Last Friday night our Phil Shore spoke with Joe Spallina of the Lizards and Wade Leaphart of the Hounds and the trade sending Stephen Berger to New York. It’s a bit lengthy, but we have the full transcript below.
(I)We’re talking about this trade with the Hounds that bring back Steven Berger to New York. The Lizards had just traded Steven Berger last season. How did the opportunity to reacquire him come up? Who approached who in this deal?
(S)Well, the Berger to Charlotte trade was done before I was involved with Long Island, or now New York. I’ve always been a huge fan of Berger. I was the assistant coach at Long Island before I was the head coach so, obviously I know the kind of person he is, the kind of player he is, and know the kind of different things he can bring to our locker room, as well as the feel which everyone kind of know the intangibles he can bring as a player. My son was actually very involved in the trade. He was a big cog in making this trade happen, my 9 year old. That’s really the secret to all the New York Lizard trades. You know, I consulted my 9 year old and he checks off on the trade. I’m just kidding. He was actually with Berger in the All-Star game out in Boston two years ago where they did the time machine thing in the skills competition. It was my son with Berger that did that. Berger’s always been real good to me and I think our team is close. We kind of felt like for us to go out and get a different style midfielder, I mean, there’s a lot to be said. Within our plan I think that David (inaudible), Max (Inaudible), you know, Peyser. Our midfielders are a lot of downhill guys. To get a flasher and a dynamic player like Berger was something that intrigued us. We were very aggressive in our pursuit of him. I clearly, as you could tell with a lot of the moves that we have made I have a plan with our team. We kind of want us to have a certain type of team and to be able to match midfielders to Chesapeake, to be able to get a little bigger on the attack, to get a little bit tougher on the defensive end. These are areas that we went after this year. We felt like to compete with, which obviously Chesapeake we’re all jealous of them because they’re the defending champs, we needed to improve our overall roster. To get an All-Pro like Berger that we feel is the final piece to what we’re trying to accomplish, and now it’s matter of our guys going out there and trying to get it done.
(I)Obviously a big acquisition, but was it that Steven wanted to move and was looking to get a trade? Did that Hounds make him available or did you guys approach the Hounds?
(S)I think it was a little of both that go involved. I think we really had to kind of make a strong offer and I think that Berger had to be willing to move you know, which I think in my conversation with him following the move is he is really intrigued with everything we have going on in New York, so that’s a big part of it. You know, overall from my angle he’s a guy that’s a difference maker. He’s a guy who offensively, is going to be our most dynamic offensive midfielder in the sense that Max is a great two-way guy; David is a great two-way guy. Then you have Berger who is one of those guys who can just pick it up and make someone look silly and whip one into the goal or try for the cage. He can score in so many different ways and to get guys that can do that kind of stuff for you, once we had a sense that it was a possibility for that trade taking place, you know we really upped our offer and we didn’t want to be left without that kind of player. It was a conglomeration of all those things and we could not be happier.
(I)You brought up some of the other names from your midfield, that’s a pretty star studded group. What are some of your expectations for them as a group and how do you expect them to work together?
(S)Honestly, I think a lot of people look at our team on paper and think, “Oh yeah, you guys can win a championship.” I read all this stuff where all of a sudden we’re proclaimed that we’ve won anything, but I mean, you’ve seen a million times in a million different sports how you could have a beautiful team on paper, but sometimes it doesn’t translate. We’re going to have to try and find a way to make that a cohesive group. With the attack as well, with (inaudible), Matthews, (inaudible), and Gibson, with those other midfielders that we spoke about, you never know until you have them all out there together. It’s something that we’re going to have to find the great combination that works. I think Berger’s acquisition is going to be a big part of that being a fluent group because Berger can move the ball, he’s good a sharing the ball, he’s great at driving the ball, so it’s not like he’s a one trick pony. I think having a different style midfielder like Berger with those other guys will help them kind of complement each other. He could be the kind of lynch pin with that group and make it a cohesive unit in combo with that great attacking that we have been able to put together.
