I had a large response written, but it doesn’t matter. What you are saying I said is not at all what I actually said. From the perspective of our program, I’d love to have Izzo’s track record. I specifically said I’d give anything for a championship. That being said, for what most MSU fans and a large portion of the media make out Izzo to be, he has one championship and a lot of “close but no cigar” years, along with very few conference championships.
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Ok and so that puts him behind Coach K, Cal and maybe Roy Williams but that’s it. Seems pretty elite to me.
That’s it? Bill Self has the same amount of National Titles and many more conference titles. Give me a guy like Billy Donovan who has moved onto the NBA as well. What about Jay Wright at Villanova? He’s got a national title and 5 Big East titles. There really isn’t a lot of difference between and Izzo and a Jim Boeheim. I mean, Gary Williams has won a title at Maryland more recent than Izzo has won one at Michigan State. Think about that.
Izzo has been very consistent and had some great runs through the tournament, but I think the point that his success is a little overstated by Michigan State fans is a very fair one.
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Calhoun would definitely go above Izzo and probably Pitino too even if we’re just talking about on-court success since Izzo became a head coach (and obviously if we include his Kentucky stint).
Izzo has had great success over a long period of time and has the national championship, which puts him in pretty select company, perhaps a notch below the true greats but solidly in that second tier, which is still very impressive. Pretty significant what that one championship (or its absence) does to the image - imagine Izzo without his and Ryan or Matta or Beilein with one, for instance.
The question for Izzo in this discussion is whether his physical style impeded further success. Maybe, if you think it made him recruit/play less talented offensive players. But maybe the reason is either his limitations offensively or not getting the top-end talent often enough.
That’s why this year is pretty significant for his legacy in all likelihood. He doesn’t have combos like Bridges and Jackson very often. If he gets that second championship, especially all these years later, it probably puts his whole career in a different light. And he is unlikely to get many better chances.
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Northwestern-Georgia Tech and Rutgers-Florida State haven’t exactly been shootouts early on tonight. Woof.
Jesus. Some of you people are full out delusional. Izzo has a title plus seven final fours, 7 conference championships, 5 B1G tournament championships and 13 sweet sixteens. That’s pretty much equal to what Michigan has in its entire history. He is a slam dunk hall of famer and a clear top 5 coach over the last 20 years.
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Why on earth are you guys in some long extended argument about Tom Izzo? How did that even come up?
Can we talk current Big Ten hoops about the current season? Been a rough start to the season for most of the league… NW losing at GT and they are in a really tough spot.
Not sure any Big Ten teams have really exceeded expectations early on? I guess Minnesota would be the one team that has lived up to the hype a bit.
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Benching Scottie Lindsey has turned everything around for Northwestern and we are tied with 2:40 to play. Gotta say, I kind of enjoy Tom Crean as a color guy. He skewered Lindsey when he got beat on a backcut after missing a shot.
Tom Crean so far appears to be the Tony Romo of basketball. I’ve been incredibly impressed with him.
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Two tough possessions in a row by Bryant McIntosh. Didn’t hate the first one against the switch, but the second one he forced it into nothing and turned it over (after not being called for a push off).
Completely agree. Crean is fantastic. Romo is pretty much the only reason I will watch an nfl game. Just like romo, crean is providing fantastic insights while avoiding talking about nonsense. He is the complete opposite of dakich
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Wow. Northwestern gives up an uncontested layup at the horn to lose to Georgia Tech.
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Yikes. Tough way to lose. Northwestern misses a switch and allows a straight line drive for a layup at the buzzer
0-3 now for the Big Ten.
With more losses coming it looks like.
Tom Crean was the highlight of the game. In my preferred scenario, they would flash some of the classic Crean photos on stage throughout the game and joke with him like TBS does Barkley.
What happened to Northwestern?
Their record over achieved their per possession performance last year and they didn’t really add anything.
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Down goes Rutgers. Acc up 4-0. Big ten gotta sweep these late games to have a chance. But two of em are on the road.
I thought NW was overrated last year and they snuck up on a few people. Thought their preseason ranking was a little lofty this year also.
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