CompleteLunacy

March 6th, 2011 at 1:10 AM ^

Usually it's the other way around...

I don't understand coaches that whine like that. I mean, why let the trash talking get to you? He's a kid, he's excited about winning, move on. Take the high road and let it be...being dismissive is the only way to respond to it. As Lucas did. 

Ooooor, you can be Izzo. It comes off as arrogant self-righteous whining, and some of pot-calling-the-kettle-black. In other words, sore loser. I mean, how do you call it "running up the score" when YOUR OWN TEAM has done it to Michigan in the past?!? Hypocritical much?

 

jmblue

March 6th, 2011 at 1:40 AM ^

Not to mention that MSU had full-court pressure on that possession.  Izzo was not conceding the game.  What was Morris supposed to do, stand still and get fouled?  (After what happened at the end of the PSU game, I don't think he'd want to do that again.)  If they'd backed off, he most likely would have dribbled out the clock.

 

lhglrkwg

March 6th, 2011 at 1:04 AM ^

it sounds more like 'the media' is trying to stir up something that wasnt a big deal. maybe darius did talk smack, but we swept them for the first time in 10+ years. emphatically. i'll listen to them when they can assure me no one from MSU's football team has talked smack in the last 3 years

bluewings

March 6th, 2011 at 1:23 AM ^

Not too big of a deal but I have always seen Izzo has a baby.  He has been winning a lot which is what a good coach does and he's pegged as one.  But people with true class are classy when they lose.

El Jeffe

March 6th, 2011 at 2:23 AM ^

Jesus, if my preseason top-5 team was fighting for its postseason life at 16-13 (sorry, Chaminade fans, but the committee don't count you), I'd spend a lot less time worrying about how Darius Morris "ran up the score" all the way to seven points and then had the temerity to flap his gums a little.

exmtroj

March 6th, 2011 at 2:27 AM ^

If you don't want to hear trash talk, don't let the other team kick your ass. Like Ricky Bobby says, "Winners get to do what they want."

UMfan21

March 6th, 2011 at 3:12 AM ^

It's been half a day now and I still can't wrap my head around Izzo's comments.

 

Ok, so worst case scenario Darius talked smack and Lucas was a perfect angel and said nothing all day (*cough*)...

 

Does that give Lucas the right to throw a ball at Darius' face?  Whatever happened to "sticks and stones..."?  For the coach to come out and say it was justified in ANY way is just shocking to me.

 

For people to focus on Darius possibly trash talking and ignore the ball throwing and Izzos comments is inconceivable to me. Those are the bigger issues worth discussing.

Serth

March 6th, 2011 at 5:36 AM ^

I think perhaps we got it twisted.  From Comparoni's article I am reading (and hearing now) "Maybe (we) deserve it."

I interpret this as him saying, "maybe we dug a little karmic hole for ourselves for Morris to be talking shit all game, then taking it to the hole with 3 seconds left."

OldManUfer

March 7th, 2011 at 8:46 AM ^

Comparoni is indicating he's filling in or modifying the quote by surrounding with "we" with parentheses.

Listening to the audio, I'm pretty confident Izzo said "he". I don't know if Comparoni is being dishonest or is genuinely unsure of the intent, but based on the tone and content of the passage, "we" just doesn't fit.

UMICH1606

March 6th, 2011 at 7:35 AM ^

Maybe Izzo doesn't remember Mateen Cleaves still in the game with 30 some odd seconds  left in the game and his team up 50+ points, still throwing alley oops to his teammates to throw one down, because I still remember that.

Darius made the right play there. They were still pressing and attacking the ball the whole length of the court. In your film study did you notice Darius not taking the layup in a previous game when it was there, and then in turn missed both of his free throws Tom?

How that whiny Izzo gets the label of the epitome of class is beyond me.

APBlue

March 6th, 2011 at 8:57 AM ^

Look, no matter how you define it, this was not a blow-out.  However, what is it that coaches always say: "If you don't want to get blown out, don't let 'em score".  If he'd had his players drop back into the back-court, essentially conceding the game and Morris went in for a lay-up, I'd understand their whining a little bit.  They've still got to stop him from scoring, though. 

Although he's still a good coach, I agree with your comment as well.  Didn't anyone ever tell that dude to close his mouth when he's chewing gum?!?!?  JESUS!  It was mentioned here earlier in an earlier post, in a slightly different way, but it's worth repeating.  The character of a man isn't measured when he's up, but when he's down.  Good coach, but Izzo fails here. 

wildbackdunesman

March 6th, 2011 at 8:20 AM ^

I think Izzo is just trying to fire up the players for the BTT.  Also it takes the focus off of other things.  If they lose their next game, they are NIT bound. 

Lucas and Morris were both talking trash in both games and Lucas admitted that.  Could Morris have behaved better?  Yes.  Could Lucas have behaved bettet?  Yes.  Does it deserve this much attention?  I don't think so.