(I)You said before that you did speak to Berger after the trade was made. Could you go a little more into what, generally speaking, you guys talked about? Especially since you guys are very familiar with each other
(S)He’s a good friend as well. I presented for him down at the US Convention in Philly. Our first conversation was a lot of screaming and (inaudible) and he was super pumped up. Then we spoke about the direction of the team and he was real excited. It was his time to roll out there with Max, Earl, (inaudible), Matthews, and (inaudible) and Gibson, those kind of guys, which he spoke about in his interview afterwards. He’s excited. I think the big thing; in my conversation with him that became very, very clear is that he wants to win a championship. That’s really the most important thing to him. I can tell you, as great of a player that everyone sees in Berger, he’s better in the room than he is on the field, and that’s a very, very large complement. You know, we’re still a young team. We haven’t deviated from our plan, we still have a very, very young group, so I know as kind of the guy that’s cooking this meal and shopping for the groceries that it would take a certain kind of veteran to add into that room that would really help to bring out the best in our younger guys. A guy who is really loosey goosey. I know that Bergs is really excited to be playing for New York and he and I have a great relationship. He’s excited you know, for me, and the one thing he went out of his way to say is he’s ready to be a great teammate and that he’s ready to win a championship, and that he’s excited to do it with the team that he started his whole journey off with.
(I)I do remember your kids saying last year how upset they were when Steven Berger was traded, he was there favorite player. What were your kids reactions when they heard the news that Bergs was coming back to the Lizards?
(S)Well, it’s pretty funny. Joey, is aka little Berger. Joey knows the MLL; he knows a lot of the players. Statistically, he knows all of his stuff so he knew that we were in negotiations. The negotiations went on for a while so it wasn’t an easy move for Charlotte either. He’s a big part of their community. He’s a big part of their locker room, so this was probably a heart wrenching move for them as well. My son was just grilling me. Every day he would come home from school, he wouldn’t say “Dad how was your day?” He’s say “Dad, did you do it yet?” It was funny because we went on for a while so when we finally let him know he wore his Berger jersey to school the next day, so he was excited about that. Just to give you an idea, this league is a different dynamic. With these players and how close they are to the fan bases and what not. I can’t tell you how many emails and calls, even from people Jimmy Mulley, the previous coach, you know, “great trade, on and off the field.” You know, some fan reaching out about how excited they were. Our players, you know, they were really, really excited to be able to add a player like this. And we gave up some good assets. Ryan Young is one of my favorite players. They don’t come any nicer than Ryan Young. Collin Briggs we didn’t get an opportunity to know, but the truth of the matter is that for both of those guys we did the right thing by them because they probably weren’t going to have a tremendous role on our team this year. Collin Briggs was probably going to be a fourth or fifth middy and Ryan Young behind (inaudible), Palasek, Gibson, and Mark Matthews was going to have a very difficult time getting some playing time. So, both of those guys went to different players and will be in position to have their own career. And from a New York standpoint, we were able to add an all-star, all-pro starter everywhere for a couple guys and a draft pick that were going to have minimal roles within our team. So, to be able to get an all-star without really disrupting the core is something we are really excited about.
(I)What is it like trading a player that you had traded for, but hasn’t played for you?
