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Izzo?

dinglefritz

Nebraska Legend
Jan 14, 2011
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I was curious about how MSU became a fairly consistent tournament team under Izzo. Izzo took over for Judd Heathcoate after a Big 10 losing season or two. What i didn't realize was that two years before that MSU had gone 28-5 with a Steve Smith led team. It wasn't like that was a dogh## program before Izzo took over. Apparently Heathcoate had recruited well enough for Izzo to be name COY in his third year. From there year in and year out MSU has been competitive with multiple NCAA tourney appearances and one national title. What can we take from that? Probably nothing but I always wondered if Izzo had taken over some woebegone program like NU and in fact he hadn't. Good heavens. I forgot that Magic played for Heathcoate and won an NCAA title. Definitely not doormat like NU..:(
 
I was curious about how MSU became a fairly consistent tournament team under Izzo. Izzo took over for Judd Heathcoate after a Big 10 losing season or two. What i didn't realize was that two years before that MSU had gone 28-5 with a Steve Smith led team.
If I recall correctly, Heathcote was getting older and I think that Michigan State wanted to keep Izzo in the fold before he moved on to a head coaching gig somewhere else. Izzo has been very successful as we all know, but one thing that he's continually done is coach rebounding in practice. Michigan State always incorporates physical rebounding drills and spends more time on it than anybody else does. And Izzo recruits rebounders-- that's always a point of emphasis. Consequently, his teams have almost always been tougher physically and tougher mentally year after year.
 
If I recall correctly, Heathcote was getting older and I think that Michigan State wanted to keep Izzo in the fold before he moved on to a head coaching gig somewhere else. Izzo has been very successful as we all know, but one thing that he's continually done is coach rebounding in practice. Michigan State always incorporates physical rebounding drills and spends more time on it than anybody else does. And Izzo recruits rebounders-- that's always a point of emphasis. Consequently, his teams have almost always been tougher physically and tougher mentally year after year.
Yeah Heatcoate retired and Izzo took the reins. I'm not sure if he was on Heatcoate's staff or not.
 
I’m going to go ahead and call bullshit on this statement.

You forgot that Michigan State was any good before Izzo was head coach? Seems like a long way to go for a You-Big-Meanies-Need-to-Lay-Off-Fred finger wagging.
spin it anyway you want. I had totally forgotten Magic played at MSU. I'm old enough that I should have remembered that but as I said before in part because of NU's absence, I really didn't pay much attention to the NCAA tourney. I was busy back then starting a career and family.
 
Heathcote's team with Magic was clearly his best and was really talented - they had too much depth for Bird/ISU in the championship game that year. In addition to Magic, that team had Greg Kelser who was a top 5 draft pick, and Jay Vincent who went on to have a long/successful NBA career.
 
spin it anyway you want. I had totally forgotten Magic played at MSU. I'm old enough that I should have remembered that but as I said before in part because of NU's absence, I really didn't pay much attention to the NCAA tourney. I was busy back then starting a career and family.
One of Danny Nee’s biggest wins at NU was over a #4 ranked MSU team with Steve Smith and Matt Steigenga.

I don’t need to spin your fairly tale. It was total bullshit from the very first keystroke.
 
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If I recall correctly, Heathcote was getting older and I think that Michigan State wanted to keep Izzo in the fold before he moved on to a head coaching gig somewhere else. Izzo has been very successful as we all know, but one thing that he's continually done is coach rebounding in practice. Michigan State always incorporates physical rebounding drills and spends more time on it than anybody else does. And Izzo recruits rebounders-- that's always a point of emphasis. Consequently, his teams have almost always been tougher physically and tougher mentally year after year.
Izzo builds tough teams, and started at MSU in an era of tough teams. Every now and again he gets a couple of high flying NBA bound kids and his team becomes a hard out in the tourney.
 
If I recall correctly, Heathcote was getting older and I think that Michigan State wanted to keep Izzo in the fold before he moved on to a head coaching gig somewhere else. Izzo has been very successful as we all know, but one thing that he's continually done is coach rebounding in practice. Michigan State always incorporates physical rebounding drills and spends more time on it than anybody else does. And Izzo recruits rebounders-- that's always a point of emphasis. Consequently, his teams have almost always been tougher physically and tougher mentally year after year.
And all five guys on the floor play fundamental defense at all times or they are in a sitting position on the bench. Izzo isn’t afraid to get in their face if he needs to get his message across.
 
