WIAA approves shot clock usage in non-conference games for 2026-27 basketball season

 

By Daniel Schoettler

Times-Villager and Wrightstown Area Spirit Sports

Reporter

The WIAA approved the limited use of a shot clock in basketball for next season. Schools will now be permitted to use a 35-second shot clock for non-conference games if there is a mutual agreement between the teams as permitted by NFHS rule adaptations.

“I think it is a good first step in the right direction,” FVA commissioner and area referee Jason Nate said. “It was something that we were talking about for a little while now. Just the hope that they were going to trial it in the non-conference games. I think this will give people the opportunity to see what it can add to the game. I think there are still skeptics still out there, but this will give them a chance to see and a chance to trial it.”

Nate added that the state implementing a shot clock is an adjustment and adds a whole new level of thinking to the game from the official’s standpoint.

“New mechanics and new learning,” he added. “There will be a major adjustment period. We are already thinking of some of the training that is going to have to take place. We are still waiting on some of the exact rules. It is 35 seconds, so is there going to be a full 35 second reset on a made basket or a foul or is it going to go to 20 like it does at the college level and some of the states around us.”

Kimberly girls basketball coach Dave Lepisto is happy that the school can potentially use the shot clock for their six non-conference games this season. The school has had shot clocks in their gym since the 2018-19 season and have used them in practices.

“As long as we get agreement from the visiting schools we will play with the shot clock at home. This will give people an opportunity to experience how a shot clock impacts a game — players get to impact the game more than coaches since with more possessions more player decisions will be made,” Lepisto added.

Little Chute boys basketball coach Jake Van Roy added that he thinks the shot clock will be good for the sport, but he doesn’t think they’ll use it in their non-conference games unless they are at something where everyone is using it. The Mustangs play every year in the Baird-Gustman Shootout in Kaukauna as well as playing at the Kress Center, while they also have a game scheduled at the La Crosse Center this year.

“Those are the three times where if that opportunity happens that we will do that. We’ll get prepared for it,” Van Roy added. “It will be a fun piece to add to the game and to the strategy from a coach’s perspective. I think it allows our players to have to think about the game a little more and be decision makers in those moments. We can’t be passing up good shots when we get them early in the possession.”

Wrightstown boys basketball coach Cory Haese isn’t opposed to having a shot clock, but doesn’t know if all of the smaller schools that they play will have them installed this summer or fall in order to use them. The Tigers do play three games at venues that do have them with playing Brillion at Kaukauna, Valders at the Kress Center and Mauston at the Just a Game Fieldhouse this season.

“I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot, but I don’t know if I want to use it after Christmas time,” he added. “Why play with it when you get to the tournament and you aren’t going to have it. It will be interesting to see where it goes.”

Nate added that he has already talked to many area schools that are already going to use the shot clock with non-conference games this season.

“I think once more schools use it that we will start to see the benefits of it,” he added. “There will always be some that will have concerns for costs and other reasons. Once they see the excitement that it will bring to the game, I think they will be on board.”

Coach Haese added that with him being a defensive coach that it will feel like getting a charge during a game.

“Just the energy that you can feed off of when getting a shot clock violation,” he added. “If you can stifle a team for 35 seconds and that buzzer goes off or you take a horrible shot is going to be really cool. That will be huge for our chemistry and culture of a team.

He also added that if you don’t have a good guard to come off a screen on offense that it will be tough to score at the end of a shot clock.

“An old man like me will have to be creative and figure stuff out because I have always preached for decades that we want to get the best shot that Wrightstown can get every possession and I don’t care how long it takes,” Coach Haese said. “I really dislike bad shot attempts as they are horrible to watch and see.”

Lepisto added that the shot clock will make end of game scenarios better.

“If a team is behind, the game doesn’t have to become a “foul every possession” situation,” he added. “If ahead a team will need to continue to play advantage basketball instead of simply running clock. Execution becomes paramount.”

Kimberly boys head coach Kam Cerroni thinks that the implementation will allow some offensive creativity in the sport.

“Teams have to be set to move the ball and to screen, and you have to be more efficient,” Cerroni added. “It will reward good defense. Sometimes you can play amazing defense for 40 to 45 seconds. Then you have one lapse in the last 50 seconds and the other team scores. It will reward good defense and encourage good offensive creativity from players and coaches.”

Cerroni also added that already having the shot clock in the gym will help them a lot with the change.

