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
either people picked played road sure toughest win
I'm not sure how many people would have picked us to win either road game. We played at the two toughest road places.
ended privately publicly satisfied
I'm not satisfied with where we ended up this year. I'm going to publicly say I'm going to do something about it, I'm going to privately say I'm going to do something about it, and I'm going to do something about it.
lacking saying sure
I'm going to say what I've been saying all year, yes, we are lacking a leader. Our turnovers, 16-12 isn't ridiculous, but I'm sure they scored on a lot of them.
deal felt hold struggled tough tried worst
It's not an excuse. He just struggled as you saw. It was one of his worst games. I felt for him after, and I felt for him that he tried to hold it all in, but it's been a tough deal for him.
against basketball best couple good performance question
I don't think there's any question that was our best performance of the year, against a really good team. That was our best basketball in a couple of years.
chance execute good
If we can execute defensively as well as we do offensively, we have a chance to be a really good team.
ball beginning couple held lead played plays ran second seemed shots wore
In the first half, it seemed like most of the plays we ran went down, and we held them on 3-point shots after their first couple shots right at the beginning - and we rebounded the ball a lot. In the second half, we got the lead and played well enough, but there were a couple of stretches that wore us down a little bit.
ball cover floor grew improved inside loved players putting shooting starting three tough
He's one of the more improved players in the league. I loved him as a freshman. Now he's putting the ball on the floor and shooting threes. He's a tough cover because he grew up an inside four-man and is starting to be a three man. He can do both.
aggressive blur court gotta improved instead passing quick seeing sees
He has to be aggressive and be slow, if that makes any sense. He's gotta do that. Because when he does, he sees the court so much better. He has improved his passing so much this year. He's seeing things a little better, instead of it being a blur - because he's so quick that it is a blur sometimes.
came coaches feeling good great halftime knowing players relationship second shots today unselfish
Shannon (Brown) was very unselfish today and Maurice (Ager) came to me at halftime and said, 'I made some good shots in the first half and in the second half I'm going to go out there and put them down.' That to me is a great feeling knowing that the relationship between the coaches and the players is that confident.
bad felt free goes missing shooting throws time
I felt bad for him missing those free throws because he's been shooting so well from the line. And yet, it goes to show that you can't take a lot of time off and feel like you're still the same player.
fact five free gone guys last loved paul please shot throws whether
I loved the fact that they showed the grit. We went to different guys at different times. Whether it be Paul and Mo with the free throws or Shannon with the big shot and the step-back, I think each one of them did some different things. They can play better, but please don't underestimate what they've gone through in the last five days.
best defense guys might trying
I thought Maurice Ager might have had his best all-around game. He was unbelievable in the huddles, he was trying to get other guys shots, he made some passes, he made some shots, and his defense was the best it's been.
bigger bit evaluate falling gained game learned lost roof tells toughness weekend
I'm going to evaluate this weekend because if we lost that game (against Arizona), we'd be 1-3 and the roof would be falling in back home. But I thought we gained so much here. I learned that they have much bigger toughness than I have. They're all still standing, and I think that tells a little bit about their character.