(S)Honestly, I am going to go on record right now and say Colin Briggs is going to have a nice season. He’ll score 15 goals, he’ll do a really nice job in Boston, but I will say this; it was a lot easier for me to trade Collin Briggs than it was for me to trade Ryan Young because I’m an all-in kind of guy. I think you guys see the way I coach, the way I am with my players. I care about my guys. I’ll do anything for them, they’re great guys. They work hard for us, we’re doing everything we can to put the team in a good situation, so you get emotional, you get to know these guys off the field and it’s tough. I mean, we got Mark Matthews, but trading (inaudible) was very difficult, not to say as much as a player, but as a person, you know? Ryan Young came up with us as a rookie and he was with us at the start of last year and kind of battled through. You know, it’s tough sometimes emotionally to call these guys, and we try to do everything up front with our guys and call them and say, you know we’ve decided to move you on. Even though we’re doing what’s best for those guys, but Colin Briggs was in a tough situation in Denver, you know, where he was put into a different role than he is used to playing. Then we were able to get him, and we were excited to get him, and we just thought him as a complementary fourth midfielder, fifth midfielder, maybe a shorty from time to time, would have a nice role with our team. All that being said, when a Stephen Berger comes across your desk, you really know in the same kind of way that they’re going to help improve your team. I’ll be honest with you, at the end of the season, our team over achieved last year. I think you can tell our goal for the entire off-season is you know, we got Jack Reid, we got Stephen Waldeck on the defensive side to add some toughness to our team. You know, we went out and got David Earl who I think is going to have, he’s had good seasons, he’s going to explode this year. You know, we were able to get Mark Matthews, who’s a young (inaudible) junior and I don’t think you need to say anything more than that. I mean, his upside is tremendous and gave us more size there. And then we’ll have to take a step back at that point and say, listen, how do we match up with these other great teams and why is a Chesapeake so good? Because the role 4 or 5 midfielders that can all do everything. They’ve got big size on their attack and they’ve got guys who pass and guys who work off ball, and defensively do they play such a great system or is it that they’re so tough and physical that nobody wants to go near their goal, you know? So, imitation is the finest form of flattery and we used some similar blue print that Chesapeake does and being able to improve our overall roster.
(I)Is this a championship or bust kind of season? Is anything other than a championship going to be kind of disappointing?
(S)Well, yeah I think if you ask that question to most of the teams in the league they’ll tell you the same thing, so I will say that because that’s the way I do everything. I say that with my college team and that’s only my second year there. Do I think a championship is the final measuring stick? Yes. Do I think we’ve made enough moves to be considered a strong, strong contender for a championship? Yeah, I think that as well too. The nice thing that I like with our team which is a little different than Chesapeake, it’s a little different than some other teams is that this is not an old team. Our starting attack you know, all four of our attack men are all guys who are first, second year guys. Our midfielder, David Earl is a third year guy. Berger is a little bit older, Matthews four years into the league, Karalunas a third year guy, CJ a second year guy, Tim Henderson a second year guy, so we’re young in a lot of key sports. A lot of young vets, which is important because you still want your guys to have tread in the tires toward the end of the season. Could we win a championship this year? Yeah, I think we have the pieces. Could we win a championship with the same guys three years from now? Yes, I also think that’s true because we have guys who are not at the tail end of their career that are going to be major contributors here.
(I)Have you talked to Ryan Young since the deal happened? What was that conversation like?
(S)Yeah, I did. And you know what, honestly it was one of the things that I really made sure when I got involved here that I did have that communication with guys. I know it bothered guys like, when the lineups went out the night before games and no one was ever told anything, an email would go out in the middle of the night. I would always make sure that we had an open conversation with our guys, and one thing I made clear with Ryan is that I really like the guy a lot as a player. I like really like him a lot as a person and I wanted him you know, instead of playing every four or five games for our team he would be able to go somewhere he would kind of be able to grab the keys to the car and help and be one of the leaders of a younger team. Ryan’s a great player, he really is. He’s a great guy, he’s a great player, he cares, he loves the game, and he’s another guy that if, you know, he ended up back in a Lizards jersey in 3 or 4 years then we would love to have him. It’s not like there are any bridges burned or anything like that. It’s going to be a good move for Ryan Young’s lacrosse career, and that’s really what we care about, making sure you put these guys in a position where you know, you only have a certain amount of games and for him to be in a position where he can go and flourish and have an opportunity to make a big impact somewhere, you know, I definitely did not want to deny him that.
(I)Is there anything before you go that you want to add or talk about?