“It will be a benefit for us, but it will be a learning curve for both players, coaches, referees and fans to adapt to this change the fastest,” he added.

Nate agreed with Cerroni on how it will impact both the offense and defensive sides of the game.

“I talked to one coach and he said that he is excited about it because you only have to play defense for so long,” he added. “From a defensive mindset, I think this will be really strong here because you get rewarded for playing good defense for 35 seconds. I think offensively it will speed up the pace a little bit. I still think the end of the game is the biggest benefit because it will add excitement because you don’t have to foul always at the end of the game. You can play defense and still have the opportunity to still win the game without fouling, and I think that just adds excitement to the game.”

Coach Haese added that he is scared that 30 or 40 point games will turn into 60 or 70 point games, and he thinks it will have more of an impact on the girls side of the game because of the effect that side of the game is having on numbers.

“The haves will just win by more over the have nots with a shot clock,” Coach Haese added. “I do think it is an exciting time, and I do think the kids will enjoy it.”

The Wrightstown athletic director said he is fine with the shot clock, but he is worried that it will effect the girls game more.

“One thing that I am super against is how girls college basketball goes,” he added. “They need to keep the bonus free throws and I think that is huge. The 7-8-9 if there is talk about going to quarters like in college basketball, that you automatically get two free throws once you get five fouls. I think that really hurts defensive teams. That is the most exciting thing with high school basketball is the bonus free throws. That one-for-one is definitely somewhere where a team can get back into play. I know with watching college basketball, it is a lot more fun going to the line for a 1-for-1 than it is two. I think that is a bigger play if that comes if the NFHS adapts that.”

Lepisto added that the full implementation for shot clock to be used in every game will need to be approved by the majority of WIAA membership schools. He is not confident that it will pass since most Division 4 and Division 5 schools do not want it for various reasons.

“In my opinion, the WIAA has created a precedent where different rules can exist within a season (non-conference shot clock allowance versus no shot clock in conference games) so why not take it a step further — Allow D1 and D2 schools to play with a shot clock while allowing D3/D4/D5 schools to not have the shot clock,” the Kimberly girls basketball coach said. “Anecdotally the shot clock in other states has created more flow to the game.”

Van Roy added that each school has to do what is best for their communities.

“The cost is a huge part of this and the shot clock is not a huge thing to implement. It isn’t 100 dollars and we’re done. It is a pretty significant investment,” the Little Chute boys basketball coach added. “That is a huge change because you have to think about who is going to run the shot clock during games. In Little Chute, we are pretty lucky that we have a good stable of community and staff members that are willing to work games and make sure that our games go off without a hitch. I know that a lot of places don’t have that as they don’t have the support to have game workers and managers with people that do the scorebook and the scoreboard. In places like that, I could see where it isn’t as appealing.”

The Little Chute coach disagrees with Lepisto on the shot clock being only implemented potentially at just the Division 1 and Division 2 levels of high school basketball in the state.

“I don’t love that idea because then you are playing a different game,” Van Roy added. “At the end of the day, we are all playing basketball. Just because your school had 1,400 kids in it and Little Chute has 300 kids in it, we are going to have different rules. I don’t think that is fair to the kids or the fans. When you go to the state tournament, and you see more games played with than without. We always have to go up against those bigger schools, and I don’t think the WIAA would go that route and I hope they don’t because that is something that wouldn’t be great for the WIAA and their membership as a whole.”

Van Roy added that implementing it with non-conference games first will allow both the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association as well as the WIAA to have data when it comes to having a shot clock in the future for all games.

“We are all looking at data from schools that have it whether that maybe in Iowa or the Dakotas,” Van Roy added. “This will allow the WIAA get some data to the WBCA from actual Wisconsin teams. I think that will hopefully help in our favor.”

As for Lepisto’s team, their game plan will be similar with how they are going to defend and now they won’t have to defend as long with the implementation of a shot clock.

“We have always played big advantage basketball — shoot when you have the advantage regardless of time so that will not change,” he added. “The end of game situations will change in that we would play “layup only” under four minutes when we had a more than two possession lead. We have been prepared for the shot clock with our style of play for a long time. Kids will be fine.”

The WIAA board of control also discussed the full implementation of the clock for the 2028-29 season, which will require approval at the annual meeting next April.

“I think it will be good for the game as I think there is a lot of potential here,” Nate added. “There is going to be an adjustment for officials, but we will learn and grow from it. There will be a learning and growth period, but we are looking forward to the opportunity. I think it is good for the state of Wisconsin.”