I was busy back then starting a career and family.
Shame on you! Career and family? What the hell is that? We're talking about Larry Bird and Indiana State vs. Michigan State. Those were the glory days of college basketball. Bird was drafted by the Celtics after his junior year and he hadn't even declared "hardship" for the draft. Good move by the Celtics. And somehow, Magic wound up on the Lakers. Other than not having a shot clock and teams holding the basketball in key games, the college game was much better back then.
 
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Izzo was on his staff from 1983-95 and took over . Crazy long ass gig before getting the Head job.
Haven't googled anything on this and I won't start now, but I believe that Izzo was a school teacher and a high school coach prior to joining Michigan State. There's no doubt in my mind that the best path (not easiest path) for a basketball coach is to start out at the high school level.
 
Haven't googled anything on this and I won't start now, but I believe that Izzo was a school teacher and a high school coach prior to joining Michigan State. There's no doubt in my mind that the best path (not easiest path) for a basketball coach is to start out at the high school level.
Yep HS to Northern Michigan ass for a couple years and then the Ass at Michigan State.
 
One of Danny Nee’s biggest wins at NU was over a #4 ranked MSU team with Steve Smith and Matt Steigenga.

I don’t need to spin your fairly tale. It was total bullshit from the very first keystroke.
The obsession continues. If my posts upset you so much maybe you should put me on ignore. I’m not sure what I did to you but clearly you’ve developed DDS. 😉
 
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Shame on you! Career and family? What the hell is that? We're talking about Larry Bird and Indiana State vs. Michigan State. Those were the glory days of college basketball. Bird was drafted by the Celtics after his junior year and he hadn't even declared "hardship" for the draft. Good move by the Celtics. And somehow, Magic wound up on the Lakers. Other than not having a shot clock and teams holding the basketball in key games, the college game was much better back then.
I vaguely remember seeing a few minutes of Magic vs Bird in the tourney back in the day.
 
The obsession continues. If my posts upset you so much maybe you should put me on ignore. I’m not sure what I did to you but clearly you’ve developed DDS. 😉

Sorry I ruined your clever little shame-on-you thread. Let's see if we can revitalize it:

Hey, did you any of guys know that Ohio State was really good at football before Ryan Day???

I could have sworn Day built that program from scratch, but it turns out some guy named Urban Meyer won national championships there. And so did some dudes named Jim Tressel and Woody Hayes. Man, you learn something new every day!
 
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Sorry I ruined your clever little shame-on-you thread. Let's see if we can revitalize it:

Hey, did you any of guys know that Ohio State was really good at football before Ryan Day???

I could have sworn Day built that program from scratch, but it turns out some guy named Urban Meyer won national championships there. And so did some dudes named Jim Tressel and Woody Hayes. Man, you learn something new every day!
Good heavens. What’s your problem?
 
MSU has had like 20 coaches over the last 50 years. Pretty amazing.

Now, Izzo MIGHT be done after this year, depending how things go. But even if he isn't, he probably has 5 years remaining tops. It will be interesting to see who they go after at that point.
 
MSU has had like 20 coaches over the last 50 years. Pretty amazing.

Now, Izzo MIGHT be done after this year, depending how things go. But even if he isn't, he probably has 5 years remaining tops. It will be interesting to see who they go after at that point.
Hall of Fame Coach. Ya, he is a whiner on the bench, but are there any coaches beside Freddy that are not?
 
I’m going to go ahead and call bullshit on this statement.

You forgot that Michigan State was any good before Izzo was head coach? Seems like a long way to go for a You-Big-Meanies-Need-to-Lay-Off-Fred finger wagging.

He forgot that Magic Johnson played for MSU and won a title? Seems like you’re kinda discrediting your own opinion(s) on college basketball.
 
He forgot that Magic Johnson played for MSU and won a title? Seems like you’re kinda discrediting your own opinion(s) on college basketball.
I'm old. I've forgotten a lot of things. The year Magic and Bird played in the NCAA tourney I was in my first year of a medical doctoral program. In addition I was working for a farmer 20-30 hours per week and my wife and I were living 5 hours apart. Yeah I was a little too busy to watch much basketball. Couldn't afford cable TV for a number of years as well. I've watched a fair amount of B1G basketball over the past few years, but don't care to watch much of other leagues.
 
