OT- Cavaliers Offer Tom Izzo Head Coaching Job
http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2010/06/06/sports/nh2604471.txt
Does he take the job? I know I hope he does. Discuss.
Not sure why he would, unless they get a guarantee LeBron will re-sign.
Because he'd be making more money and he has little left to prove at the college level. This gives him a chance to prove himself at the "highest" level.
My read on Izzo is that he's similar to guys like Coach K, Dean Smith, and Bobby Knight in that he doesn't regard the NBA as a step up; that he truly loves more than anything else coaching college-age kids, and loves the college environment in general. From what I see, the only time the enthusiasm in your average NBA arena even gets into the same part of the galaxy as what Izzo sees every game at the Breslin is during the NBA playoffs. Not only that, I bet that Izzo's roots as a small-town kid from the UP means he finds the amount of money he's getting paid in EL just fine.
Izzo can coach at MSU until he retires, and he'll retire a legend up there with Rupp and Smith and Knight. If he goes to the NBA, he's just another warm body ready to get fired after he finds it impossible to deal with the gargantuan salaries, egos and sense of entitlement of the pros.
Well said. You hit the nail on the head.
So what you're saying is we need Coach K to retire and Duke to offer Izzo a whole bunch of money, or some other "crown jewel of college basketball" scenario like that.
I'm not totally sure that's the case. Back in 2000 he was offered, and nearly accepted, the Atlanta Hawk job. He might still want to test himself at the pro level. I think he'd want to win a second national championship first, though.
zillionaire, MSU alum an Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. He figures he can buy whatever he wants. Izzo would have to be out of his mind to take a post LeBron Cavaliers team. While having Izzo leave East Lansing would be great news in Ann Arbor let's be real. We've watched Izzo for years and he is a great college coach who appears to love what he does. And he has never seemed to be about the money. So why would he leave a great setup at MSU for an impossible situation in Cleveland?
If I were a rich-ass businessman who owned a basketball team and my alma mater had a guy like Izzo as their basketball coach, that is the last man in the world I would try to hire. Would a Duke alum be stupid enough to offer Coach K? Hell no, he'd probably go after Roy Williams just to piss off Carolina.
If Izzo accepts this, Gilbert's going to have some bloody awkward receptions at alumni functions. You don't screw with your alma mater like that.
I've heard coaches who have made the transition from big time college sports to the pro level (basketball and football) say that they can focus on the game more and have less to deal with off the court. Being the head coach at any of these big time college programs can be incredibly draining due to the amount of BS they have to deal with off the field/court - alumni, boosters, recruiting, etc. I'm not saying that coaching at the pro level is any easier, just that they can more readily focus on the game itself - that can have some significant appeal to a lot of guys. There's just a different set of expectations form one level to the next.
And even then I'm not so sure I would if I were him. He's got everything set up the way he wants it at MSU. I don't know why he'd leave just to get shit-canned in 3 years or less and have to start over at another program. I can't imagine the money is going to be that much of a motivating factor for him.
Winning a NBA ring?
Succeeding where Pitino and Calipari failed would be quite the achievement for Izzo. At the end of the day what is really left for him to prove at the little brother unless he wants to be the Coach K of the Big 10.
Gregg Popovich, Chuck Daly, Bill Fitch, and Larry Brown. Not bad a bad group of guys to want to join.
Okay, maybe not Fitch...
Some guys have that sort of sickness where the coaching is all consuming for them. At the end of the day Izzo surely realizes that regardless of the success you have in college you're still second tier to guys like Auerbach, Jackson or Riley (among others). The league, much like the NFL (I'm looking at you, Saban) is the ultimate proving ground for coaches. In Izzo's case, the ability to coach 80 plus times per year vs. 35 times per year would likely be a bonus...that and the 5 million or more per season (and no recruiting).
"Izzo surely realizes that regardless of the success you have in college you're still second tier to guys like Auerbach, Jackson or Riley."
But how do you know that Izzo's standards for success have anything to do with NBA coaches? Maybe Izzo measures himself against the other great college coaches. Not everybody thinks that the professional leagues are the only measure of worth and success. Does the fact that Bear Bryant never coached in the NFL mean that he's second tier in comparison to Bill Belichek or Bill Walsh? Millions of college football fans down south and across the country would laugh at that idea.
As far as coaching 80 versus 35 games goes, how do you know that's actually a positive? Coaching in the NBA is a hellacious grind, and if I was getting paid as well as Izzo is right now, I hardly think that it's a slam dunk that doubling his time away from his home is a positive.
Oh ya, John Wooden!
Won't happen in Cleveland. Unless you think they just needed that Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship to turn things around.
Michigan needs a break in hoops.
