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
biggest figure good great kept losing mind problem schedules team tough within
Our biggest problem was there was no spacing between those tough games. We kept losing and having to play another great team right away. I still think good schedules make you better in the long run. I don't mind losing because that's how you figure out what's wrong, but you have to do it within reason.
good league
I think it's a shame, as good as our league is.
sucked
I thought we sucked it up pretty good.
brutal juniors playing seniors tough
It is a brutal schedule, and if you've been through everybody's, as I've done, it's not even close. But so be it. If there's one thing these seniors and juniors are used to, it's playing tough schedules.
awesome few great hard hours last paid quite spent weight won
It is a great feeling. It is such an awesome feeling. I won it last year, and I won it again. I spent quite a few hours in the weight room. All the hard practices, it all paid off.
coming felt game hardest loss next question rivalry
I think the hardest game (of the stretch) is the one (today). Coming off a rivalry game or a big game, the next game is always tough. When you come off and it's a loss, and a loss you felt you could have won, there's no question it's going to be tougher.
came consistent games looked players star team
I thought for 12 out of our 13 games our star players were as consistent as any guys. Tonight, for some reason, we just weren't as consistent. We looked like a team that came off a four-day break.
football players tougher
I thought football players were tougher than that.
bringing giving lawrence
I thought about bringing out the accordion and giving them the Lawrence Welk special. At times with this group, I didn't know what to do with them.
eight evenings george inside kicked mason minutes nine percent second shot took
I think you have to give George Mason a lot of credit. They took it to us early, kicked our butts inside and shot 70 percent on us with eight or nine minutes to go in the second half. ... I've got to say that in my nine years, this is one of the more disappointing evenings I've had in this job.
five guys helped inside post second shots simplified took
I think the first five shots we took were 3s, but our inside guys weren't doing the things (we needed). In the second half, we simplified it, (we asked) the guys in the post to be passers and pickers, and that probably helped us some.
decent job missing
I thought we did a decent job on them. We just didn't score. It wasn't the offense, it was the missing some shots.
definitely felt gives good hands
I felt good only because it gives you a chance. It's definitely still not in our own hands but it does give you a chance.
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.