Tom Izzo
Tom Izzo
Thomas Michael Izzois an American college basketball coach. Since 1995, he has been the head coach for the Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team, presiding over a prolonged period of success. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth30 January 1955
CityIron Mountain, MI
event excited experience extremely goodwill hope joy operation opportunity small troops view
I am extremely excited and appreciative of the opportunity to participate in a goodwill event like Operation Hardwood. With all that our troops are doing for us, I view this as a small way to give something back to them. The only thing I hope to get out of this experience is to see some joy in the soldiers' eyes.
fans games good maybe playing schedule season statistics total toughest wins won
Those two statistics are ridiculous. But as down as I am and as our fans are, this season wasn't a total disaster. We won 22 games and had some good wins playing maybe the toughest schedule in the country.
fire guys learn
Those two guys are going to have to learn under fire.
free games good team wins
This team has been a good free throw-shooting team for years. It wins games for you, it really does.
game michigan played
This was a big game for Iowa, a big game for Michigan State. They played better than we did.
athletic might people running team wearing
We want to get back to running and wearing people down. This might be our most athletic team ever.
bothered defense illinois job played pressured prettiest
We weren't the prettiest -- Illinois really pressured us and it bothered us some -- but the defense we played and the job we did, I can't say enough.
ball struggled turn
Turnovers really killed us. We struggled not to turn the ball over.
bring ethic guys high hope low work
You hope your walk-ons bring some camaraderie, a high work ethic and a low maintenance problem, and I think those guys have done that.
beat best bruce defensive hurt missed pick shooting shots stay streak teams tried
You have to pick your poison. We just tried to stay up on the shooters and not sag as much on the inside. Dials did hurt us, but he didn't beat us. On that day, they missed some shots that I think were contested. And I think they missed some shots that weren't. They weren't on a hot streak like they are now. They were still shooting well. But, lately, they've been on just a barrage. Bruce (Weber) has one of the best defensive teams in the league, and if they can do that to Illinois, that's scary.
basketball eight good hard kentucky nine past seeds tells wisconsin
You have to look at the first game, and it's hard to look past it in this tournament, especially now when you see some of the eight, nine and 10 seeds. Kentucky and Wisconsin as eight and nine seeds, that tells you the 11 seeds are going to be pretty good basketball teams.
address luxury
We will not have that luxury this year. But we will address it in other ways.
beat coming sure
We're the ones coming off two losses, and they beat us down there. I'm sure they'll be hungry, we'll be hungry. I don't know if it'll be more or less, but I know what we're going to be.
clutch couple front good guys means plays stuck
To do it in front of his family, that was exciting. I thought he made a couple of big plays at clutch times. ... We have pretty good players, and I think it means we've got guys who've stuck around. Those two things are good.