Tom Izzo was passive aggressively talking to the media about the Ohio State loss after the game and the quotes were interesting.
I think we as fans are all to the point of extreme frustration with this season, and Tom Izzo is right there with us. Michigan State just suffered its second straight home loss, this time to Ohio State 60-57. The Spartans seemingly were in control most of the game, but a last second 3-pointer for the Buckeyes was the difference.
Typically you don’t see Michigan State coaches or players blaming others after heartbreaking losses like this. They either individually take accountability for the loss or say everyone could have done better.
In Izzo’s post-game press conference, he did just that, but took it a step further and may have indirectly blamed his players for this loss.
What did Izzo say?
Izzo was asked after the game about how to stop the bleeding after two tough losses. In true Izzo fashion, he gave a very long response. Halfway through his response, he got a little off topic and shared this about his team.
“This is going to be the one time I’ll say this. They (his players) got to figure something out, too. We had a really good couple days of practice. Early on when we missed some shots, guys heads went down. To me, that’s ridiculous. It’s a day and age where we’re not allowed to blame anyone else, so I’ll take all the blame.”
Sure at the end of this quote Izzo said that he’ll take the blame, but it’s what he said right before that which shows his true feelings.
“It’s a day and age where we’re not allowed to blame anyone else.”
This speaks volumes because Izzo is indirectly saying he wants to blame his players, but can’t because it’ll be thrown back in his face. There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of truth to what he said, but I think Sunday’s loss was more on Izzo than his players.
Izzo could have prevented this loss
Michigan State could have easily played just a little better and it likely wins this game. But Izzo made one bad decision that also cost the Spartans this game.
Early in the second half, he took out Xavier Booker when MSU had a 10-point lead. Even with how well Booker was playing, everyone needs a rest so this was no big deal. But Izzo never put him back in the game. The Spartans’ offense stalled and they got nothing productive from the other post players when Booker had been doing pretty well. Why he didn’t go back in I’m not sure, but this mistake cost Michigan State the game.
Yes, Izzo’s correct that the players deserve blame. Everyone deserves some blame for the loss. But this statement from Izzo surprises me a little. Tom Izzo isn’t afraid to challenge his players, that’s part of what makes him one of the best. But there’s a difference between challenging his players and blaming them, and I think Izzo crossed that a line a little bit here.
The road for Michigan State unfortunately does not get any easier. Their next game is at Purdue on Saturday, who is the best team in the Big Ten by far. It certainly looks like another loss is on the horizon. But Izzo and MSU have won many games when it seemed like they couldn’t, so I’m not counting them out.
More must-reads: