Tom Izzo proved, once again, he’s one of the best coaches in college basketball, outcoaching Mike Krzyzewski to get Michigan State to the Final Four.
One lesson we should have all learned by now is to never count Michigan State Spartans coach Tom Izzo out of an NCAA Tournament game. If you’ve still haven’t learned that lesson yet, then shame on you.
True diehard college basketball fans should launch a petition to change the name of the month of March to just “Izzo,” because he always knows the right plays to call, and how to get the most out of his players when the lights in the arena shine the brightest.
That was the case yet again against Mike Krzyzewski and the talent-laden Duke Blue Devils.
Going in, nobody outside of Lansing gave Michigan State a chance. Duke had Zion and RJ, two of the best freshmen the college basketball world has seen in quite some time. Many who were filling their brackets out before the Tournament easily sled in Duke as the team to win it all.
It was supposed to be a coronation of sorts for Duke, to send Zion into the NBA as the most dominant player in college basketball. Michigan State, a team who rely more on “team” instead of a high-flying freshman stud, was just a mere speed bump to the College Basketball mountain top.
But Izzo knows how to game plan to make that speed bump a deep pothole, and over his 24 years in Lansing, he has destroyed the front ends of many teams who were also the media darlings of the Tournament.
Now, he can add Duke to the list of teams Izzo has sent to the repair shop.
Believe it or not, this is Izzo’s second-ever win over Coach K, and probably one of the sweetest. Duke had its most talented team ever, and Izzo went into his laboratory, watch an insane amount of game tape, and came up with a gameplay that is sending his team to Minneapolis, and sent his rival back home to Durham wondering what the heck happened.
That is the greatness of Izzo.