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
bottom conference eight fight four gonna losses maybe others race round scheduling strongest teams ten top win
I said that there could be eight teams vie for the championship. I think scheduling (the Big Ten doesn't play a round robin, so some teams play others just once) is gonna play a part in everything. I still think our conference could fight to be the strongest in the country. When you look top to bottom at the conference race this year, four losses could win it, maybe more.
best credit gonna good joke normally rank
I said 'Oh, it's gonna be a charge,' and then he jumped, I think, over him. I would normally joke and take credit for that, but that was so good I can't even joke and take credit. That will rank right up with the best I've seen.
beat brains players respect
I respect their program, I respect their coach, I respect their players and recruited some of them, and yet I want to beat their brains in. That's just the way it works.
address mentally physically problem proves theory tough tried
I think it proves my theory that you just have to be physically and mentally tough as nails. That's been a problem for us. We've tried to address it, and we're going to address it from here on out.
good league
I think it's a shame, as good as our league is.
biggest capable career coach few games good head lack last ncaa perform performance played season
I think it was the biggest disappointment of all the NCAA games we played in. We didn't have the season we wanted to have. We didn't perform to what I think our capabilities were. I think this is one of the few times in my career here as a head coach that we didn't get done what I think we were capable of getting done, culminating with the lack of a very good performance on that last night.
incredible
I think it was one of the most incredible performances I've seen.
drew expect far fatigue hard
I think it was more fatigue as far as Drew is concerned. It's hard to expect more (from him).
false games
I think it's really important, for two reasons. No. 1, for the games themselves, and No. 2, so that we don't get a false sense of where we are.
gave glad greatest including seemed troops
It had to go through a lot of channels, including the Pentagon, and there were times it seemed like it wasn't going to happen. But I'm glad it did because it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. The troops thanked us for being there, but they gave us more than we gave them.
focused incredible meeting national potential troops year
It has been an incredible year for me, ... When I got back, I had a meeting and told my team, 'If you can be as disciplined and focused as our troops over there, we could be a potential national champion.'
faith guess ice job sell selling
I think we can get it done. I guess it's my job to sell it to them. I don't think I'm selling ice to an Eskimo. I still have a lot of faith in this team.
home monstrous realize teams ten whether whoever
I think we all realize that we're all pretty even (in the conference), and whoever comes to play, there could be monstrous swings, whether you're home or away. There aren't many teams right now in the Big Ten that aren't in must-win situations.
ball exploded good great looked played player took
I think that was a great sign. Maurice looked like he wanted the ball. He took pretty good shots; he was confident. He exploded with the ball on one drive, it was unbelievable. ... Maurice Ager played like the All-American player he is.