 

My Top 20 Favorite Sousa Marches Part 1 (No specific order)

1. THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER (1896) - Sousa's greatest march and our National March will always have a connection to me. For several years of my life, this was my only favorite Sousa composition as I grew up with it. My dad, who is now a high school band and orchestra director in Racine, played in the Racine Concert Band as a trombonist for the beginning parts of my life. Del Eisch, the previous director of the band, from the time my dad played in the group until his retirement, would always close with this march due to the fact that it became our National March in 1987. When the band played it, Del even had the piccolos along with the trumpets and trombones come out to the front in the trio section as what was the tradition in Sousa's Band. When my dad joined the Kenosha Pops Concert Band in 1998, I asked if the directors if they play it regularly. They said we play other marches by Sousa. As you can see, this march has been part of my childhood as there are home videos of my parents and I humming the piece. So being connected with this march, it began the passion that I have with Sousa's music and life. When I'd play this in high school, and we'd get to the final strain. I would often flip the stand around because I knew the trombone countermelody of this march by heart from the amount of times I have heard this march. The interesting story about this march is Sousa wrote it out of homesickness. Sousa was vacationing in Europe with his family. Upon hearing the news of the death of his business manager, David Blakely, Sousa paced the deck of steamship Teutonic looking at the American flag aboard the ship. According to interviews with the press, Sousa says that he heard a band in his playing in his head constantly the strains of the march. Sousa did not write a bit of it until he reached American soil, and completed the bulk of the music on Christmas Day of 1896. Sousa toyed around with it for several months until giving it's premiere in Philadelphia in May of 1897. From then on, Sousa featured it on all of his concerts and even had his band play it on the radio in 1929. The march was also the last piece Sousa ever conducted as he ended a rehearsal with the Ringgold Band before his death on March 6th, 1932. This recording is from that radio broadcast in 1929 with Sousa giving a short introduction.

2. THE WASHINGTON POST MARCH (1889) - Lately, I have now connected Sousa's first hit and second most popular march as being one of my close favorite marches of his. This is mainly now due to connecting this march to my current profession of being a journalist. This march was one of the marches to spark Sousa's career and make him a household name. During Sousa's time as director of the United States Marine Band (1880-1892), Sousa was approached by a reporter from the now famous but struggling newspaper at the time in the Washington Post. The newspaper was holding an essay contest for children on the Smithsonian grounds in the summer, and wanted Sousa to write one of his marches for the occasion. In June of 1889, Sousa and the Marine Band premiered it after the children read their essays and marched by the Willard Hotel and performed it. One of the reasons that this made Sousa's career and yet alone made the Washington Post famous is because a convention of dance masters used it as the official tune to a new dance called the Two-Step. As the dance took the world by storm, the march became connected to it. Whenever someone would want to dance the Two-Step, they would just ask a group to play a "Washington Post." This march along with a few of Sousa's well known Marine Band-Era marches were recorded by the Marine Band by the Columbia Phonograph Company in Washington D.C. with around 16 players playing with a short introduction by Sousa, but most likely without him conducting as he hated recordings. This was one of the first marches that Sousa received royalties for as he was netted $35 dollars after the publication of the march. It helped produce to music manufacturing plants as a result. Another interesting fact about this march is if you flip the trio of it upside down, it is the trio of a march Sousa wrote six years later in his "King Cotton March," from 1895. 

3. THE FAIREST OF THE FAIR (1908) - This march has been a little bit of a recent favorite of mine due to the discovery that Sousa often foreshadowed in most of his marches. Sousa often would write everything but the introduction before he completed one of his marches. He tries to hint at what is coming later in some of his marches. He does this in "Stars and Stripes," as well as there are small things in the intro that clue to the trio and dogfight. In this march, you'll hear something in the introduction that will continue to come back throughout the whole march. For several seasons, Sousa's Band was engaged to play at the Boston Food Fair. Few years leading up to Sousa writing this march, a young lady caught the eye of Sousa and he called her the "Fairest of the Fair," which is a title now given to young ladies at several county fairs these days. In 1908, the band had a 20 day engagement in which Sousa wrote this march. The march almost missed it's premiere as it was heavily promoted that the march would be premiered at the fair to the public. Before the performance of the march, Sousa's copyist Louis Morris worked until the crack of dawn to prepare the parts off of Sousa's conductor's sketch that was going to be given to the publisher. His copyist was asleep in his hotel when the band premiered it. Sousa did not mention it to him ever again, but gave Morris 50 extra bucks in his next pay check. Here is a recent recording of the Ohio Capital Winds with an intro by Sousa's biographer in Paul Bierley. 

