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
bothered defense illinois job played pressured prettiest
We weren't the prettiest -- Illinois really pressured us and it bothered us some -- but the defense we played and the job we did, I can't say enough.
best concerns defensive good illinois maybe poor seem time wins
What are they best at? They seem to be a good defensive team, which concerns me because that's usually what wins at this time of year. Not a lot of pressing, but just solid, get-after-you-a-little-bit defense. Maybe a poor man's Illinois in that respect.
credit deserves energy hung illinois needed played punch team
I think I got kind of a worn-out team right now. I can come up with a lot of different reasons, excuses, but we were just flat-out beat. And I did not think we played with the energy we needed to play. We still hung in there, and then we had the knockout punch of that three-minute span, and Illinois deserves a lot of credit for that.
credit illinois
I did not feel that we were in sync. I think you have to give Illinois some credit for that but I also think you have to give us some blame.
bit both found games illinois played single
We played pretty well in both Illinois games and he just made some plays. Tonight, we found a way to clamp down a little bit more. Defensively, we didn't really give him a single look.
beat great illinois three worried
Illinois is not going to be worried because they beat us two times or three times. They're not going to have a letdown. They've got a great team.
both good guarantee illinois michigan playing state teams
Illinois and Michigan State are both going to play pretty good defense. They're playing a little better than we are defensively right now, and I guarantee you both teams are going to run.
bothered coming effort gave guys illinois last pressured proud
I'm really proud of the effort these guys gave coming off last night. We weren't the prettiest. Illinois pressured us and it bothered us some.
couple four games gonna illinois last lost playing promise ready
You know me, I don't feel like we're ready, but I do think we can get ready in four days. Illinois is playing awfully well, they haven't lost many games in the last couple years, but we're gonna be ready on Thursday, I can promise you that.
anybody becomes carries far guys helps keeping mental mentally michigan state strain time
When you play that many (ranked teams) in a row, it becomes a mental strain as far as keeping your guys up. I think it helps that it's the Michigan game. I think our guys will be up for that. If there was going to be a time when they mentally let down a little bit, I don't see it being this week. Emotionally, it's Michigan-Michigan State and that carries more than anybody we play, let's be honest.
early good great played
We didn't play great but we played good enough to win. This was a step. How big a step? It's too early to tell.
free good job
We did a pretty good job on a lot of guys, just free throws, free throws, free throws.
consider instead next recruiting select
When our recruiting changes, when we get to select instead of recruit, then I'll consider us in the next echelon.
build chance check degree football helmet places pro teams trying wear whatever
We're trying to check with all the pro teams and different places on what we can build him. If he's able to wear a football helmet or whatever we got to do, we'll do it. We are going to the Nth degree to find out anything we can find out that would give us a better chance to get him back quickly.