You left out Kenyon Martin breaking his leg right before the tourney. Cincy was #1, and legit with him.
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I do think most humans would struggle to answer questions a few minutes after a humiliating work meeting and no doubt we all latch on to small details that we associate with why things went the way they did. I don’t think the face slap by Juwan is relevant, but him being irrationally mad about a late time out while also having his scrubs full court press is an example of a coach being mad about something small when there are bigger things at play. Coach K has openly challenged and chewed out fans and opposing players for things he felt were major issues when in reality they were often minor.
I find Izzo’s comments last night to be ridiculous in the larger context of bigger issues affecting the outcome of games or why his team is 2-6 in the last 8 games. But it isn’t much different. Remember, he’s the same coach that got PISSED about the refs stopping a possession for an opponent injury…on a possession where his own team got a 5-point play.
Most coaches are a little crazy and irrational. Izzo happens to be worse than most - mostly because he rambles on with excuse after excuse and blaming others in press conferences without accountability during or after. Yes, Michigan’s weirdos went 5-6 on threes. MSU also got to play most of the first half with our second best player on the bench with two dumb fouls and then a lot of the second half with Diabate in foul trouble. Hall, arguably his “best” player only played 17 minutes and got 3 shots. You could go all day on underlying causes of the loss - Izzo just chooses to focus on the ones that aren’t his responsibility.
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Oh yeah, that was a monster break for them. Cincy had been a wire-to-wire #1 before the injury, I think.
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As difficult as that is to understand, you are right. His on-floor antics are part of his act, and I’m sure he talks to recruits and their parents about that. I think he somehow convinced them that he can get them ready for the next level, and yet some of us would certainly question that. His behavior in the press conference, though, is different than that. That borders on emotional abuse. I can’t imagine that he tells many players that he’s gonna do THAT to them. I just find it to be completely unnecessary. I also just find his little head down, quiet, self pitying behavior to be too much.
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Izzo claimed in the press conference that they were supposed to double in the second half but “didn’t do it”
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There were definitely 2-3 possessions where it looked like Tyson Walker was supposed to double and just sort of jogged in Hunter’s direction 
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Between that and continuously passing up wide open 3’s/long 2’s after ball screens, I question Walkers decision making frequently
I think that’s right, Dylan, but (a), why wasn’t Izzo, who has absolutely zero issues going after his players verbally, not screaming, calling time out, substituting, or doing something to make sure that Walker complied, (b) why was it only 2-3 times in about 30 second half possessions before the subs came in, and (c) why was it Walker who, at 5-10" or so, has less ability to bother Hunter than one of his other, longer players? The answer to the last may be that Jones can generally be left because of his 4 point shooting ability, but the same can be said of our 4s.
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Yeah, I’m not trying to defend how Michigan State guarded Hunter. It was also way too easy for Michigan to get him the ball and clear out an entire side. Over and over and over.
I get the logic of single covering Hunter (and thought it made sense for MSU) but at a certain point I think that you had to try something else.
I think doubling with the PG is an OK strategy though… OSU did that quite a bit IIRC and it worked pretty well against Hunter.
Walker really has pretty amazing hands, too. He’s kind of a theif!
Yeah, this is what gets me. It’s not that he’s wrong that MSU was unlucky that Michigan got four threes from Johns and Williams. Of course he’s right about that. But it’s annoying when he refuses to ever acknowledge the reverse. They defended HD the same way in East Lansing and he missed a ton of easy shots. I’m sure according to Izzo that was good defense, not bad luck for Michigan.
I don’t have any problem with his being upset. It’s the whining and excuse making that annoy me.
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It did, but Wheeler is taller, longer and better defensively than is Walker.
I feel like you think I’m arguing something I’m not. They are both small 6-foot guards with good hands. I think a valid approach to doubling is using a handy point guard to give Hunter problems when he put the ball on the floor. Walker did a very poor job of it.
I get complaining about outlier shooting, but I mean aren’t coaches intentions to not allow open corner threes? That’s a shot most coaches try to take away with strong side help
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Was that why UM kept having the entry pass player immediately clear to the other side?
Yeah, clearing the entire side makes it much harder to double.
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He’s able to do this because he let people in for such a long time whether one on one interviews, practices etc… He’s very annoying but whatever he does it has been successful. Not looking at a camera isn’t a big deal he was reading the stat sheets like a lot of coaches do. The tone early on wasn’t very complimentary to Michigan but the last 6-7 minutes he pretty much praised Michigan. I don’t like how he takes shots at his own players but for what he does with that he still has very little attrition. I am more amazed at how he does it.
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So what’s that saying, “January, February, IZZ…WHAT?!?”
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It also may have depended on who a player was guarding if they should double. Often the PG is less feared as a shooter.