Bierley's intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUyU7ihRGKU

Ohio Capital Winds performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e-ycyCaxls

4. THE UNTITLED MARCH (1930) - This march was one of the last things Sousa ever wrote in his lifetime. We'll never know who or what it was written for, or what the the title would have been. Sousa often titled his marches after the first performance. This march has an interesting story in terms of the discovery of it. After Sousa's death in 1932, his manuscripts were sent to various places around the country including the Library of Congress and the University of Illinois. As his manuscripts were being shipped from Sousa's estate at Sand's Point near New York, a group of burglars broke into the Sousa home and dumped what they thought were useless manuscripts onto the floor of the home. One of these was this march, that was not discovered over 40 years after Sousa's death. In 1988, now Sousa authority Loras Schissel correctly pieced together all 14 pages of Sousa's unknown march. The march did not get it's first performance until 1990 under direction of Keith Brion. My favorite thing about this march is the trio section as it is one of most beautiful trio melodies out of any Sousa march.

20 years of Sousa

The year 2020 marks a little bit of a milestone for me as it will mark 20 years of me having a passion about the music and life of America's March King: John Philip Sousa. In honor of those 20 years, I am going to post about some of my favorite works of his in a couple of posts. One group of them will contain my 20 favorite Sousa marches with the other being about the 20 favorite non-marches that Sousa composed. I hope it will be at least interesting to some people out there. 

TOP NCAA Tournament Games from UW-Whitewater Basketball in the last decade

With the 2016-2017 NCAA Tournament run for UW-Whitewater Basketball on the Men's and Women's starting up this week. Here is a list of some of the best NCAA Tournament games from the last decade for the Warhawks.

1   1. Not a Q(uestion) about it – Quardell Young coast –to –cost game winner against Williams to win National Championship 75-73.

Without a doubt, one of the greatest finishes in perhaps Division 3 National Championship game history and in UW-Whitewater Basketball history. The Warhawks led by 15 with 5:24 remaining in the first half before Williams made their run to get back in it and it went back and forth the rest of the way. Williams’ Michael Mayer tipped in a Duncan Robinson miss with 4.9 seconds left before Quardell Young took the inbound pass from KJ Evans coast-to-coast (and got fouled) with 0.9 seconds left to win 75-73 over Williams and win the program’s second National Championship in three years. Young’s game winner was a top play on Sports Center that weekend. The Warhawks had four players in double figures: KJ Evans with 22, Eric Bryson and Quardell Young with 13, while Reggie Hearn had 10. 

2   2. 18 point comeback against Cabrini to win program’s third National Championship and first since 1989.

Down 18 with 14:43 to go in the game, the Warhawks made the huge comeback to win their first National Championship since 1989 (when head coach Pat Miller was a co-captain on the team). They trailed 47-29 in the game made a 10-0 run in a three minute span thanks to Quardell Young, Cody Odegaard, and Alex Merg to get them back in the game. The Warhawks only allowed four baskets in the last 14:43 of the game. National Players of Year Chris Davis tied it at 55, and later gave the Warhawks the lead with a jumper. Davis had 12 in the game, Edmunds and Merg had 11, while Quardell Young had 10. Davis won MVP honors in tournament while Pat Miller won Coach of the Year honors.

3    3. Mary Merg two buzzer beater game in National Semifinal against Amherst in 2013.

This game probably for the time being will be the best game in UW-Whitewater Basketball history on the Women’s side. The Warhawks were down by 12 with less than three minutes remaining in the second half plus they hadn’t hit a single three for the first 37 plus minutes of the game. They started hitting those threes and made the comeback late as Mary Merg hit a desperation three at the regulation buzzer to force overtime before hitting a floater at the overtime buzzer to win the game 64-62 and send the Warhawk Women to their first National Championship game appearance. The two buzzer beaters were a top play on Sports Center that weekend and almost beat out Javeon Clowney’s big hit from that year in a best of the best contest on ESPN. Cortney Kumerow had a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Lisa Palmer had 10 points and 10 rebounds as she also had a double-double. 

