael Jordan was in his prime, I was right at the tail end of it. But Michael Jordan, when you go back and watch him, I, I think you just Kind of see what he's able to do. But I would say Steph Curry is very much up there. Just would not put him in front of LeBron or. Or Jordan. And I will say this. If it wasn't for Kevin Durant and it wasn't for Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving getting injured, I think probably the warriors don't have any rings.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Oh, now There's a take 0 rings for my boy. Look and Trista record book. Them boys ain't got no down ring, so take them all away. Anything you want to tell the people on the way out?

[Unknown Speaker 3]

What I will say is this. Me and Ju met each other in the super bowl media area in the Phoenix super bowl. And Jew's over there looking like he doesn't really belong in the media section. I'm all iced out. I got my sunglasses on. I think I was rocking some Js. And so we looked at each other like, hey, you also don't look like the rest of these guys. These like sort of sloppy, sort of like very pasty white journalists. What's going on here with you? She's like, I work for Metal Arc. I'm like, oh, I do a betting show. And it's been like this ever since. And now we just rock together.

[Unknown Speaker 2]

Legitimate, legitimate. But stay tuned next time. And we gonna be back next week. Same bad time, same bad channel. Ya diggas.

[Mike]

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