The Wisconsin Sportscast The Cap Times

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Boston took home the rings and won the NBA Championship. Which leads to one question: do you love to watch Luka Dončić play, or do you hate watching him play? Oates says you can’t discount his ability, maybe even one of the best. But he has no defense, he likes holding the ball, and he just can’t stop complaining to the officials. Lucas says he’s always been like that, and he still has time to grow, but still, Luke on the floor is the definition of “Love-Hate relationship.”

 

Then Lucas asks the question: if you’re building a new franchise, who do you grab: Tatum or Brown? Plus, Joe Mazulla has made it to the limelight, but does that really matter? If you grabbed the average person off the street, would they know his name?

 

Bryson DeChambeau won this weekend’s U.S. Open, beating out Rory McIlroy on some tough greens. It’s not as fun to watch, Oates says, when all you can see is everyone struggling with the greens. But that’s no excuse for McIlroy he says, and that there is something in his head that’s stopping him from winning another major.

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Mike Lucas and Tom Oates break down why Dan Hurley would turn down a seven-figure offer with the Lakers to stay with UCONN. For one thing, it simply might not have been enough money. It’s a mom and pop operation! At least says Lucas. 

 

But Oates points out that coaching a college team is much different from coaching a NBA team. Need an example? Lucas has many.

 

Then, the Badgers basketball team has a new forward: Andrija Vukovic. Hailing from Serbia, Lucas and Oates just aren’t sure what to think about the new signing. Not out of skepticism, but simply because there’s no tape of his playing. But still, this brings the number of new players on the Badgers up to six next season. Is this the new normal? Yes, says Oates.

 

Caitlyn Clark is back in the news this week, as she fails to make the US Women’s Olympic Basketball team. Oates says that this is because she won’t be playing too much, but this is a mistake. The WNBA has eyes on it, something they haven’t had in a long time. You have to seize the opportunity to help grow the entire sport of women’s basketball. Simply put: Caitlyn Clark is a name, and a name is something women’s basketball needs right now.

 

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Mike Lucas and Tom Oates react to the news that the Kohl Center is looking to restrict premium seating as they expand the size of the hockey rink. It’s just another way to spite the longtime fans in favor of the big money donors, Oats says. Both Lucas and Oates have been hearing from angry season ticket holders who are now learning that the seats they’ve held for decades are now moving, possibly all the way up to the 300 section.

 

Meanwhile, Craig Counsell returned to Milwaukee last week, and it went about as well as expected. Oates says he’s a little surprised it went on as long as it did, but if Counsell was expecting a warm welcome home, well he went home disappointed. And while the Brewers won the series, Lucas says they have to figure out their starting pitchers situation. Robert Gasser is out for elbow soreness, bringing another hit to the already patched-together starting pitching staff. 

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Mike Lucas and Tom Oates react to the NCAA agreeing to a historic settlement to end class-action lawsuits brought by student athletes. Thousands of former and current college players will receive a share of $2.8 billion in damages. The settlement also clears the way, for the first time, for schools to directly pay student athletes through shared revenue plans. 

“It’s a first step in regaining control over what’s going on. Reform is needed. Right now, there are no guard rails on the transfer portal or NIL (name, image, likeness) money,” says Oates, a former Wisconsin State Journal sports columnist. “Coaches and administrators will take as much slack as you give them. NIL is so out of control, it’s unbelievable. Something has to be done.”

Oates says the NCAA’s settlement might be a legal framework for schools to treat student athletes like employees. 

“This might be a prelude to 60 or 70 schools breaking away and becoming their own bosses,” says Oates. “That way universities can start to bargain for some level of salary cap…and do away with NIL.”  

In the meantime, Lucas says fans are becoming fed up with the dramatic roster changes every season. The Wisconsin men’s basketball team lost more than half dozen players to the transfer portal this year, including stars AJ Storr and Chucky Hepburn.  

“When talking to some Badger boosters, they are really upset about Chucky Hepburn. That one put them over the edge,” says Lucas. “I don’t hold this personally against Hepburn. He’s just a product of this new system.”

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Mike Lucas recently caught Badger alum Sam Dekker hit the game-winning shot for the London Lions in the British Basketball League. 

“Isn’t it great to see him still playing the game and still having success at it?”asks Lucas, a Cap Times sports freelance writer and former radio color analyst for the Badgers. “My question to you, Oatesy, where does Sam Dekker fit in the greatest high school players of all-time in the state of Wisconsin?”

Oates thinks Dekker leading Sheboygan Lutheran to a WIAA state title in 2012 qualifies him for the top ten. 

“He’s one of the best athletes that has ever played basketball in Wisconsin. His whole game is predicated on movement,” says Oates, a former Wisconsin State Journal sports columnist. “Bo Ryan rode him hard but he could never wipe the smile off of Sam Dekker’s face. He was born to play basketball and you could tell the way he plays.” 

Lucas likes that Dekker remains a diehard Milwaukee Brewers fan. 

“He loves his Brewers. You talk about a fanatic,” says Lucas. “He’ll get into it with any troll on the internet.” 

When pressed by Lucas, Oates says Messmer High School’s John Johnson tops the list of Wisconsin basketball greats. Johnson led Messmer to a state title in 1966.

“John Johnson was just a phenomenal player. He played center, he played point guard, he played everything. He was a great passer, great rebounder, and a great defender,” says Oates. “He ended up averaging 28 points a game in his two seasons at Iowa. And then he had a lengthy NBA career.”

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Dylan Brogan. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Mike Lucas highly recommends the new ESPN docuseries on college basketball stars Kamila Cardoso, Kiki Rice, and Caitlin Clark.

“Caitlin Clark is so huge. You just get a better feel for the people around her, the pressure that mounted throughout the season, and how she dealt with it all,” says Lucas, a Cap Times sports freelance writer and former radio color analyst for the Badgers. “After watching it, I have even more respect for (head coaches) Dawn Staley of South Carolina and certainly for Lisa Bluder, who retired from Iowa on Monday.”

Oates, a former Wisconsin State Journal sports columnist, says women’s college basketball has been steadily growing for years. 

“Clark handled the spotlight really well. She was the Taylor Swift of basketball and I think it helped the entire sport,” says Oates. “Women’s college basketball has taken a giant leap forward and I think the WNBA is going to experience that as well.” 

Also on the podcast, the veteran sports journalists appreciated the digs leveled at Bill Belichick during The Roast of Tom Brady. But not much else. 

“I spent three hours watching that and I can’t get it back,” says Lucas. “It was pretty brutal in terms of language and a lot of locker room humor. Some of it had me turning away because it was so crude.” 

To that, Oates responds, “This is the new Mike Lucas.” 

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Dylan Brogan. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.