Michigan State University Athletics
Grinz On Green: Sometimes It's Just Not Your Day
3/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist
It's a universal question that rarely elicits a satisfactory response.
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has been struggling to find even a remotely plausible answer to that question since his No. 2-seeded Spartans were upset, 90-81, by Middle Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last Friday in St. Louis.
He's gotten plenty of suggestions via email, caught wind of various insinuations and even heard a few accusations as to how a 15th seed could upend a team that had been ranked No. 1 in the nation for three weeks earlier in the season and was coming off winning the Big Ten Tournament championship.
A new one was brought to Izzo's attention on Tuesday: Some, if not all, of the Spartans were suffering with the flu.
No, said Izzo, who was nonetheless still sick over a defeat that cost what was arguably his best all-around team -- when it came to character, versatility, academics, leadership, camaraderie and attitude â€" a shot at the national championship.
"I've gone through the two-three days of thinking, grieving, call it what want to call it, including 10 minutes before I came down here watching the film for the third or fourth time," Izzo said at the beginning of his annual season wrap-up press conference at the Breslin Center. "I've tried to evaluate what we could've, should've done.
"What went on."
Izzo didn't have definitive answers, but he wouldn't let innuendo that could tarnish the legacy of senior All-American Denzel Valentine and fellow seniors Bryn Forbes, Matt Costello and Colby Wollenman go unchallenged.
"I want to diffuse a couple things," Izzo said. "I don't think any player looked past the game, I don't think any coach did. I know the way we practiced, I know the way we prepared I know the way our seniors were. That doesn't even come across my mind.
"I think what's hardest for the Spartan Nation is, if you did some things that were blatantly wrong, you'd at least feel better about it. I can't justify (why the Spartan lost). I will not go with they did not respect, they did not prepare, because I know what they did. I watched them every day. I know how Denzel is. I just wish I could blame it on an official. It'd be easier, but I can't."
Offensively, MSU did more than enough to win. Going into the game, the Spartans were 14-1 when they scored 81 or more points and the only loss came in overtime at Purdue, 82-81. Against Middle Tennessee, they converted 55.6 percent of their field-goal attempts and 45.8 percent (11 of 24) from behind the 3-point line.
The 14 turnovers, including an uncharacteristic six by Valentine, were especially problematic. Michigan State's defensive effort wasn't poor, Izzo allowed, but pointed out that "average" defense wasn't good enough against the Blue Raiders who seemed to catch lightning in a bottle by making 57.9 percent of their 3-point shots (11 of 24). If Middle Tennessee merely matches their Conference USA-leading accuracy of 38.6 percent from behind the arc, MSU wins.
Izzo has been taken to task for not calling a time-out during the Raiders' game-opening 15-2 run and for staying with his trademark man-to-man defense.
"It's like when there's injuries, the witch doctors come out and tell us all the ways to heal them," Izzo said. "I can't go that route, but I definitely want to make sure that one thing is stated here: Blame the coach for whatever you want to blame the coach for, but do not blame the players for not being ready to play.
"We got beat by a team that played better than us that night. I watched 15 films on them and I never saw them shoot like that. I don't want to diminish the accomplishments or the records this team set. Individually and collectively, team and personal, it was an incredible year."
Izzo's defense of his man-to-man defense was again challenged Sunday when Middle Tennessee came back to earth against Syracuse's zone in its 75-50 second-round defeat.
However, he said injuries throughout the season prevented the Spartans from ever being able to practice zone enough to reach a comfort level and his defensive philosophy was sound enough to get seven of his teams to the Final Four, win one a national championship and 16 conference games, including the tournament, this season.
Michigan State is still second in the nation in field-goal shooting defense (38.2 percent) so making a radical change so late in the season didn't make sense to him.
"I wouldn't change a thing," Izzo said. "I'd like to be a little bit more (multi-) dimensional. When you win, you did it the right way. When you lose, they're always looking for things. I think I'm strong enough that I'm not looking for excuses, but I'm not looking for changes for no reason."
Sometimes it's just a prohibitive underdog's day the way it was when sixth-seeded North Carolina State upset heavily favored Houston in the 1983 national championship game and two years later No. 8 Villanova stunned overall No. 1 Georgetown in the final by making 78.6 percent from the field.
"That defense is second-best in the whole nation," Izzo said. "We lost that game because a team made some shots they could have made against a zone easier than a man. You do what you do, so I'm standing strong. I'm not stubborn about it; I just think it's worked for me, and it's worked for me over a period of time."
Because no No. 1 seed has ever lost to a 16, and only eight Nos. 2 have fallen in their opener, the Spartans loss is being considered by some as the greatest upset in the NCAA Tournament history because it's reasoned they were the most heavily favored two-seed to win the title ever.
Izzo didn't disagree. After the game, he got a text from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski who reminded him that the No. 2 Blue Devils lost to No. 15 Lehigh four years ago and that it wouldn't have been such a shock if not for MSU's stellar reputation.
"It was kind of like, if you're not up there all the time, it's not an (exceptional) upset," Izzo said. "Part of it is, we put ourselves in that position. It's a disappointing thing, but it speaks volumes that it's a positive thing. It is a testament to the players who played here before and the program that we built.
"I don't think anybody was picked by more people to be in the Final Four than we were, so that would make it the biggest upset. I just have to make sure that's not my legacy here."
Izzo didn't spend a lot of time looking forward to the 2015-16 season that will welcome his most-celebrated recruiting class, and won't until he's done processing what just happened. He did say he will do everything in his power to help freshman power forward Deyonta Davis reach a decision on whether to stay in school or leave for the NBA.
"I have no feeling right now because I really haven't addressed it," Izzo said. "Here's what I will say, I would like to do whatever I can do to give Deyonta Davis the best chance to be successful, to be most equipped to handle the real world. And if that means he comes out tomorrow, I'm 200 percent for it. And if that means he stays three years, I'm 200 percent for it. What I want most is what's best for the player."
In the meantime, Izzo is standing firmly behind the 2015-16 Spartans.
"My love and admiration and respect for those players has never waned one inch," he said. "We had some guys who made mistakes, and we had some guys who made great plays. If you would have told me were going to shoot 55 and 46 from the three, I would have said we would have won easy."