JB needs to recruit his type of players and win. Izzo going away is not going to make M better than MSU or the rest of the Big 10, JB has to do that.
... but hope he does.
And in Tuesday's news, Izzo signs a contract extension with a pay increase to remain king of his Spartan empire.
............god damn I want that guy to go AWAY!
Well, consider... if the media got this right and there is a real offer out there, then certainly they have gotten some attention from Izzo, ie interviews and such. I don't think a guy like Gilbert just makes an offer out of the blue. This tells me Izzo must be considering it.
I would love it.
They would never have offered Izzo without running it by Lebron. My guess is Izzo is pretty likeable as a coach too, so assuming Cleveland can come up with enough coin my prediciton is that Lebron is staying in Cleveland.
I wouldn't be shocked if he goes to the NBA some time, but not to a team where one player can push the owner around, not halfway through the offseason, and not when he's got a team with a great chance to win it all after going to the Final Four back-to-back years.
Most top teams in the NBA has one or two players who are the most important members of the organization.
I think coming up with the coin is going to be the easy part of all this.
than of Texas joining the MAC. Izzo is a college guy, period, and he's smart enough to know it.
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting Texas to the MAC.
Also, looks like Bob Stoops is deciding between the Cavaliers and Notre Dame for his next coaching job.
I'm not surprised to hear this, considering that my local sports talk radio guy just said that the Tigers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday. The Tigers apparently had trouble getting hits against all those Chief blitz packages.
....right?
Izzo is a college guy, period, and he's smart enough to know it.
Just what does that mean? He's a great motivator, understands the game, and I've never heard of a MSU player that hated the guy. He might not be a lock to win in the NBA, but there are worst hires you could make (see the pistons for more details).
...they also give him some player personnel powers? It doesn't mention it in the article, but it might be enough to lure him away if he's able to shop for his own groceries. He already has a good relationship with the owner, and the Cavs are looking for a GM.
It might be a one in a million chance, but at least there's a chance.
to go to the NBA, where many teams aren't actually run by coaches. One day the NBA will demonstrate honesty and awareness by allowing player-coaches, and then teams like Cleveland with high-maintenance stars like Lebron won't have to have the charade of a coach who just tries to make the star happy.
I think Tom is smart enough to know that he might not get results with his style in the NBA. He needs much more selflessness on his team that he would get in the NBA. In college, his record speaks for itself and the kids he recruits are going to listen to him. It means nothing in the NBA and in the pros, the players hold more leverage than the coaches and I don't think Izzo wants to deal with the big egos of players.
Yeah, but none of them built a monster of a program like Izzo has done. And Larry Brown never met a job he didn't like better than the one he has at any given moment.
This would be excellent, but he would probably be making a mistake in leaving.
I think Tom Izzo should stay at MSU if he knows what's best for him. Lots of good coaches in college go to the NBA and don't do well. I think he's too smart to leave anyways.
/mgovictors impression
Dan Gilbert is a MSU alum; Interesting.
I don't believe for a second that Izzo is going to the Cavs, this is just a couple of spartans getting together to generate some pub for Izzo and MSU.
Gilbert's in the process of moving his company's HQ to downtown Detroit. Given the connections, there's no surprise Izzy The MIdget is his target.
What is his company?
Quicken Loans and Fathead
But how would it benefit MSU? This creates the perception that Izzo might be looking to move on.
Needs more Final Four 'participant' banners flying in the Q at this point in the game. If you really think about if Iowa St. doesnt get railroaded in 2000, were talking about "Choke Job Tom" at this point. Tom Izzo fazes me in the least. Go JB, Go Blue!
hurp 'er derp. Choke Job Tom?! You've got to be kidding me, right?
In my previous post. If you cant win the big one people will talk, Izzo did win one which have given him quite a run. 6 Final Fours, One Title? I would be happy, yes, but would I expect more success with 6 appearances, yes. Izzo does not scare me nor do I have to go on and on about how I should respect his accomplishments. I am a True Blue Michigan fan and wont waste a single second stroking the rival coach. Go JB and Go Blue
6 Final Fours and 1 National Title. Lets back it down, math style. Assuming each game in the final four is a coin flip, which I don't think is a bad assumption at all given that there is no home team and each team is highly talented, the odds of winning a title each year is 25 percent for each team. So in 6 tries, Izzo should have won 1.5 titles (6*0.25=1.5). Now, since you can't win half a title, I would say that he is right on pace with exceptions, given how many Final Fours he has been to. If Izzo has been to 10 Final Fours and only one a single title...then we can talk.
Isn't math fun?!
in Detroit 2009, and lost by so many points people were jamming their fingers in their abaci after each Tar Heel basket. Please adjust your formula and quit drooling on Choke Job T.