      4. UW-Whitewater Women avenge National Championship loss to reach Final Four in 2014.

DePauw came into this game as the Defending National Champions as the Warhawks had lost to them the year before in the National Championship game. The Warhawks were looking for revenge and for another trip to a Final Four. The Warhawks led DePauw by two at the half and outscored them by 15 in the second half to pull away and get the win. DePauw had the lead in the game only once and  the biggest lead the Warhawks had in the game was 17. Volleyball player turned basketball player Kristen Ruchti had a near double-double of 24 points and nine rebounds. Mary Merg had 21 points and nine rebounds as well. The team had three other players in double digits as both Kaitlyn Thill and Andrea Olsen had 12, while Amy Mandrell had 10. 

5   5.  UW-Whitewater Women beat Hope to go to Final Four in 2013.

Hope College came into this particular game on this list ranked No. 2 in the country and they were looking to host a Final Four in their own building. Safe to say, things didn’t go the way the Flying Dutch hoped. The Warhawks had the lead the whole entire game and led at 18 at one point. UW-Whitewater led by 12 at the half, and the closest Hope College would ever get to the lead was 58-56 in the second half as  the Warhawks got the 65-60 win to reach the Final Four for the third time in program history. The Warhawks had four players in double figures in this game as Courtney Kumerow had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Mary Merg also had 14 points in this game, while Kaitlyn Thill and Abbie Reeves had 10 apiece.

6   6.  UW-Whitewater Men beat Emory at Stevens Point to reach Final Four in 2014.

This game goes on here more because it is cool that they cut down the nets at Stevens Point that year. Emory was coming off an overtime win over UW-Stevens Point and led the Warhawks in this game by one at the half. The Warhawks outscored Emory 49-25 in the second half to reach their fourth Final Four in program history. KJ Evans and Quardell Young were the only two Warhawks in double digits in the game. KJ Evans posted a double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds, while Young scored 12 points.

7   7. UW-Whitewater Men punch ticket to Final Four in 2012

You have to put the game that sent the Warhawks to the 2012 Final Four on this list. You look at the stats from this game though. I mean throughout that 2012 NCAA Tournament run Chris Davis (the 2012 National Player of the Year) had big numbers. In the win against Virginia Wesleyan that sent them to the 2012 Final Four, he had a double-double of 33 points and 11 rebounds. You add in Cody Odegaard had 17 in the game and five threes.

8   8. Mary Merg sets All-time Scoring record in Consolidation game in 2014

This game is on this list because it has some historic meaning in terms of the record book for Women’s Basketball at UW-Whitewater. In the second of the back to back Final Four appearances in 2012 and 2013, the Warhawks found themselves in the third place game after losing to Whitman 85-70 the night before. Coming into the consolidation game against Tufts, senior Mary Merg needed just 30 points to set the program’s all-time scoring mark. With 36 seconds left in the game, Merg hit two free throws and made history. Merg finished with 30 in the game, while Ruchti had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. 

9   9. Warhawks beat 2011 National Champion to advance to second weekend of NCAA Tournament

The Warhawks had four guys in double digits in this game: Cody Odegaard had 29, Alex Merg had 17, Chris Davis and Alex Edmunds had 11. The Warhawks outscored St. Thomas by double digits in both halves.

    10.    Beating a WIAC Rival in the NCAA Tournament – Warhawks beat UW-Oshkosh 69-57 in 2014 run to Final Four

Not often that you play a conference rival in the NCAA tournament in Division 3. It doesn’t happen often, and considering UW-Oshkosh has had sort of UW-Whitewater’s number the last few years is why this is on this list. Both teams in the 2013-14 tournament coming into this game had only four losses. The weird thing about this matchup of Rivals was it wasn’t in Wisconsin as it was in Greencastle, Indiana. The Warhawks led at the half 24-20. The Warhawks and Titans played a somewhat close game up until the Warhawks pushed it to seven midway through the second and added to the lead from there. Mary Merg led the way with 23 points, while Kristen Ruchti had 12, while current senior Reilly Stewart had 11.