(S)Yeah we’re excited; I mean I will tell you this. I’ve had the blessing of our ownership on all these moves. They’ve been real supportive of giving me anything, any of the resources that I need to make deals. So that’s been a big thing, and that’s where a lot has changed with New York where you have ownership who is as devoted to this as myself and the players. Casey’s been outstanding through this whole thing as well, you know, really allowing me to run with this and build this thing. That’s the thing, and I think overall and you know, I’m not sure we’re done yet with any moves. We could have some more stuff going but, you never stop getting better. We look for ways to improve the team and kind of (inaudible) the weakness like any team does. Maybe just bring guys in for training camp. One of the things that we try to do in training camp is make it as competitive as possible because it raises the bar, raises the expectations, so that’s pretty much it. We’re excited about our team, real excited. Our guys, they’re sending emails back and forth, we’ve done a lot of off season stuff as far as fundraisers and ways of promoting, the rebranding of the franchise and all that kind of stuff. There’s a lot of real good positive things and I know our guys are sending emails and tweets out about how they wish the season was starting tomorrow and it’s excitement we haven’t had in a while. Last year we were kind of the step child of the league. We had a lot of people looking at us a joke and we were able to turn that around, so now obviously our expectations are high and we’re excited about that.
Leaphart Interview
(I)What was the motivation behind dealing away Stephen Berger?
(L)It was a tough one. I got to know Stephen Berger really well over the past year you know, as an expansion team he obviously did some awesome things for us, but towards the end of the season and leading up to the college draft when we got up to Philadelphia we kind of reconnected again. We had a good heart-to-heart talk and I could tell he has a good year, year and a half left in the tank and he really wanted to finish up close to home. We had talked about potentially sending him over to Chesapeake so he could play in his backyard and then New York was obviously another possibility for him where he started his career, and he’s got a lot of family and friends up there. You know, we kind of had a good heart-to-heart about it and about the same time, Spallina and I had connected and they were looking for some guys, veterans in the midfield. We asked them about (inaudible) and we asked them about Berger, so kind of a weird, perfect twisted storm came together and that’s kind of how it all came about. The conversations between Berger and I, we wanted to do what’s best for him. You think about this league, and Spallina touched on it a little bit, this isn’t a full time job for these guys. Berger’s got some stuff on the side with work and personal that you know, at this point in his life probably mean more to him. It’s just a better fit at this point in time for him to move back up that way. In the end, it really worked out well for everybody.
(I)How does Ryan Young fit in with the new attack the Hounds are putting together?
(L)I think Ryan Young is going to be great. If you look at it right now I really don’t have a lot of depth in there. You got Kaminski, and by the end of the year Bryan Carroll we moved to attack and slid (inaudible) to the box, and Eric Lusby was a nice addition there for us. Shane Jackson we were able to acquire, so that was a nice pickup for us. I’m pumped about Ryan Young; he’s a great fit for us. He’s an all-in kind of guy you know, he’s a hard shell but better than that, he’s a quarterback. I think he’s going to bring a nice talent to this team and he can go in and run the offense. We’ve got room for him and we’re excited to let him go wild this year.
(I)How are the Hounds moving on from the guys that were thought to be cornerstones of the franchise?
