Izzo to disappointed fans: "You know what I would say? Find another team"

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BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had a strong message Sunday for any fan who thinks this year's Spartans team failed to live up to its potential.

"You know what I would say? Find another team," Izzo said. "... I would say that I have never, ever been prouder of a team than I am this team."

Izzo said the Spartans (30-5) had a bad shooting day in their 55-53 upset loss to No. 11 seed Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday evening. He said he was motivated to bring Michigan State as a basketball team and a university back to a place of respect and prestige after a tumultuous season filled with off-the-court controversy and questions.

"I don't plan on going anywhere," Izzo, 63, said when a reporter asked if this season could drive him to retire. "I've got a job to do. I've never run from anything in my life. Nothing. I don't plan on starting now. So, I'll be here. I took too many bullets this year not to be here. So I'll be here, and we'll be back knocking on the door to win a championship. I'm going to make damn sure of that, and I'm going to get the help of my people, my team and my support. I hope I do a better job of handling all the other things."

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22826878/plan-going-anywhere

Go Gophers!!
 

If Michigan State's successes in the postseason were largely credited to Izzo's expertise (Mr. March), it seems only fair that their failures the last 3 or 4 years would have to laid at his doorstep as well. This year they had two lottery picks and an absolutely loaded roster. I still think he's a great coach, but has certainly lost some of his shine.

Also not a good look to tell fans to cheer for a different team if fans feel this team underachieved. The reason they are disappointed is because they are emotionally invested, which is also the reason Izzo is a multi-millionaire.
 

His whole statement was an exercise in feeling sorry for himself. His record as a coach speaks for itself. The curtain of his conduct in running the program has been pulled back a bit and what has been seen is at odds with his carefully crafted image of a paragon of high standards and virtue.
College basketball is a dirty business and he's no cleaner than anybody else. Neither was John Wooden.
 

St Tommy has never been prouder of a team!!!!

Just removed from the dance by a marginal, at best, tourney qualifier. Proud!!!!!

Dirty as they come, ol St Tommy. Some on gh will still think sparty and izzo is perfection.
 

My opinion of a coach hasn't fallen this far this fast since Clem Haskins.
 




Tom Izzo is 2-21 vs Coach K, Roy Williams, and Jim Boeheim
 




BarnBurner said:
St Tommy has never been prouder of a team!!!!

Just removed from the dance by a marginal, at best, tourney qualifier. Proud!!!!!

Dirty as they come, ol St Tommy. Some on gh will still think sparty and izzo is perfection.
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MSU fans have every right to be disappointed in that loss. One thing to lose to someone like Duke but when you lose to a team that barely qualified for the tournament it is a bad loss. Especially when you factor in that they were viewed as one of the teams with a shot to win the whole thing.
 

That zone offense from Sparty was PATHETIC yesterday.

Why not try Bridges in the middle of the zone?? Watching Ben Carter catch the ball and refuse to shoot from 6 feet was so painful.
 

Zeppelin Gopher said:
That zone offense from Sparty was PATHETIC yesterday.

Why not try Bridges in the middle of the zone?? Watching Ben Carter catch the ball and refuse to shoot from 6 feet was so painful.
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Only one answer to your question.
 

Maybe he can hear the echo of the fans..."O V E R R A T E D, O V E R R A T E D" Definitely disappointed in Izzo. Definitely he is feeling sorry for himself. The quote to me that was even more revealing was: "Nobody — not my wife, not my kids, not my team — nobody has any idea what it's been like," Izzo said. I'd say that's a pretty sad statement, all about him, but especially following elimination...it's about the players who won't be back next year....about your team. Maybe if he talked to his wife, trusted her to help him put things in perspective, say and do the right things...he wouldn't be melting down.

We shall see how Duke attacks the zone. I like Boeheim's ability, but I think Duke will find good shots. Syracuse needed a non conference opponent. So many teams don't flash their best offensive player to the free throw line area (the middle of the zone) to shoot, drive or dish.
 



60's Guy said:
Maybe he can hear the echo of the fans..."O V E R R A T E D, O V E R R A T E D" Definitely disappointed in Izzo. Definitely he is feeling sorry for himself. The quote to me that was even more revealing was: "Nobody — not my wife, not my kids, not my team — nobody has any idea what it's been like," Izzo said. I'd say that's a pretty sad statement, all about him, but especially following elimination...it's about the players who won't be back next year....about your team. Maybe if he talked to his wife, trusted her to help him put things in perspective, say and do the right things...he wouldn't be melting down.

We shall see how Duke attacks the zone. I like Boeheim's ability, but I think Duke will find good shots. Syracuse needed a non conference opponent. So many teams don't flash their best offensive player to the free throw line area (the middle of the zone) to shoot, drive or dish.
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I don't know about you but I would trade Pitino for Izzo today, tomorrow, next week. Yea, your right his team got beat by an inferior team. Happens to EVERYONE some time. He wasn't the first nor will he be the last. At least his team qualified.
 

Pete smith said:
I don't know about you but I would trade Pitino for Izzo today, tomorrow, next week. Yea, your right his team got beat by an inferior team. Happens to EVERYONE some time. He wasn't the first nor will he be the last. At least his team qualified.
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wow groovy take dude. you mean u would rather have a surefire hall of fame coach (barring pending NCAA infractions) than a person who has only been a head coach for 6 years. man that must have been a hard choice.

on topic, that is a bs quote. msu fans should be pissed they wasted away their most talented team in recent memory because they couldn't break down boeheim's zone he has been playing for as long as i have been alive. this is not even one of boeheim's great teams. people love talking on this board about pitino getting "out-coached" but i cant ever remember a pitino team with the talent and depth of that msu team getting "out-coached" as badly as izzo did to boeheim in this game.
 

