Albany Game Preview (4/8/21, 5pm)

[Powellfan]

I was actually thinking that Phaup's current issues remind me a bit of Daddio in his Soph and Jr seasons (although I don't think Daddio had a streak to this extent (2-18) ). Daddio would often be extremely inconsistent or Jekyll and Hyde etc. Would look lost for a few a games and then put up a massive game out of nowhere against a good FOGO. Was very puzzling to say the least. He did put it together his Sr. year and battled Massa that last game even though he lost a good portion of the draws. Phaups current issues apepar to be a combo of things as has pointed out. Some mental, some from the rule change, his lack of hand speed becoming more prominent and facing off against other good FOGO's. I am not sure at this point in the season there is much he or the staff can do to get this turned around. lt maybe that he needs the off-season to get right again or that the new rule changes have caught up and it is what it is. I will say that he did dominate LaSalla and was more then serviceable save for these last two games, so I am not giving up on him but clearly the status quo isn't going to work.

The bigger issue to me is that were not utilizing the depth we have (at least on paper) at X. There are 6 fogos on the roster, the fact that it took this long to get Savage draws is beyond concerning especially when the fanbase has been screaming for him for a month+. Desko has been notoriously slow to pull the trigger on some personnel decisions and has never been a fan of going more then 2 deep at the X which I believe is a mistake. I will never forget watching Albany play Maryland in Ierlan's Soph season when he was just crushing guys. Maryland by the end of the 1st quarter had their #4 FOGO in against him as we he was killing the 1st three guys include Shockey and whoever was the #1 guy that year. Suddenly the 4th guy started having some success and began winning some draws. Eventually ierlan got back on tract but then Tillman started going back to his #1 guy and then rotated in that 4th guy and that eventually wore Ierlan down and Maryland won the game. SU should have been playing Savage a month ago and Talago and Kline should have gotten a draw or two in games we were getting dominated in to see if we could catch lightning in a bottle. Continuously running Phaup and then Varello out there when both are struggling badly makes zero sense. I would roll with Savage for now and see what happens because Phaup is in such a bad state right now and Varello gets to exposed when asked to take a majority of the draws.

Good points made here. I would push back a little about the move to Savage being late. Prior to the Duke game, Phaup had some very good outings and looked like his old self, minus the Vermont game, but I think most people wrote that off as a bad day. I think thats where the calls for Savage started, but not sure. I don't think anyone quite expected the two most recent performances, and I think Desko and the staff wrote off the Duke game as bad luck with the violations. With no fall ball and no scrimmages, it was always going to be really hard to gauge how well the players were going to do with the new face-off rules, especially since it seems like different reffing crews are calling games differently. I see the desire to redshirt Savage since Desko had no reason to think that Phaup was his guy this year.

There are a number of ways the face-off position plays out over the next couple of weeks, here's how I see it -

Start Phaup against Albany and a few things could happen: 1) he does well and has a bounce back game but struggles in his higher profile matchups against ACC foes, 2) he does well and regains his confidence, is able to regain his prior form and does okay against the ACC 3) he still can't reclaim his mojo and the move to Savage is an obvious one. I have no idea which of these outcomes is most likely, and it must be hard for Desko, cause he probably doesn't know either.

The coaches could decide Savage is the way to go and he needs as many reps as possible. It's really hard to know what you'll get from the freshman. Is it worth risking the Albany game for him to figure things out? Again, maybe Phaup shows he's still lost and you have no choice, but I still think he's the most sure thing out of the options in front of Desko. I have to imagine that if you make the move to Savage, you've lost Phaup for the season, that shot to his confience will be hard to come back from. My suggestion would be to start Phaup against Albany but rotate Savage in maybe every third or fourth face-off. Let Phaup know hes still the guy, but give the freshman some regular draws when the game is on the line.

 

[Gone]

Understandable but this is albany not Notre dame How do we beat albany and right the ship

Good points made here. I would push back a little about the move to Savage being late. Prior to the Duke game, Phaup had some very good outings and looked like his old self, minus the Vermont game, but I think most people wrote that off as a bad day. I think thats where the calls for Savage started, but not sure. I don't think anyone quite expected the two most recent performances, and I think Desko and the staff wrote off the Duke game as bad luck with the violations. With no fall ball and no scrimmages, it was always going to be really hard to gauge how well the players were going to do with the new face-off rules, especially since it seems like different reffing crews are calling games differently. I see the desire to redshirt Savage since Desko had no reason to think that Phaup was his guy this year.

There are a number of ways the face-off position plays out over the next couple of weeks, here's how I see it -

Start Phaup against Albany and a few things could happen: 1) he does well and has a bounce back game but struggles in his higher profile matchups against ACC foes, 2) he does well and regains his confidence, is able to regain his prior form and does okay against the ACC 3) he still can't reclaim his mojo and the move to Savage is an obvious one. I have no idea which of these outcomes is most likely, and it must be hard for Desko, cause he probably doesn't know either.