Bucks Offseason Thoughts

The Milwaukee Bucks finished their 2015-16 season with a 33-49 record. Last season, they were hard team to describe last year. They had games where they'd beat teams like the 73-9 Golden State Warriors and end their winning streak at home to going and have awful nights after.  This team has a huge upside with the incredible length they have on the floor.  They have superstars in the making with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker. There were a little moments last year where you can see what this Bucks team could be in the future. Greg Monroe last year was signed to help rim protect. In fact, he was the complete opposite and was horrible on the defensive side of the ball yet seemed to put the points up. Michael Carter-Williams was injury plagued and has under performed during his time as a Milwaukee Buck. This team has upside and should be in conversation for the playoffs for years to come even after a down year after making the playoffs in Jason Kidd's first season. Look what they did in the off-season from Free Agency and in the Draft. They signed Matthew Dellavadova away from the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers in a sign-and-trade deal with the Cavaliers. Dellavadova's deal is a four year deal. In my opinion, Dellavedova helps add depth to the guard positions. He shot around 40 percent last year from three point land and from the field which is a huge upgrade over Carter-Williams. They added Jason Terry through free agency, a guy who played with Jason Kidd on an NBA Finals winning team. Terry's averages from last year around the same mark as Dellavedova from last year. The Bucks also brought back Marquette Alum Steve Novak. Last year, the Bucks added last year in a mid-season deal, but his homecoming was ended short last year due to an injury. In Novak's career, he has averaged around 43 percent from three point land and from the field. All three should add some veteran leadership to this squad. The Bucks lost Jerryd Bayless to the 76ers in the off-season and that was a big loss for a veteran sense for this team. Novak, Terry, and Dellavedova all bring that to this team. In the draft, the Bucks added to the guard positions by drafting Malcolm Brogdon out of Virginia. Brogdon averaged 18.2 ppg. and shot 45 percent from the field while shooting almost 40 percent from the three point arc. They added depth to the power forward position and from three point land by signing Mirza Teletovic from the Suns on a multi-year deal. He averaged all career highs in points, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, and three pointers per game last season.  Teletovic also set a NBA record for three pointers by a reserve last season. He also played with the Nets in Jason Kidd's first year as head coach in Brooklyn. Adds some depth behind Jabari Parker and John Henson at the four spot. You add all that to what they have with Kris Middleton, Jabari Parker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis and Rashard Vaughn, it just gives them more shooters that can shoot the three. The best thing the Bucks did in the off-season was bringing back Miles Plumlee on a four year deal. Greg Monroe just doesn't fit what Jason Kidd wants to do defensively, and Plumlee does. Plumlee has played well in his time in Milwaukee last year averaged 3.8 rebounds per game in 61 games. Monroe's stats are about five rebounds higher, but Monroe just seems to be slow the basket on defense. To add to the crazy length on this team, Bucks General Manager John Hammond made yet another gutsy move in a draft. This year's first round pick for the Bucks just when he was drafted felt like an out of nowhere pick, sort of like it was a few years ago when the Bucks drafted the Greek Freak. People didn't know really much about him, but the Bucks apparently liked him at that pick. He played well  for the Bucks in Summer League and we'll see if it pays for the Bucks. Maybe it will have the impact the Giannis pick had but we'll see. In my opinion, the Bucks did well in off-season with what they added. For my expectations, if all goes right this could be a year where they end up back in the playoffs. Another year for the young kids to grow and mature add in all this veteran leadership, this could be a good year for the Bucks.

