Izzo: the best in the game?

O

orangecat

1,000+ Posts
interested in opinions. every year they seem to excel in the tournament. Tthis thing tonight where MSU basically took over on the offensive end in the second half. Man, Izzo never seems to disappoint.
 
I'm with Robert Stack. If anything, I came away from tonight (and this season) more impressed with Self than ever. The guy can flat-out coach, and his players reflect that with their performance on both ends of the court.

Izzo is definitely one of the game's best, though. Maybe even the best. I'm not sure if there's another coach out there who consistently gets more out of less than he. I love Barnes, but I think he could learn a thing or two from Izzo ... and Self.
 
I like Izzo a lot, but I'm still pissed at him for showing the nation how to beat Texas. The job he did on us at Toyota Center this year was template for the rest of the teams we played. AJ Abrams should have a flaming bag of dog poop dlivered to Izzo's front door.
 
We have had this discussion with some of my friends as to who the top coach in college basketball.

IMHO, Roy Williams #1. Izzo #2. Big drop after that and that is despite Coach K having 3 rings to their 1 each. One of my friends would shutter to hear that but Coach K hasn't been the same since the Brand class left. They haven't been as scary.

Coach K, Calhoun, Beheim, are guys after that the top 2.

For the record, Barnes (in my book) is in the 3rd wave. He isn't in the top 1st 2 waves b/c he has only 1 Final Four and no rings.

I have compared Barnes in the past to a poor man's Izzo but lately our defense & rebounding have been slipping and I don't want to insult Izzo by saying that any more.
 
Points = (101-Natl Rank) + (7 * Yrs in School).

So a Jr who was #20 in their class would get:
81 + (7 * 3) = 102 points.

Then I sum the player totals for each team to get the team totals. I account for transfers, NBA entry, career-ending injuries, and non-qualifiers.

For Michigan State, I believe every player on their team was ranked in the top-100 out of high school. I think they had 7 that were ranked in the top-50. And a lot of them have been in the program for a while.
 
Bob - My point is tournament related over his career. I absolutely agree he gets great talent (he's mined Flint, MI for years and complemented that success with various other NBA-type talent from the Midwest).

Just seems Izzo's teams are a lock for the Sweet 16 every year regarless of their seed.

The most impressive thing about Izzo in my mind is the coaching talent he's cultivated:

Tom Crean (Marquette / IU), Brian Gregory (Dayton), Stan Heath (think Kent St 2002 Sweet 16), Jim Boylen (Utah).....I think there's one more....

Anyway, I agree with the original poster. He's either the best in the game or tied for first.
 
I guess I didn't realize you followed the Spartans closely. That makes two of us.

There certainly are coaches who have looked past the very top players once they get burned by early departures, especially earlier-than-they-should departures. Izzo's probably one, and Coach K is another. Tubby Smith is too, which is one reason why he's no longer at UK.

But I think if you're consistently drawing top-100 players, which Izzo does, and keep them around for at least three years, you should be in pretty good shape. He is this year.
 
At the risk of beating a dead horse ...while watching MSU, I can't help but think that the season Goran Suton is having is what I hoped for out of Conner Atchley. While Suton is a little bulkier than Atchley, they are both seniors, have similar range and are good defensive players. I believe Suton was rated in the 2nd hundred coming out of HS.
 
Suton is twice the baller Atchley is, and that's being generous. Realizing that and thinking of Connor's senior campaign makes me sigh.

The Spartans are playing out of their minds right now. Just incredible effort and composure. It's as if they've spent all season breaking the Cardinals' press.
 
I'll try to make a more detailed post tomorrow when I have all my data - but I guess I was mistaken on the McDonald's All-Americans. I stand corrected. Since '99 here are Michigan State's McDonald's All-Americans:

Jason Richardson - 1999
Zach Randolph - 2000
Marcus Taylor - 2000
Kevin Torbert - 2001
Paul Davis - 2002
Shannon brown - 2003

As far as the number of National Top-100 players, I personally don't just look at Rivals. I prefer to use this site:
RCSI Hoops

They come up with a consensus top-100 based on the rankings in the top 5-6 recruiting sites.
 
Had a feeling that was going to be Louisville's trap game even though I had them winning it all. You see this all the time - the team that plays defense and takes care of the little things (like the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL) takes care of the high powered, heavy favorite. Izzo did it again.
 
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