I always love watching how the Madness of March can seem so obvious when we get to April. We all get caught up in filling out our brackets, listening to all of the “experts” tell us who we should watch for the upsets and who got snubbed. We watch the first weekend of the tourney and see upsets by lower seeded teams that were undervalued and we see other upsets of higher ranked teams that simply come out flat. But as we get deeper into the tournament, the cream annually rises to the top. We can get into RPI rankings, strength of schedule or even strength of conference—but here are the two things that always prove most important: guard play and coaching. This year, Scottie Reynolds, AJ Price, Ty Lawson, and Kalin Lucas all prove that point guard play can never be overrated.
This guy needs to get more love!
For now, I want to focus on the coaching. We have 2 Hall-of-Famers in Jim Calhoun and Roy Williams that predictably made it back to the Final Four yet again. Jay Wright from Villanova is proving to be one of the hottest coaches in the country—and if he WANTS to move onto a bigger program, it’s only a matter of time. But in between the legends and the hotshot coach might be the best coach of the entire bunch: Tom Izzo.
Check out H-to-the-Izzo’s resume since he’s been in East Lansing. Sometimes accomplishments don’t fully set in until you see them all laid out in front of you. In his 14 season as a head coach (all at Michigan State), he’s been to 12 straight NCAA Tournaments. His first 2 seasons as head coach, the Spartans went to the NIT (each time winning only their 1st round game). Since then, Michigan State has participated in the NCAA Tournament every season since the 1997-98 season. His career record in the NCAA tournament is a staggering 30-10 (.750 winning percentage).
Even more impressive is his teams’ record with the 48 hour turnaround. These weekend games in the tournament, when the coaching staff has limited time to put together a game plan, implement and teach the players, Izzo is 14-2. That’s an absolutely unbelievable stat: He’s only lost TWICE on the quick turnaround. Think about it: some of those teams were amazing, some of them were average; some had great seeds and some had tough draws—but he got ALL of them to produce. In 2003 MSU lost to #1 seed Texas in the Elite 8 (after beating #2 seed Florida) and in 2007 the Spartans lost to another #1 seed, North Carolina, in the 2nd round of the tournament. That’s it—12 straight trips and they’ve lost on short notice TWICE. And both times to #1 seeds.
When looking for the secret to Izzo’s success, there are two qualities that unquestionably come to the forefront. One of his best qualities is his brilliant ability to motivate his teams for the big game. A couple of years ago, Michigan State was able to go into Columbus and walk away with a win after a hard fought double overtime. Here’s what he said in the middle of the game to help his troops get over the hump and pull out the victory (after this, I’d be ready for coach to put me in):
“I told them in the huddle that we played Gonzaga and Arizona — we played all those overtime games and we’ve earned the right to win the game. They looked back at me and said, ‘Damn right we did.” –Tom Izzo
At the pep rally in East Lansing on Wednesday night, Izzo showed that he knew how to pump up more than just his team. I wasn’t there to see the crowd’s reaction, but I’m guessing more than just Sparty was bouncing up and down after this: “Monday night we’re going to celebrate a championship!” Of course, I’m paraphrasing there, but I think he has this motivational thing figured out.
The second quality that makes Izzo such a great coach is the defensive excellence he demands that each and every one of his Spartan teams play with throughout the season. The teams that went to 3 consecutive Final Fours at the beginning of the decade were all extremely tough teams that could grind it out with anyone. Each of the teams were great at putting their opponents in situations that they weren’t comfortable with. The tough man-to-man defense that the entire team bought into has been the calling-card of the program since Izzo’s arrival 14 years ago. Hell, he even has a DVD called: “Tom Izzo: Dominating Rebounding & Man-to-Man Defensive Drills.” If I want to win a championship, that’s the kind of instructional video I’d buy! 5 Final Fours in 11 years says that all coaches should go out and buy the video. Clearly, the guy knows what he’s talking about!
The teams that made the Final Four were blue collar type teams that had strong leadership; strong defense and above all, they were incredibly clutch. Guys like Charlie Bell, Mateen Cleeves and Mo Peterson might not have been the best NBA prospects, but they were great players on the college level and were guys that worked well within the team concept.
After those Final Four teams, Izzo actually did some of his best recruiting. Zach Randolph was a Spartan; so were Kelvin Torbert and Shannon Brown. But for all of their skill on the basketball court and accolades they came to East Lansing with, they didn’t have that “it” factor that Cleeves and Petersen possessed. A perfect example was Jason Richardson who was on some of those teams—but he never had the blue-collar leadership qualities to take over and LEAD the team back to the Final Four. Maybe they just didn’t get it—what it took to be a champion. For as skilled as they were athletically, they never performed as well as those championship teams that had the dominant leadership.
Lucas is the all important point guard that is providing leadership for the Spartans
This year’s players look more like the Final Four teams than the teams of Randolph and Richardson. While Kalin Lucas and Travis Walton are both talented players, you don’t constantly hear about “how great they’ll be at the next level.” For the time being, they’re college basketball players—not soon-to-be NBA players. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s the difference between a Sweet 16 team of the past and a Final Four team of the present.
So remember when you’re watching the Final Four teams this weekend—even though the teams might have different styles, they all have some strong similarities. All of the teams have strong point guards and extremely intelligent coaches. While everyone else is going to be waiting for that potential UConn/North Carolina final, I’m going to keep my eye on Michigan State. Kalin Lucas might be the most underrated superstar in the Final Four; and there’s no way I’d be against Tom Izzo. He has appeared in 8 of the last 12 Sweet Sixteen’s, as well as 5 of the last 11 Final Fours. You know Izzo is going to have the Spartans ready to play and they’re always tough to play against.
Don’t be surprised if they ruin that dream match-up and make their way to Championship Monday. And if they get there, there’s no way in hell I’d go against him on short notice. In a Final Four full of great coaches, by the end of his career he might just prove to be the best.
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