Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Sports Geek.
I can think of a handful of coaches who deserve a spot in this debate. One, in particular, I believe will be mentioned to us by a certain Syracuse fan during our weekly radio appearance on ESPN radio in New York today. Nevertheless, we have each selected the coach we believe most deserves esteem as the best NCAA Tournament coach of the previous ten years. For me, the conversation starts and stops with the great Tom Izzo at Michigan State.
Although Bleacher Fan is arguing in favor of the esteemed Roy Williams today, it is reasonable to question where his loyalties lie. After all, this is the same TSD contributor who just last week devoted a bunch of pixels to the merits of Tom Izzo as a leader in this exact debate. In fact, Bleacher Fan gets MY argument off to a great start by quoting the following very significant Tom Izzo stats (updated slightly from last week’s continued success):
- 2010 marked the 13th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance
- Izzo has coached nine teams to the Sweet Sixteen
- Izzo has coached six teams to the Elite Eight (and counting?)
- Izzo has coached three teams to the Final Four
- Izzo has coached two teams to the championship game, including one of the beginning of the decade (2000) and the end of the decade (2009)
- Izzo coached a national champion in 2000
Tom Izzo is also 33-11 all time in the NCAA Tournament, and counting. That stat is impressive both for the disparity in time and sheer volume.
Those are some very impressive accomplishments. The level of efficiency Izzo’s teams demonstrated on their path to the NCAA tournament is also impressive. Izzo’s Spartan teams have won the Big Ten four times in the last decade. The Big Ten is not a conference full of pushovers, either. Ohio State has been very good the last several seasons. Indiana began the decade as one of the most impressive and consistent programs in the history of college basketball. Purdue was usually strong during the 2000s, as was Illinois. But Izzo’s Michigan State teams always managed to make a splash in the tournament, while coaches at other competitive schools remained unable to match Izzo’s coaching accomplishments.
I began this argument by giving some tournament stats because that is an important context to begin gaining appreciation for Izzo’s contribution to coaching and his amazing accomplishments. But his coaching prowess has not been exclusive to the tournament. Tom Izzo is a master of massaging teams into shape just in time for the NCAA tournament to begin – which of part of being a great tournament coach. To Izzo, tournament coaching begins with minute one of game one of the regular season. That not insignificant point is underscored when reflecting on Izzo’s 360-144 regular season coaching record. Izzo enjoys the journey as much as any coach possibly could.
The secret to Izzo’s success is not that elusive, either. He is not a flashy coach with an outlandish, attention-grabbing demeanor. Therefore, he does not get the type of press that many of his colleagues do. In fact, Izzo’s character traits – gritty, tough, mentally strong, fundamental – are often adopted by his team… a big reason not only for the success and accomplishments of those teams but for the level of consistency Izzo’s teams have demonstrated over the years.
Another interesting and often overlooked fact about Tom Izzo coached tournament teams is that Izzo’s impressive coaching performances do not come when matchups and seeds favor a light path to glory. For example, in 2005 Izzo coached up a fifth seeded squad to the Final Four. Heck, in 2003 he coached a seventh seeded club to the Elite Eight. When high seeds and lights draws carve a smooth path to the Final Four for some, Izzo’s teams have rarely had the luxury of a high seed, but have achieved success in spite of that limitation.
Maybe some context will help us all appreciate Tom Izzo a bit more.
At the beginning of this piece I wrote about other coaches who may deserve a seat at this elite table. Foremost among them is Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun. How many Final Four appearances has Calhoun made in the 24 seasons he’s been coaching? Three, two less than Tom Izzo… but in a lot more seasons. More, Izzo is celebrating his 13th consecutive tournament appearance in 2010 while Calhoun is missing the tournament for the fifth time overall.
Coach K is incredible at Duke, but the Blue Devils have not been the same since 2004. Rick Pitino has one national championship appearance and five Final Fours like Izzo, but it is over 23 seasons of coaching. Is Billy Donovan better? No, just ask the NIT and BYU from this season’s tournament.
As good as Roy Williams is he has not enjoyed the same level of consistency Tom Izzo has. He is clearly a great coach, but the ability to reload and maintain competitiveness year after year is important when evaluating the best tournament coach of the past decade. It is tough to do that for Williams this season, as the Tar Heels completely missed the tournament.
There is no flash. There is no style. Tom Izzo is a substance-first type of coach, and his teams are reflect that reality. Success in the tournament is a byproduct of Izzo’s intense and effective leadership, making him the best coach in the NCAA tournament of the last decade.
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I have never been a fan of Tom Izzo, but after seeing what he has done these last few years especially this year has got me on that bandwagon. The man can do more with less than any other coach in all of college basketball. My question to you is, is this his most impressive performance this season with losing Lucas and winning as many close games as he has?
- The Sports Mole
http://thesportsmole.wordpress.com/
Great question. That is one I actually think would be worthy of another debate, but I have been getting some serious fun poked at me for my Izzo admiration… chances are that topic won’t make it out of the editorial meetings!
As for the question… I think the best performance, without taking this season into account yet, is the 2005 team. Izzo again took a fifth-seeded Spartans team to the Final Four where they lost to eventual champion North Carolina – the same team that beat a previously undefeated Illinois team. The path the Spartans took was particularly treacherous, even for a fifth seed. After beating Old Dominion and upstart Vermont in the first two rounds, they took down the region’s top seed in Duke, then the region’s second seed in Kentucky. That Kentucky game was a double overtime game, and one of the best college basketball games I can remember in my lifetime. The team was exhausted and worn out after that and lost to UNC 87-71 in the Final Four matchup. This was another situation where Izzo did a lot with very little, beating very talented coaches and teams in Duke and Kentucky.
This season does not yet have enough context to appreciate the coaching performance of Izzo fully. However, it certainly appears as though this version of the Spartans has the makings for an incredible story.
Sports Geek is right…he has been taking some major heckling for his feelings towards Izzo!
And I’m right about more than that, too.