National League Central Preview 2016

1. Chicago Cubs (2015 Finish: Third Place, 97-65 record)
This could be the Cubs year to end the over-a-century long drought of World Series titles. I'm saying could because the offense and their starting pitching is what will carry them. Offensively with the young studs of Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber, and Addison Russell. Add in the veterans they have with Jason Heyward, Dexter Fowler, Ben Zobrist, and Miguel Montero. This is one of the most exciting teams in baseball right now. Add in the solid top of the rotation they have with CY Young award winner Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, and newcomer John Lackey with a reliable back of the rotation with Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks. The thing that I think sets them back is their bullpen. I'm not saying that it isn't experienced because they gained that from last year's post season run. I'm not saying Henry Rondon isn't a solid closer because he has been the last few years for them. I think the Cubs could gain something from a bit more of a veteran presence in that bullpen. They had that a bit last year with Fernando Rodney at the back end at the end of year. It could really get them over the hump and make that World Series title that much more possible. 
2. St. Louis Cardinals (2015 Finish: First Place, 100-62 record)
The Cardinals are the Cardinals. They are always going to be up at the top of this division. Doesn't matter what even if they suffer a big injury to one of their big names even in their starting pitching. They are always going to be in the playoff hunt. They always have the pitching with Adam Wainright, Jaime Garcia, Carlos Martinez, and Michael Wacha. Mike Leake is a reliable option to close out that starting rotation. Trevor Rosenthal is one of the best closers in the big leagues. Offensively, they always have a good lineup with Matt Carpenter, Matt Holiday, Matt Adams, Randal Grichuk, and Yadier Molina. The Cardinals do have some bodies out to begin the year with Jhonny Peralta, Brayan Pena and Ruben Tejada out to begin the year. So that will hurt their depth a bit, but we'll see if it affects how well they do? 
3. Pittsburgh Pirates (2015 Finish: Second Place, 98-64 record)
The Cardinals and Pirates could be a flip flop. The Pirates have some bright spots with the top of their lineup with Andrew McCutcheon, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, and Josh Harrison. They've lost some production with losing Pedro Alvarez to free agency, but they have a productive bat replacing him with David Freese. The rest of their lineup is projected to have John Jaso, catcher Francisco Cervelli, and Jordy Mercer. Michael Morse and former Brewers first baseman Jason Rogers are two solid bats coming off the bench. When you look at their rotation, they are solid at the top with Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano at the top, but it is a little uncertain at the back end, but they do have some experience possibly there with Jon Niese, Jeff Locke and Juan Nicasio. Ryan Vogelsong is another possibility there or for their bullpen. In their bullpen, Mark Melancon has been one of the best relievers in baseball over the last few years. Tony Watson and Neftali Feliz are both reliable pieces out of the bullpen. It could be another year where the top three teams in the National League Central make the playoffs. 
4. Milwaukee Brewers (2015 Finish: Fourth Place, 68-94, record)
This year is the first step of the next great Milwaukee Brewers team. It will be a tough road, but they'll have to go through a few 70 to 80 win seasons just to get back to a playoff contender.  It will pay big dividends for the future as they for the highly touted prospects like shortstop Orlando Arcia, center fielder Brett Phillips, catcher Jacob Nottingham among others to make the leap to the big leagues. In the meantime, I don't think the Brewers will have a horrible 2016 season, and by that I don't think they'll be as bad as people think. Am I saying they'll be a playoff team? No, that is a few years down the line. I do think they still have have talented pieces on this roster, even though there is a possibility that Lucroy, Braun, Garza, and some of their veteran pieces could be moved. There is still some pop in this lineup with Ryan Braun, first baseman Chris Carter, outfielder Domingo Santana, and obviously Lucroy. There is still some questions with the offense though. Can Scooter Gennett hit both lefties and righties? Who will play center field with guys like Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Shane Peterson and Keon Broxton manning though spots? How long will it take Arcia to get up to the big league club? The younger rotation they have right now has some bright spots. Both Jimmy Nelson and Taylor Jungmann showed they belong in the big leagues. Add in a healthy Wily Peralta, who had 17 wins in 2014 before the injury plagued season last year along with Matt Garza and Chase Anderson also providing some veteran leadership there. The bullpen will be interesting with the arms they have especially with Jeremy Jeffress being in the closers role for the first time in his career. 
5. Cincinnati Reds (2015 Finish: Last Place, 64-98 record)
The Cincinnati Reds are kind of in the same rebuilding phase as the Brewers, just there is a bit of a difference. The Reds look like they are in a bigger rebuild than the Brewers. It looks like a complete tear down with them trading their firearm closer in Aroldis Chapman. It also looks like they are trying to trade their franchise pieces in Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, and Jay Bruce. Compared to the Brewers, they are doing a complete tear down. The Brewers are the opposite because they have some young talent in their minor league system already. As for the Reds, they have a young rotation with Anthony DeSclafani, who is coming off his first full year of his career. Homer Bailey is still the anchor in that rotation. J.J. Hoover could be their closer this year in his first year as a closer after only having five saves over the last five years. 

Should the Brewers trade their Veteran Pieces?