(L)Sure, you know, I think looking back that was sort of our intention. Acquiring Berger and letting him finish out his career here, put in 3 or 4 solid years here and now it’s another year, year and a half for him, and now he’s in a better spot so that takes care of that. You look at (inaudible), we rolled to dice on Jeremy and we won. Jeremy was awesome for us last year and luckily with his military commitments he was able to come in for us and play and we worked with him with his schedule. You know, it just so happens military wise he gets transferred and gets stationed out in Colorado. This is a business, travel budgets are a real thing so Tony and I worked together, and (inaudible) was a big need for them, and they loved him. You can’t beat the location and I think what we got in return for (inaudible) was very fair. I am super pumped to have Peet come in this year and see his point production. We fully intended when we started this thing, we were so excited to pull in Billy (inaudible). Young kid, go getter, gives it his all, but Rochester approached us towards the end of the season and started to ask about Billy. You know, you look on paper and everybody loved Billy, I’m not going to knock him, but he’s a one point per game attack man. Ricky is a one point per game guy, he’s in a midfield, and he’s got a long pole in his hand, so I thought the value we were able to get by orchestrating that deal with Rochester was unbelievable. I mean, if you look what happened was Kevin Randall, collegiate draft pick that we weren’t able to activate, he was coming off an epic college career at Notre Dame was still a bit banged up. Finished the year, we never activated him so he actually moved back home to Rochester. You bundle up (inaudible), Randall, and I believe it was a second round pick that we sent their way for a first round pick and a fourth round pick. Now, Drew’s a proto-type. I’m so excited to have that guy as a defensive middie for us. I think he’s one of the guys you want. The fourth round pick, that’s Matt White. The first round pick was Durkin. You saw the deal with Durkin and what we did with that. We got three guys that we really (inaudible) were good picks for us. We’re a grinder, we’re a young organization. Casey Carroll, Haas, Trebuca, all guys that we really like, not only by their game and their style of play, but honestly I have to play in the geography of it. Spallina could probably go out any weekend and pick fifteen guys in the neighborhood and they can probably compete. We just don’t have that. We’re not the Baltimore or the New York, we’re not Boston, so I’m trying to build a nice, young core of guys in this area, or that are easier on my travel budget in the long term that are going to be faces and names of this organization and this league, so that’s where we’re kind of going with it. (Inaudible) is up at Duke now as an assistant coach as you know, so he’s certainly a big cornerstone and that worked out really well for us. We’re getting there. I think we’ve made some moves so on paper it looks real crazy to move Berger but I’m pretty excited about how that panned out for us. I called Kevin Barney up in Boston as I was in discussion with Spallina trying to figure out what’s the best thing. How can I acquire the most value and make this thing sensible for us and Briggs lives in Boston. I called Barney and said you guys have you eye on Briggs, would he be a fit for you? I’d like to have Kevin Briggs, but overtime Boston probably has no intention of coming down this way anyway. It just made more sense to send him up there and pull in another second round pick. We’re sitting on three second round picks next year, in addition to a third. Whether you use them all of package them up in some kind of crazy trade, there’s certainly value there.
(I)It seems like your philosophy has changed. Can you talk about how that happened?
(L)Yeah, I think it’s weird. You go into an expansion season where you think you can build everything out. At the end of the day you’re trying to get 19 guys on the field that can play by April 28th last year, so I mean, you look at our defensive midfield last year we ran through a couple of guys and it was a big sore spot for us. If you look at what we have now, we have a surplus. Jerry Riley was a guy we got late last year. Now we have Chris Schiller, Kevin Drew, and Casey Cittadino, I mean that’s just nasty. We’re going to start our defensive with our core defense, with what we wanted for last year with Flanagan Schmidt and Danowski. Schmidt has a preseason injury that held him out for five or six games. I’m pretty pumped about the midfield. I like guys like Kyle Wimer and JoVan Miller, Amidon and Kaminski, those guys come in and give it their all. They want to be here and they’re grinders and they’re Hounds. Pete’s going to be phenomenal; he’s going to be all MLL. If we can get young, we can acquire more assets, and we can build guys that make sense for us on the field and off the field then that’s where we’re going.
(I)Is there anything you would like to add about this offseason about the Hounds?
(L)I like that we’re able to hook up with guys like Spallina and Barney and Denver and make some waves. Get some headlines going; I think it’s great for the sport. We finished in 6th last year and I’m the coach and I think we could get to fourth or fifth and make another solid run, and we’re on that three year plan where to hope to be in that championship game the following year. Keep an eye on our college draftees. Those guys are going to be fun to watch and I’m like Joe and his guys, we can’t wait to get this thing started.
