I'm probably in the minority, but Tom Izzo

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formerlybis said:
Where does this less-talented narrative come from? MSU has had at least double the 4 and 5 star recruits than the second place team in the league over his tenure. This year they did well without all-conference players, but this is the exception, not the rule (and he still has more 4 and 5 stars on his roster than everyone else in the B10 - just because Jaxon Kohler doesn’t seem to have the talent of a high-end recruit doesn’t mean he wasn’t).
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Well, he regularly takes the 4 and 5 stars to the round of 16, so there is that phenomenal feat.
 

I grew up in Izzo's small U.P. hometown and I remember how we were all amazed one of our own got the Michigan State basketball job back in '95. Right before his high school classmate Steve Mariucci got the Cal football and eventually the 49ers job. His family owned a "shoe hospital" in town.

I filled divots at his golf tournament in town and played basketball on the courts he and Gus Macker built before graduating and leaving for the U in '99.

Never dreamed he would make it 30+ years with the program and become the dean of NCAA basketball coaches. He's a good dude and has accomplished much.
 

GopherPoke said:
But this isn't what you started the thread with here. Let's not move the goalposts. Izzo is a complete ass on the sideline. He's a grump. He deserves a T almost every trip up the floor. None of this is to say he isn't a good basketball coach. He is top of the line and has been for some time. I can't stand the guy, but I can admit he gets guys to play and win. That is not "meh".
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Exactly!
 


There have been years where MSU benefited in seeding and likely got to a sweet 16 that they probably wouldn't have if seeded properly.

I'm not sure I'm on board with bashing the on-court product of a coach that has:

Made the NCAA tournament 27 straight seasons. (28 if COVID tournament was played)
16 Sweet Sixteens
13 Elite 8's
8 Final 4's
1 Runner Up
1 Championship

59% Advances to Sweet 16.
81% of the time he advances to the Elite 8 from Sweet 16.
62% of the team he goes to Final 4 from Elite 8.
25% he advances in Final 4 from Elite 8..

He is Mr. March, but doesn't do as well when he makes the April games.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
There have been years where MSU benefited in seeding and likely got to a sweet 16 that they probably wouldn't have if seeded properly.

I'm not sure I'm on board with bashing the on-court product of a coach that has:

Made the NCAA tournament 27 straight seasons. (28 if COVID tournament was played)
16 Sweet Sixteens
13 Elite 8's
8 Final 4's
1 Runner Up
1 Championship

59% Advances to Sweet 16.
81% of the time he advances to the Elite 8 from Sweet 16.
62% of the team he goes to Final 4 from Elite 8.
25% he advances in Final 4 from Elite 8..

He is Mr. March, but doesn't do as well when he makes the April games.
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That is a HOF resume and one most coaches would kill for. In fairness to the OP he did say he was probably in the minority in the thread title....think most of the replies have proven he very much is in the minority in his take on Izzo :)

Easy to take shots at his demeanor on the court and the way he conducts himself but dude is a hell of a coach and has had an amazing run at MSU. You don't make the tournament nearly 30 consecutive times by accident.
 

Michigan State seeds in the years Izzo took them to the Final Four, with the program they beat in the Elite 8 to get there. Three of the 8 from a #5 seed or worse.

1999: #1 (Kentucky)
2000: #1 (Iowa State)
2001: #1 (Temple)
2005: #5 (Kentucky)
2009: #2 (Louisville)
2010: #5 (Tennessee)
2015: #7 (Louisville)
2019: #2 (Duke)
 


kg21 said:
Well, he regularly takes the 4 and 5 stars to the round of 16, so there is that phenomenal feat.
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Perhaps, you can at least appreciate the coaching chops, while simultaneously admitting you don’t like him. Or maybe ven might just be his style of teams.

His success is undeniable. You can discount his results vs recruits. However, what would a baseline look like with those recruits?

No other coach has Ever made the tourney with his consistently. I think the only school that has is Kansas. That is with Roy Williams and Bill Self.

Kentucky has not
Uconn has not
Duke has not (neither did coach K).
UCLA has not and by extension John Wooden has not.
North Carolina has not.