CRISPed in the DIAG

March 6th, 2011 at 8:32 AM ^

The players get it. Anyone who's ever played pick-up knows you keep playing on *your* court when you win a game. Pretty common stuff here.

Izzo is just trying to deflect and possibly motivate his fan base more than his players.

NateVolk

March 6th, 2011 at 8:52 AM ^

The guy who mentioned the 2000 blatant running up of the score and the other fellow who quoted the "winners get to do what they want" have summed this up perfectly.  Michigan State has nothing to stand on here.   

Michigan State fans I talk to who are rationale say that this is the most likeable Michigan basketball team they can recall and they admire the way they play too.  Only the whiners who can dish it out, but can't take it, thought Morris did anything wrong yesterday.  I hate to say it, but Izzo looks like a member of that sad group.  

Next case Baliff.

ckersh74

March 6th, 2011 at 9:37 AM ^

Trash talking on a basketball court. I've never heard of such a thing. Nope. Never....      *shakes head*

Whining about a layup in the last seconds of a 7 point game, when you've beaten this team by 50+ in the past? Someone please tell me just what world I'm living in, because at this point in the game, I'm not really sure. Excuse me all to hell for expecting my team to play the full 40 minutes of basketball, too.

 

 

mGrowOld

March 6th, 2011 at 10:01 AM ^

This is so not new.  I have zero sympathy for the school who absolutely loved Scott Skiles telling Antoine Joubert "Hey FATBOY....let's see what you got" way back in the day.

What goes around........

Tater

March 6th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^

I wrote this in another thread, but it bears repeating here.  I thought Skiles was really funny and Joubert was weak for letting it get to him.  I now think Morris was really funny and Lucas is weak. 

As for some of the general reasoning here, I have to admit that I enjoyed Sparty Schadenfreude and went over to RCMB to see just how bad they feel.  Some are turning on Izzo.  Many think Michigan got "lucky" twice in one season.  Most are clinging to their percieved "superiority," even though it looks even worse for them next year. 

But some admit they are worried.  It ranges from "next year could be worse before we turn it back around" to "did we give them an opening this year?"  Even with their ten year run and Michigan vacating wins from the Ed Martin era, they are still almost twenty games behind Michigan in the overall series.  They "forget" about that, but I think most of them still know it somewhere in the back of their minds. 

I think there could be an "instant flip" here.  While JB is building a nice team with solid, intelligent players who play as a team, Izzo is losing control of his team.  It should be obvious to anyone who was watching this year that Izzo has temporarily "lost" the locker room.  To avoid another "tl';dr," I will cover this in depth over at my blog tonight. 

Basically, though, the situation is more volitile than many thought five months ago.

 

mGrowOld

March 6th, 2011 at 12:23 PM ^

Skiles was funny and the Judge WAS fat (coke is a bitch).  But i have to admidt i LOVED Darius telling Lucas to "Get the Fuck off MY court". 

Been a long, LONG time since MSU saw this much swagger in AA.  They dont know what to do with it.

bronxblue

March 6th, 2011 at 10:09 AM ^

This is a non-story perpetuated by an angry and hurt MSU faithful who worry that UM may be catching them in basketball a bit while their football team will undobutedly tumble back to earth in the coming years.  I saw more trash-talking during the Syracuse-Depaul game yesterday than what Morris and Lucas said, and for Izzo to act shocked about it when guys like Draymond Green and Lucas talk at the drop of a hat is disingenuous.  I know that Beilein would never single out an opposing player the way Izzo did, and maybe this is just a sign that Izzo is regretting coming back to MSU after flirting with the Cavs.  Because unless this team makes another long run in the NCAA tournment (assuming they get in), he may have missed his opportunity to finally coach in the pros.

MaizeAndBlueManGroup

March 6th, 2011 at 10:32 AM ^

This coming from the guy who left his starters in and was calling for J-Rich alley oops with 1 minute to go up 60 points. Look Izzo, you wanted a rivalry, you got one. And anyone else notice how every time the camera panned to Izzo (which was like every 5 seconds) that he was crying to the refs?

Also interesting how he gets on Morris for TALKING, but says nothin about Lucas throwing an elbow at Hardaway. Manny got tossed for worse last year.

J.Swift

March 6th, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^

I noticed that the camera zoomed in on Izzo whenever play stopped.  And he was almost always jawboning the ref, acting out frustration, disbelief, incredulity, anger, self-righteousness, disgust, etc. ad nauseum.  And nauseous is how I felt by the end of the game when the camera would once again focus on Mr. Whiny once again whining at the refs.  I saw more of Izzo than almost any single player.  He is a full-bore, no-holds barred drama queen & his act has gotten stale.

Please, CBS (it was CBS?), give me a break.  Give all of us a break:  don't keep the camera trained on Tom Izzo, the whiny boy.  Or to paraphrase Darius Morris riposte to Mr. Lucas, "Get the fuck off my flat-screen TV!"