With the Brewers going into a bit of a rebuilding mode over the next few years, the question right now is what are they going to do with some of their more experienced veterans. We're talking about guys like outfielder Ryan Braun, catcher Jonathon Lucroy, shortstop Jean Segura and starting pitcher Matt Garza. When you look at those three pieces, the hardest to trade is Ryan Braun, who just entering his $100 million plus dollar extension over the next five years. For the Brewers, you probably cannot find a team that would be willing to take on that much money in the process. In my opinion, the Brewers are going to have to deal with having Braun on the team next few years instead of dealing him. Honestly, they need him in the lineup because it adds some much added power to the lineup. If you were to take him out of the line up, you would lose a big of your productivity as an offense. Right now in that lineup, the Brewers' biggest bats are Khris Davis (who is coming off a 20+ home run season), Domingo Santana (who has the potential to put the same numbers Davis put up last year), and Chris Carter (over his last three seasons with the Astros, Carter has hit 90 home runs). To me, if you trade away Braun that loses a lot of what the Brewers built for, which is to hit the home run ball. Those bats I mentioned may not be as dangerous as Braun, Fielder, Hart, Hardy, and Weeks, but they'll still hit plenty of home runs out of Miller Park. The other thing that makes me envision Braun being with the Brewers over the next few years is that you have the option to move him to another position, and I do think this has the potential and I'll say why. The Brewers have another outfielder waiting in the wings in Brett Phillips, and what I think could happen down the line is this. Brett Phillips will eventually man center field. Khris Davis stays in left and Domingo Santana, who is a better corner outfielder than center fielder moves to right. This will make it possible for Braun to move to either second or first base. We know it won't be third because he has already stated that he is against that. The other thing with this and it is uncertain right now is that you don't know if Chris Carter will end up being a two to three year piece at first base for the Brewers. That remains to be seen because if he has a great season his first year in Milwaukee, they could give him a longer deal. If not, it will open up that possibility to move Braun there. Now onto Lucroy and Segura. These two guys are expendable right now especially Segura. The Brewers are absolutely loaded at the shortstop position in their minor league system with Luis Sardinas along with phenom Orlando Arcia waiting in the wings. The question right now with Segura is when you call up Arcia what are they going to do with him. Most likely they would probably end up platooning him with Gennett, Villar, Eric Young Jr. and Perez at second base. Those five guys all together are such a head scratcher because Gennett can't hit lefties to save his life right now. Hernan Perez we haven't seen that much of since he has only played one year in the majors. The Brewers haven't seen what they can get out of Villar and Young yet. So it just makes it such a mess of inconsistency at that spot if you were call up Arcia and move Segura to that spot. In Segura's case, it would be the best thing at some point to move him once you decide to go with Arcia. With Lucroy however, he is one where I would consider trying to move him either now or at the deadline. Jonathon Lucroy has proven that he is one of the best catchers in all of baseball and he has stated recently that he thinks it is in the best interest for them to trade him to a contender and I don't blame him. Lucroy is getting up to his thirties and his window going to close at some point at getting a World Series title. That most likely won't happen with the Brewers because they aren't building for now like they have in the past. The Brewers are quite a ways away from battling for being at the top of the N.L. Central. It is the best thing for them to trade him this year than have him not enjoy being on the team. Lucroy just came out said that he thinks the next few years if he's there aren't going to be that fun. I don't blame him because it is a hard thing to be on a team that is in a rebuilding mode. Trading Segura and Lucroy will really help the Brewers in the long run because they'll get something in return that could be big down the line. As for Garza, in my opinion, I just want him gone and off this team. Yes, I agree he can help provide leadership to the young arms in the starting rotation, but I just think it is better to have this young rotation of Jimmy Nelson, Wily Peralta, Taylor Jungmann, Zach Davis, Ariel Pena and the other young guys to go learn on go and develop together. I look at those guys and see them as decent rotation without him because they have some good young guys there. Garza just like Lucroy doesn't want to be there. He wants to be with a contender. The last thing you want with this Brewers club is having some guys mope and not want to be there. Garza moped about it at the end of last year. Honestly, he has been a waste of a contract with the Brewers, and I know some people will disagree with this statement.  I think his deal is right up there with the Jeff Suppan's deal from 2007. He isn't as bad as Suppan was it just hasn't panned out the way the Brewers wanted to at all. When they signed him that it was going deepen the rotation they had then with Gallardo and Lohse in it and I thought realistically he was a guy that could put up 14-18 wins and maybe get into the CY Young conversation. That hasn't happened at all the first two years of this deal. He's had good outings just the numbers aren't there in some cases. The problem for the Brewers right now with Garza is finding a suitor to take him, and that is the same thing with Braun's deal. That is the case when you commit so much money to one player, it screws you over on the trade side of things if you so choose to deal them at some point. So with that being said getting rid of some of the veterans on this team could pay some dividends for them in the long run at developing another run at a playoff push in the near future.