Izzo Says This Michigan State Team Has 'Something You Die For In Sports'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - Of all the Final Four runs the Michigan State Spartans have made with head coach Tom Izzo, this one might be the most improbable. Izzo wondered at times this season if the Spartans would even make the tournament.
Once Michigan State made the tournament, Izzo said he expected the Spartans to win at least two games, but he did not use "Final Four" as the battle cry. Instead, he entreated players to simply "win the weekend" and go from there.
One step away from the national championship game, Izzo realizes now his players had a grander goal in mind all along.
"This team is on a mission," Izzo told Stoney, Bill and Sara on 97.1 The Ticket. "What I didn't realize is how much it bothered those guys in the locker room ... The spring, summer and fall, these guys, it's just been their mission. By the time I find out about it - not that it wasn't mine, but when I find out just what they talked about, what they did all in September and October ...
"I [had] kind of said to myself, 'God, I don't want to put too much pressure on them,' and I didn't," Izzo added. "They did, and look where it got us."
Over Izzo's tenure as the head coach at Michigan State, the Spartans have not had much success against Duke. The Blue Devils won again when the teams met in the second game of this season, but that alone does not concern Izzo too much.
"The 10-point loss, it was down to a three-point game with 10 minutes left, it was up to 14 at one point, but it was probably an eight-to-10-point game," Izzo said. "Everybody talks about how much better they were going to get, but God, at that point in time we had Bryn Forbes in a cast, couldn't even bend his left wrist, we had no Alvin Ellis, we had no Javon Bess, we just didn't have any subs at all, and consequently we still played pretty well ... [Denzel] Valentine and [Branden] Dawson were in big-time foul trouble. I think they sat out seven and eight minutes in the first half."
Many have discussed how much Duke has improved since the teams met in November, Izzo said, but the coach believes Michigan State has done likewise.
"Do I think they might be a little more talented?" Izzo said. "Yes, but this team right now has something that you die for in sports - some confidence ... just an energy about them. Our practice yesterday might have been as good as we've had. It's almost like we're getting better still at the end of the year, and I don't think there's many teams that happens to.
"It's been a hell of a run for these guys," Izzo added. "I'm happy for them. I can only say that I'm looking forward to this weekend like no other."
If the Spartans advance to the national championship, Izzo hopes Wisconsin will be waiting for them. While it would be an accomplishment to take down Kentucky, Izzo would rather have two Big Ten teams in the final.
"In all honesty, I could look at it both ways, but I'm pulling for the conference," Izzo said.
