Izzo tells Beilein he made him a better coach, and he doesn't hate Michigan anymore.
But then he makes the weirdest comment imaginable about the rivalry. At least I think its weird.
You made me better, because you came in here, beat us a few times, then we did there. Once you look at it, it was a pretty even run once we got going.
“And you know what — you said it, and I think Juwan will do a good job and everything — but if you would have stayed a few more years, we would have caught that Duke-North Carolina rivalry.
So either he's admitting Juwan is gonna dominate him, or he's saying he's gonna dominate Juwan.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:54 PM ^
I especially liked Beilein closing the interview with "Good luck vs. Northwestern..."
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:05 PM ^
He was complimenting Beilein by saying if he stayed, Michigan and MSU, as both a rivalry and by dominating the Big10, would compare to Duke/UNC in the ACC. His comment about Howard, that he would do a good job too, was to make sure he didn’t accidentally insult Howard by praising Beilein.
December 23rd, 2020 at 10:26 AM ^
Juwan beat him and Cassius in Year 1 though, so he couldn’t reasonably say anything too insulting anyway.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:17 PM ^
i think he was referring to more of long term coaching tenures at each school, like duke-nc have.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:55 PM ^
I think he’s very self-important & awkwardly tried to compliment Beilein in terms that Izzo understands the best.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:02 PM ^
Clinical narcissism
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:18 PM ^
Very nice comment by Izzo indeed - love how universally respected Belein is.
Personally, I don't think there was anything weird about the comment.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:21 PM ^
A privileged adult such as Izzo shouldn't be hating on anything, although I could understand if Izzo also hated the East Lansing police
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:02 PM ^
Alright chaz, how the hell is he privileged?
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:20 PM ^
You honestly don't know how a white man earning > 0.1% annual income for coaching a game is privileged?
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:47 PM ^
He’s not white moron. He’s yooper.
December 22nd, 2020 at 9:19 PM ^
Really?! The race card? Please...try again.
December 23rd, 2020 at 11:18 AM ^
I think the key word here is "earning." Not everyone who is successful is "privelaged." Some folks are just good at shit.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:01 PM ^
Nothing about that cretin is anything other than self-serving so many of us are going to take anything he says, even in positive light, with tiny grains of NaCl.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:19 PM ^
After every game MSU won vs Michigan you could see the befuddled look on Izzo face on how Michigan would fight him to the end with some of those unathletic teams.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:21 PM ^
Nice comment by Izzo. Hope to beat him a couple of times this year to pay back last year’s performances.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:31 PM ^
Juwan did beat him last year in a rematch.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:35 PM ^
They split last year.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:30 PM ^
Doh, was thinking of two years ago I think when they beat us three times. You’re both right.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:22 PM ^
There will never be another coach like Beilein. Might be my favorite of all time, in any sport
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:48 PM ^
Is there a football Beilein out there? I wish would we could clone him and give the clone a football mind.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:23 PM ^
Or he is saying he is going to retire.
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:30 PM ^
Izzo's gonna be 66 in a month. It's not like he's going to be doing this for another 10-15 years. His time is getting short.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:28 PM ^
I'm not buying it, has to be a trick.
December 22nd, 2020 at 8:22 PM ^
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:28 PM ^
Any weirdness was unintentional. It was a very warm, respectful interview from both of them. It was quite nice to see actually.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:31 PM ^
I've always enjoyed the MSU/UM basketball rivalry. It's always been pretty competitive and even the last ~5 years and the winner of season series always felt legitimate because there's 2-3 games that definitively decide the rivalry for the year
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:33 PM ^
Good for him. To respect Beilein is fairly obvious but there have been times even that seemed beyond Izzo.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:34 PM ^
Just what in thee Hell is Izzo up to?
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:12 PM ^
He’s up to his eyeballs in a 3 foot deep swimming pool.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:36 PM ^
Izzo loves the rivalry but I think he actually loved it more when we started to compete. Competition brought out the best of both teams and Beilein is directly responsible for this. That’s what he’s trying to say
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:42 PM ^
So what Izzo's really saying is that he loved when Moe broke Nick Ward's ankles.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:56 PM ^
And Stu Douglass’s three pointer.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:43 PM ^
Jay Wright was asked to name the coach he would least want to face again. He responded “John Beilein”.
December 22nd, 2020 at 10:26 PM ^
Especially after #8 Nova got beat 73-46 in 2018, part of UM's 18-0 start.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:45 PM ^
Honestly, it was good to get a coach that could keep up with Izzo.
As much as I hate him, his teams are hard to beat.
Well, except in the final four.
zing!
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:49 PM ^
...and except for NW.
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:04 PM ^
And so is Howard, my friend...and SO IS HOWARD.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:49 PM ^
Izzo is a douche.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:17 PM ^
When he shows up in documentaries he seems like a good person. On the court he turns into the devil himself
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:51 PM ^
Or he (Izzo) will retire (like Mork) and not have a bad record vs Michigan, before they become a major basketball power.
December 22nd, 2020 at 5:55 PM ^
I don't see any weirdness in the comment. He's talking about an izzo-belein rivalry, no matter how good or bad juwan does in the matchup it's not the same.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:16 PM ^
Didn't we go 1-1 against Sparty last year? Seems like a Duke-North Carolina thing.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:31 PM ^
This is such Izzo-trash...
Izzo shits in a maize & blue toilet.
The little angry man cheated and twisted E Landfill into his own Wonka-land for 20 years.
The reign is over Izzo -- and you'll always hate Michigan.... it'll NEVER be over --
-- to quote your best ally.
Sparty NO!
Go Blue.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:35 PM ^
Even in complimenting others, tiny Tim comes off as little brother. Small man, Napoleon complex Narcissist.
December 22nd, 2020 at 7:22 PM ^
100% yep, this.
December 22nd, 2020 at 6:50 PM ^
I hope Juwan kicks his ass. So bad that him and Izzo can't have these friendly conversations.