Winning the tourney, requires being both great and lucky. Especially in College ball where there is a lot of volatility in the outcome of any close game. Moreover, probability theory would suggest that even 7 game series are poor arbiters of who is best in A given league and year.

You can even assume he cheated the whole time. And what he has done, would still be unparalleled by coaches we know did.

Gonzaga is the only school that approaches that consistency. Mark Few is great, but hasnt done nearly as well. Nor did he objectively play nearly as difficult a schedule.
With. Izzo’s usually doubling the SOS data of Mark Few, according to SportsReference.
 




atsgopher said:
Perhaps, you can at least appreciate the coaching chops, while simultaneously admitting you don’t like him. Or maybe ven might just be his style of teams.

His success is undeniable. You can discount his results vs recruits. However, what would a baseline look like with those recruits?

No other coach has Ever made the tourney with his consistently. I think the only school that has is Kansas. That is with Roy Williams and Bill Self.

Kentucky has not
Uconn has not
Duke has not (neither did coach K).
UCLA has not and by extension John Wooden has not.
North Carolina has not.

Winning the tourney, requires being both great and lucky. Especially in College ball where there is a lot of volatility in the outcome of any close game. Moreover, probability theory would suggest that even 7 game series are poor arbiters of who is best in A given league and year.

You can even assume he cheated the whole time. And what he has done, would still be unparalleled by coaches we know did.

Gonzaga is the only school that approaches that consistency. Mark Few is great, but hasnt done nearly as well. Nor did he objectively play nearly as difficult a schedule.
With. Izzo’s usually doubling the SOS data of Mark Few, according to SportsReference.
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I forgot to say I don’t respect him as a person.

The Michigan State team is Still one of the best coached teams there is!
 


I don’t like Izzo.

But, he is the reason MSU is even thought of as a blue blood.

And yes he gets good players, but he doesn’t get the McDonald’s All-American team like Dean Smith used to and like Duke still does.

His teams are sound, gritty and generally wear down the opponent. They rarely shoot the lights out but always seem to be competitive. They dig themselves out if holes very consistently which means he is usually changing things up during the game.

I’d probably love him, had the Gophers hired him.
 



MaxyJR1 said:
There have been years where MSU benefited in seeding and likely got to a sweet 16 that they probably wouldn't have if seeded properly.

I'm not sure I'm on board with bashing the on-court product of a coach that has:

Made the NCAA tournament 27 straight seasons. (28 if COVID tournament was played)
16 Sweet Sixteens
13 Elite 8's
8 Final 4's
1 Runner Up
1 Championship

59% Advances to Sweet 16.
81% of the time he advances to the Elite 8 from Sweet 16.
62% of the team he goes to Final 4 from Elite 8.
25% he advances in Final 4 from Elite 8..

He is Mr. March, but doesn't do as well when he makes the April games.
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This ends the thread. Basically every frosh class he has makes the Final Four on average. Half his teams make the Sweet Sixteen. At most schools outside the super elites he would be a God and they would take that "meh" and pay it handsomely.
 



FritoPendejo said:
We just got done with 4 years of Ben, before that we had 8 years of Richard Pitino’s Behind the Wheel training, and somehow Izzo is meh? Can we please sign up for a never-ending supply of meh?
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Izzo thought Ben and Richard did a great job.

Just ask him.
 





kg21 said:
Trump has won it all twice, Izzo has won it all once.

LMAO
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This is only because his opponent only focused on defense because they thought they had the game won going in. No one who plays Izzo underestimates his team or his ability.
 


We all knew we could depend on the village idiot to bring politics to the bball board. What a display of ignorance!
 

kg21 said:
Izzo thought Ben and Richard did a great job.

Just ask him.
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Right....because no coach ever says positive things about their opponents and other coaches.....that is just an Izzo thing.....got it....
 

Great coach. Also more full of it than he gets credit for. Over the top praise for programs he destroys year after year. Doesn’t pay attention to portal while they are playing but I would bet someone on his staff does. Seems a little more self righteous every year.
 



GopherPoke said:
We all knew we could depend on the village idiot to bring politics to the bball board. What a display of ignorance!
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He follows me to every thread I go to........political, timberwolves, gophers.

I couldn't resist. That's on me.......LMAO
 

His guys are all jumping in the portal, so we might hear a retirement soon.
 

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