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I'm old. I've forgotten a lot of things. The year Magic and Bird played in the NCAA tourney I was in my first year of a medical doctoral program. In addition I was working for a farmer 20-30 hours per week and my wife and I were living 5 hours apart. Yeah I was a little too busy to watch much basketball. Couldn't afford cable TV for a number of years as well. I've watched a fair amount of B1G basketball over the past few years, but don't care to watch much of other leagues.
Dingle,

You need to write a book!!!! Incredible accomplishments!!!!

The most venerated is how you get to live 5 hours from your wife! Wish I can do that. She is in my business and my personal space (my detached sports bar garage) everday. All she does is poke around and annoy my friends but 5 hours away seems like heaven!
 
Dingle,

You need to write a book!!!! Incredible accomplishments!!!!

The most venerated is how you get to live 5 hours from your wife! Wish I can do that. She is in my business and my personal space (my detached sports bar garage) everday. All she does is poke around and annoy my friends but 5 hours away seems like heaven!
Well every other weekend was fun....until she got pregnant. Then not so much. UNMC and Mizzou made it work for us.
 
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I vaguely remember seeing a few minutes of Magic vs Bird in the tourney back in the day.
Magic's team was more talented overall, but Indiana State had a magical season that year. I believe they were undefeated going into the championship game. They packed their home court for every game. Can you imagine network TV broadcasts of Sycamore games live from Terre Haute? And at the end of every game, the fans sang "Amen". It was quite a production.
 
Jeez I was like a fourth grader at the time with pretty much no knowledge of the basketball world and even I knew about this historic matchup. It’s like not remembering JFK getting shot or man landing on the moon.
 
Jeez I was like a fourth grader at the time with pretty much no knowledge of the basketball world and even I knew about this historic matchup. It’s like not remembering JFK getting shot or man landing on the moon.
You were probably sitting on your sofa in front of the TV every waking moment. I was working and in a very demanding doctoral program. I don’t think I saw any more of that tournament than highlights after it was over. I loved to play the game. Watching it? Not so much. I knew about the Magic vs Bird matchup. I had forgotten that Magic played for MSU not about Bird vs Magic. They played exactly one game against each other in college and I didn’t get to watch it.
 
You were probably sitting on your sofa in front of the TV every waking moment. I was working and in a very demanding doctoral program. I don’t think I saw any more of that tournament than highlights after it was over. I loved to play the game. Watching it? Not so much. I knew about the Magic vs Bird matchup. I had forgotten that Magic played for MSU not about Bird vs Magic. They played exactly one game against each other in college and I didn’t get to watch it.
No I rarely sat on the couch watching TV growing up. And pretty much any kid my age didn’t sit on the couch watching TV growing up. TV sucked back then because there were only three channels (PBS doesn’t count as an actual channel😅)and you had to get up and walk to the TV to change it. Maybe I watched some Kolchak or Carol Burnett but normally I was running all around the neighborhood playing Cowboys and Indians or riding bikes or exploring creeks etc. I was either doing homework or getting beat up by my older brothers when I was actually at home.

But the point is a clueless kid like myself who knew zero about basketball knew about this game. You knew it too at one time regardless if you were doing this or that. But you forget it. Might as well have forgotten the Miracle On Ice while you’re at it. That’s why everybody is funnin’ with you😛
 
No I rarely sat on the couch watching TV growing up. And pretty much any kid my age didn’t sit on the couch watching TV growing up. TV sucked back then because there were only three channels (PBS doesn’t count as an actual channel😅)and you had to get up and walk to the TV to change it. Maybe I watched some Kolchak or Carol Burnett but normally I was running all around the neighborhood playing Cowboys and Indians or riding bikes or exploring creeks etc. I was either doing homework or getting beat up by my older brothers when I was actually at home.

But the point is a clueless kid like myself who knew zero about basketball knew about this game. You knew it too at one time regardless if you were doing this or that. But you forget it. Might as well have forgotten the Miracle On Ice while you’re at it. That’s why everybody is funnin’ with you😛
I knew about it. I didn’t watch it though and had forgotten that Magic played for MSU. For some reason I was thinking he played for Michigan.
 
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