Tom Izzo-2019 Conference Game vs. Iowa
Sept. 20’
By Conner Streeter
TOM IZZO- IOWA vs. MICHIGAN ST. – CONFERENCE GAME DEC 3, 2019
Tom Izzo is one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball. Let’s go ahead and get that out of the way. Many detractors point to him only winning 1 National Championship and being knocked out in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament 7 times, but that’s nonsense because he’s also been to 7 Final Fours. And that’s Michigan St. in a nutshell. They usually go far, or they get sent home early, which can make them maddening, but what’s even more fascinating, is Izzo’s paradoxal profile compared to his peers. He’s very much an old school guy and he is a Michigan institution who has always recruited well, but does so regionally and truly develops and molds players his way, not the other way around. That is one of the big reasons for his success, because he’s not out chasing One and Dones, and/or players who don’t fit into the type of kid that he wants. To give you an example of how much he sticks to that philosophy, he has signed 19 High School All Americans. 12 of them were from Michigan, and 6 were from surrounding states Indiana(4), Illinois(1), and Ohio(1). You can’t get more regional than that, and it is the epitome of knowing who you are and building relationships in your area.
And his official playing/coaching history goes like this; After he grew up and played college basketball at Division 2 Northern Michigan, he went directly into the Michigan High School ranks for 3 seasons, then came back to Northern Michigan as an assistant for 4 seasons. He was then hired as a Graduate Assistant at Michigan St. and has been there for the last 37 years. That’s it, that’s his official coaching resume. He did attempt to leave for Tulsa as an assistant in 1986, but went back to Michigan St. 7 weeks later when a full time assistant job opened (And that is a fascinating story if you want to ever look it up. Googling Tom Izzo+ Tulsa…will get you there).
Moving forward and how we are here now, is not really any game of significance in Izzo or Michigan St.’s history. It was just an early season conference game. One that was at home, and one they were supposed to win as an 11 point favorite. Most people wouldn’t be able to tell you any difference between that and the hundreds of other Big 10 games he has won…but there was, and there has never been a better game than that one, that illustrates just how smart of a basketball IQ that he gets his teams to play with, and how intelligent Michigan St. basketball can be when they are operating at a high level.
To set the table, Michigan St.(3) was hosting Iowa(24)in a Top 25 matchup. The two teams had played one time the season before with Michigan St. winning 96-93, in a very offense efficient game where the 2 teams did that on only 75 possessions. This current edition of Iowa had already won a mini tournament recently in Madison Square Garden defeating Oregon and U Conn, and would later end up making it to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Defensively, they were in the top 1/3 of Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, and really good at defending their opponents from 3, but they were really bad at defending inside the arc, and more specifically in the paint, which we will get to in a minute.
Michigan St., was an efficient basketball team from everywhere that season, but launched about (22) 3 pointers per game and took a 3 on close to 40% of their shots. For most teams, they are going to keep shooting and taking those looks every game. Because they are so used to doing so, they often have trouble when they run into a team who can defend that or get them to start overshooting it, and that brings us to how smart of a basketball IQ that not only Izzo has, but how he can instill that into his team and get them to play that way, which is easier said than done with 18-22 year old kids who are used to doing things a certain way.
Fran McCaffrey, even though he constantly looks like his head is about to explode the entire game from yelling at the officials, isn’t an idiot. He did some of his best work at Siena, winning an NCAA Tournament game in back to back years before coming to Iowa, so he knows how to coach, which is what makes the carving up of him and his Iowa team even that more impressive. What Izzo got his team to do that night, was to viciously attack Iowa’s weakness. Even to the point of passing up good looks at 3, which again is EXTREMELY HARD to get people to do, but common sense dictates an open shot at the rim is much more effective than an open shot 20 feet away.
When you look at the box from that night, you will notice that Michigan St. only took (12) 3 point shots that night, 10 below their season average, and their (3) bigs exploited their athleticism advantage over Iowa and went 21-23 from 2 point range, and getting to the line an amazing 23 times! That came from only 3 players, Nick Ward, Kenny Goins, and Xavier Tillman.
Michigan St. is a team that always runs their offense thru their Guards, and they are the primary shooters in the offense, so for them to recognize that and keep getting the best looks by passing up shots, speaks to their high, high Basketball IQ and to Izzo’s teaching and game planning. They had a ridiculous 28 assists on 31 made baskets. You don’t get anymore team basketball than that.
Take a look at the 2 screencaps below. This was the very 1st play of the game. A set play that is going to serve as a temperature check to Izzo on how Iowa is going to defend things. Kenny Goins and Cassius Winston run a pick and roll, that ends with a lob to a wide open Goins for an easy basket.
Later on, this is a perfect example of how they were selective and passing up a wide open look at a 3, and by their best player, who instead drives and finds Nick Ward for a dunk. Ward, would go on to a perfect night from the field, going 10-10, and a large reason for that is because of sharing the ball like this and getting point blank shots at the rim.
First is a screencap showing how open Winston is:
And then the actual play so you can see the action in it:
That is how you get 28 assists on 31 baskets made, an almost unheard of feat, and when a team plays like that, it’s not just a complete mastery of understanding their opponent, but following through and executing it. This was an upperclassmen dominated team and that absolutely makes a difference. The discipline here was completely outstanding, and this game would be my centerpiece on explaining what makes Tom Izzo so good.
I love to use and look at data, but a big component of picking the right side is also understanding the instinctual part of the game and finding out what teams do well and when they are at their best. Izzo doesn’t win every game, and certainly his (7) 1st round exits were brutal, but his teams are extremely intelligent and play with a very high Basketball IQ more than not, because that is how he coaches. It’s not a shock to see a guy like Draymond Green carve out a great NBA career because his game is based around intelligence and seeing the floor so well, and I’m sure he will tell you that was instilled in him from his time at Michigan St. with Izzo.
Coaching matchups are rarely talked about, but advantages do exist amongst some of them, and it’s absolutely important to note and file things away about some of the really good ones. And just because a team loses, or one coach may have a losing record against another one, doesn’t mean he is an inferior coach. Talent and the players still are the major factors, but in certain spots like this game, good coaching absolutely makes a difference.