The coaches could decide Savage is the way to go and he needs as many reps as possible. It's really hard to know what you'll get from the freshman. Is it worth risking the Albany game for him to figure things out? Again, maybe Phaup shows he's still lost and you have no choice, but I still think he's the most sure thing out of the options in front of Desko. I have to imagine that if you make the move to Savage, you've lost Phaup for the season, that shot to his confience will be hard to come back from. My suggestion would be to start Phaup against Albany but rotate Savage in maybe every third or fourth face-off. Let Phaup know hes still the guy, but give the freshman some regular draws when the game is on the line.

Great discussion of options. While I might be tempted to start Savage and bring in Phaup during the game, I think not starting Phaup could be very dangerous for Phaup's psyche. Fogos and goalies are arguably more susceptible to loss of confidence or at least the most noticeable positions. We all talk about attack and middies losing confidence shooting but it's not as critical - their linemates typically step up (or not!).
However, there should be a short leash for Phaup (and Varello) and Savage must be given a lot of reps in this game regardless of how Phaup performs to get more experience for the stretch run.
If the game is comfortable for us (??), I would also get Garlow a couple of reps.

Savage could prove to be a critical piece for us no matter how Phaup does. Danowski's use of Naso of proof of how important it is to look at all options. Even Mr. Conservative Desko could not resist getting Hiltz in right away this season. I just shudder when I think of our recent history with Ben Williams' injuries, late game losses in 2019 etc. I can't really blame Desko for not bringing Savage in earlier although I probably would have done it in the first quarter of the Duke game.

As an aside, it will be very interesting to see how Naso does against NDs fogos over the next 2 weeks as ND plays Duke back to back.

A final thought:
Given it is Masters' week, I feel like Cuse lacrosse is like an elite golfer working on the range - talent is there and work put in - just trying to pull it all together. No matter what happens, I know what I saw in the 2nd half against Duke so they are capable.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[JeremyCuse]

SU does a nice job making these press conferences available but some of these questions are frustrating. Mark Larson at least asked some tougher questions, but the DO guys geez softball after softball. We need a syracusefan press pass.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Quick summary:

Savage has quick hands and can rake. He'll be in the mix.

We may play at Scooby next season.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Quick summary:

Savage has quick hands and can rake. He'll be in the mix.

We may play at Scooby next season.

Sounds like Savage may start against Albany but sounds more like the #2 guy with pre-determined playing time.

 

[WoodyUK]

The questions are awful, it’s like they are all writing the same article on the same people.

Any news on Clary? Any change to second mid line?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

The questions are awful, it’s like they are all writing the same article on the same people.

Any news on Clary? Any change to second mid line?

Clary's done for the year.

 

[WoodyUK]

Clary's done for the year.

Oh dear! I hope he’s ok and can recover

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Oh dear! I hope he’s ok and can recover

Knee injury.

Should be OK for next year.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Good points made here. I would push back a little about the move to Savage being late. Prior to the Duke game, Phaup had some very good outings and looked like his old self, minus the Vermont game, but I think most people wrote that off as a bad day. I think thats where the calls for Savage started, but not sure. I don't think anyone quite expected the two most recent performances, and I think Desko and the staff wrote off the Duke game as bad luck with the violations. With no fall ball and no scrimmages, it was always going to be really hard to gauge how well the players were going to do with the new face-off rules, especially since it seems like different reffing crews are calling games differently. I see the desire to redshirt Savage since Desko had no reason to think that Phaup was his guy this year.

There are a number of ways the face-off position plays out over the next couple of weeks, here's how I see it -

Start Phaup against Albany and a few things could happen: 1) he does well and has a bounce back game but struggles in his higher profile matchups against ACC foes, 2) he does well and regains his confidence, is able to regain his prior form and does okay against the ACC 3) he still can't reclaim his mojo and the move to Savage is an obvious one. I have no idea which of these outcomes is most likely, and it must be hard for Desko, cause he probably doesn't know either.

The coaches could decide Savage is the way to go and he needs as many reps as possible. It's really hard to know what you'll get from the freshman. Is it worth risking the Albany game for him to figure things out? Again, maybe Phaup shows he's still lost and you have no choice, but I still think he's the most sure thing out of the options in front of Desko. I have to imagine that if you make the move to Savage, you've lost Phaup for the season, that shot to his confience will be hard to come back from. My suggestion would be to start Phaup against Albany but rotate Savage in maybe every third or fourth face-off. Let Phaup know hes still the guy, but give the freshman some regular draws when the game is on the line.

To me Savage should have been getting draws as the #2 guy long before the ND game. Varello going into the Duke game was at a ghastly 28% and even now is only at 32%. We should have been giving Savage at least 2-3 draws a game.

I do agree that faceoffs are tricky with the new rules and with trying to keep your #1 guy (Phaup) engaged and confidence up when you have to pull him. That said, he is 2-18 the last two games, I can't worry about his confidence or losing him for the season when he literally didn't win a clean draw the last two games. I like Phaup a lot and certainly don't want to give up on him by any stretch but we don't have time for him to figure this out over an undetermined amount of time. We need to win draws and if that's Savage or one of the younger guys you have to play them and work Phaup in as we can.