Three million dollar a year salary, a major university in the palm of your hands, regional and in state recruiting dominance, a coaching record that is unparalleled by anyone in the past 2 decades and a fan base that would probably drink your urine if meant keeping you in East Lansing. Sounds too good to be true, right?! Well its not, this is the current state of Tom Izzo's situation as the head basketball coach at Michigan State University.
So a big question hangs in the balance, will Tom Izzo leave EL for the NBA to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers. He has a 5 year $30 million contract hanging over his head (nearly double his salary now), a reigning two time MVP (who might bolt for free agency still) and an owner who is a close friend and MSU alum himself. Sounds pretty enticing doesn't it? Well here is my advice to you Mr. Izzo, turn it down and stay put. Being a die hard UM supporter, There are a ton of reasons why I would love to see you leave EL and im sure the rest of the Big Ten would like to see it also, but don't do it. Coaching in college just doesn't translate to coaching in the NBA. Simply ask Rick Pitino and John Calipari, both very successful college coaches who had their respective stints in the NBA, failed miserably and were gone in less than 4 years. Pitino only spent two years with Celtics after signing a $50 million dollar contract.
Here are some of the reasons coaching in college simply doesn't translate to the professional game. First, the season is 6 grueling months long playing 82 games that seem to pile up on top of each other. You are managing superstar athletes ego's and personalities now, pre-madonna antics to the furthest extreme and nobody embodies that more than Lebron James. How are you going to feel when he is doing his best crip walk or Carlton Banks imitation during warm ups before a game. Better yet, while standing at the charity stripe about to shoot two free throws during a game? I know the kind of no non-sense mentality you bring to the table and I can't imagine that would sit well with you. Furthermore you are an amazing college coach, one of the best in the country without a doubt, if not the best. But preaching fundamentals, dedication, hard work and defense will get you a 15-67 record in the NBA and a cemented position in the draft lottery every April. Oh and not to mention you are returning a team that is absolutely loaded and top 5 ranking awaits you.
You are in one of the best positions that a college coach could be in, I can't imagine anyone being happier with their current position than you. So here is my advice to you, learn from past college coaches mistakes and don't make the same one. If its the money you are worried about, I'm sure the MSU athletic department would be more than happy to meet your demands for you to stick around. Money doesn't buy happiness and everyone knows it. Now they say the grass is greener on the other side, but where your currently sitting the grass is about as green as it's every going to get, literally.
Izzo is a coach and mentor on and off the court to his kids. He needs to stay in the EL.
ReplyDeletei don't necessarily disagree with you, trev, i'll just offer an alternative way of looking at why he's mulling this decision.
ReplyDeletei completely concur when it comes to izzo being the perfect fit and having it made at msu. the guy has become my favorite basketball coach at any level to idolize in the last 7-10 years...even my boy roy. izzo is arguably the greatest coach at getting the most out of his players. he's time and time again had inferior blue chip talent on the floor against opponents in the big dance, but magnifies their awareness of the stage their playing on and injects them w/ the belief they're better than anyone they'll ever come across in the road to the final 4. he's undeniably a master of motivation, instruction and preparadness. i think msu and the big10 would suffer tremendously if he were to flee east lansing. tommy has brough such credibility to michigan state as a basketball program and institution and the general respect of the big10 as a whole. however, i don't fault him for considering a jump to the nba and here's why...
9 times out of 10 a coach wants something more. they want to be able to prove they can do it at a higher level. i've coached freshman basketball the last 3 years and won 27 if my last 29 games, but i always wanted more. i daydreamed about having the opportunity to transfer my talents as a coach, disciple and style at a higher level and was given that opportunity. granted, i'm comparing my experience at the high school to tom izzo, which is no comparison in itself.
izzo has won 6 big10 titles, 2 conference tournament titles, been to 6 final 4s, and a 1-1 record in the national championship game. he without question is the prototypical college coach b/c of his immeasurable ability to connect w/ young players, but he has that desire. he has an urge to prove himself at the nba level and i don't fault him for flirting w/ the idea.
you brought up a great point when comparing the leap of faith (or lack thereof) coaches like calipari, pitino and montgomery took when leaving their cush college jobs to test the nba waters. however, none of those guys had the opportunity to work with a superstar like lebron james. it's obvious izzo is not leaving state w/o the assurance that lebron is re-signing with cleveland. not a chance in hell...not even for $6M a year. nonetheless, regardless of what he decides to do, i'll always look to him as one of the great professors and motivators the college hoops game has ever seen. all that being said, i have faith in his talents as a coach to be successful in the nba, but not w/o the stardom lebron brings to the cavs.
Ryan, you make a great point, Izzo instills alot of the same values the great John Wooden does. Did you guys know that every player who stayed for all four years under izzo at some point reached a final four! Pretty Crazy statistic in my mind.
ReplyDeleteJB, I love hearing the other side of the fence. Those thoughts were also going through my head. If you remember correctly and im sure you do, Pitino had the lure also, Boston having the majority of the Lottery Balls and winning the lottery which that year was Tim Duncan. They obviously didnt win it and ended up with the #3 and #6 picks that year. They drafted Chauncey and Ron Mercer. They obviously didnt give Chauncey the right opportunity and Mercer was just a classic bust, amazing college player that didnt translate. Also, Pitino was thinking as a Kentucky Wildcat still with that pick and not with an NBA mind. What im getting at here is there is always going to be lure, like a player of LBJ's super stardom to coach. And like you said and I agree, if LB bolts, i dont think Izzo would come to the cavs for 10 million a year (well, maybe) but you see what im getting at. I just dont think LB is the type of player and personality that will fit with Izzo, I really don't. I think Calipari would be better suited for Lebron since he runs the drible drive offense that James absolutely loves.
I completely understand the desire aspect, when your a winner at the highest levels, there is always more to accomplish, its never enough. Look at Phil Jackson, they guy just wants more and more and more. But Izzo is sitting pretty and if he leaves and this experiment doesnt workout, he will not be welcomed back to MSU and be forced to go to another University that will then always be compared to what he did at MSU. When you have a good thing going like Izzo does, things just seem to go your way, the calls, the last second jumpers go in, the dominos all fall in the right way. When you leave, you alter that and mess with the basketball gods and as we all know, they are a very fickle bunch. It will be very interesting to see what he decides, my Hunch is, if Lebron is staying, Izzo is gone. If Izzo wasnt leaving, he wouldnt be taking this long to decide..
So Coaches can flat out coach. I put Izzo in the Coach K class. It doesnt matter the players or Ego's, these guys get the best from the "team". I think Izzo will take the job considering he is in Cleveland today.
ReplyDeleteLook at what Coach K did with the Olympic team. Look at what Larry Brown did with the Pistons. Also be creful when making the comparison between coaching in college and the NBA. John Calipari and Rick Pitino have major ethical issues that have recently come to light.
I think Izzo and K are cut from a different cloth and will be successful in the NBA, CYO, High School, etc.
I also believe Lebron will stay in Cleveland if Izzo is the coach
Man I love Izzo, I hope he stays. he's the kinda coach you want your kid to play for, which is why you want him to reach his own goals as well. I mean he is still relatively young, in terms of some coaches....if it doesnt work out in the NBA he could easily come back and get the hottest job available. I wanted him at UK when Gillespie was fired, who wouldnt.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Mr. Ohio, him and coach K are different than Pitino and 'Pari, they are all great coaches but Izzo and Coach K I think would have better 'control' of the players, and they would respect them more. I do not want him to go tho
Great article, Trev! I'm hoping Coach Izzo listens to his mentor Jud Heathcote, and stays a Michigan State Spartan a little while longer!
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