Izzo whining or not, this year's MSU team establishes a new "rule" in picking NCAA brackets. Avoid teams with clouds over their heads, no matter how talented they are. I took the bait and had both Sparty and Arizona going way too far. Really bad decision that I will avoid in the future, follow the new rule, and then have the rule be proven wrong by some scandal ridden program like, say, North Carolina.

It's hard to believe they didn't get a basket in the last five plus minutes on Sunday. That just smells of panic on the players part. A lot of that in this year's tournament. Arizona, Virginia, Cincinnati, maybe a few others.
 

Holy Man said:
That just smells of panic on the players part. A lot of that in this year's tournament. Arizona, Virginia, Cincinnati, maybe a few others.
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The city of Cincinnati with two epic chokes on the same day, Cincy and Xavier.
 

SelectionSunday said:
The city of Cincinnati with two epic chokes on the same day, Cincy and Xavier.
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Yep. Forgot the Xmen. Not sure how they responded, but I saw clips of Cronin after the game, and he was a complete jerk to the press. Bad form.

Someone will need to do the postmortem on this, but the melt downs by more talented teams this year was amazing. Was it bad coaching on the part of the losers, good coaching on the part of the winners, or just guys who folded on the big stage? It does speak to the point that being able to come up with the big play and not wilt when the pressure is on is about more than talent and likely can't be coached.
 

Holy Man said:
Izzo whining or not, this year's MSU team establishes a new "rule" in picking NCAA brackets. Avoid teams with clouds over their heads, no matter how talented they are. I took the bait and had both Sparty and Arizona going way too far. Really bad decision that I will avoid in the future, follow the new rule, and then have the rule be proven wrong by some scandal ridden program like, say, North Carolina.

It's hard to believe they didn't get a basket in the last five plus minutes on Sunday. That just smells of panic on the players part. A lot of that in this year's tournament. Arizona, Virginia, Cincinnati, maybe a few others.
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I've seen this a few times so far in the tourney. Sparty led by five late in a low-scoring game and thought they were home free. The teams that have won have been the teams that have kept attacking. Once MSU got into protecting-the-lead mode, and they suddenly found themselves behind, they were out of sorts.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I've seen this a few times so far in the tourney. Sparty led by five late in a low-scoring game and thought they were home free. The teams that have won have been the teams that have kept attacking. Once MSU got into protecting-the-lead mode, and they suddenly found themselves behind, they were out of sorts.
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Sparty was out of sorts the entire game, never really did solve Boeheim's zone, though there were more than enough open looks. If MSU even shoots the ball nominally better, they win 8-10 points. Syracuse is grossly deficient offensively.

Boeheim won this sideline matchup. Severely outmatched talent-wise, but flustered the h*ll out of Sparty (Bridges admitted as much afterwards). Not sure why Izzo stuck with Ben Carter in the middle of the zone. Good passer & decision-maker, but he was afraid to shoot the 10-foot jumper Cuse was more than willing to give him. Not sure why Izzo never put Bridges in the middle of the zone. Cuse D would have had to account for him shooting the ball, or attacking the zone. Izzo must have felt Bridges is not a good enough passer, because Bridges mostly hung around the 3-point line. I never understood that, nor why Jaren Jackson Jr. played only 15 minutes.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Sparty was out of sorts the entire game, never really did solve Boeheim's zone, though there were more than enough open looks. If MSU even shoots the ball nominally better, they win by 7-8 points.

Boeheim won this sideline matchup. Severely outmatched talent-wise, but flustered the h*ll out of Sparty (Bridges admitted as much afterwards). Not sure why Izzo stuck with Ben Carter in the middle of the zone. Good passer & decision-maker, but he was afraid to shoot the 10-foot jumper Cuse was more than willing to give him. Not sure why Izzo never put Bridges in the middle of the zone. Cuse D would have had to account for him shooting the ball, or attacking the zone. Izzo must have felt Bridges is not a good enough passer, because Bridges mostly hung around the 3-point line. I never understood that.
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I was listening to the game on the radio and didn't get to watch the telecast. Not sure what the TV analyst was saying, but the radio guy opined that the zone doesn't necessarily prevent good looks, but it makes you shoot out of rhythm, when you don't necessarily want to, and rushed. It disrupts the normal feel you have for your offense if you don't play against it very often. Duke may fare better because of their familiarity.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I was listening to the game on the radio and didn't get to watch the telecast. Not sure what the TV analyst was saying, but the radio guy opined that the zone doesn't necessarily prevent good looks, but it makes you shoot out of rhythm, when you don't necessarily want to, and rushed. It disrupts the normal feel you have for your offense if you don't play against it very often. Duke may fare better because of their familiarity.
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I'd say that radio guy summed up the Cuse zone perfectly. Seeing it in person, it is a well-coached, well-oiled operation. Length everywhere, especially troublesome at the top of the zone. It definitely got in the Spartans' heads. Easy to see why teams that haven't seen it a lot will struggle with it.

I'll be stunned if Duke doesn't obliterate Syracuse. Dukies have seen the zone many times.
 

He's 100% right.

His teams are perennial contenders. Fans of perennial contenders don't know how good they have it.
 

Former Goofer said:
He's 100% right.

His teams are perennial contenders. Fans of perennial contenders don't know how good they have it.
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True.

However, being a crook to get there is quite another story. St Tommy!

Sparty On!!!
 

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