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Michigan State coach Tom Izzo met with reporters outside the locker room Friday in Minneapolis to preview Saturday's game against Texas Tech.
Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press
MINNEAPOLIS – This one is different. Feels different It looks different too.
Listen to Tom Izzo from Michigan State.
He understands that this is his best chance to win a second national title in almost a decade. And, to tell the truth, the best chance he has had since his victory in 2000.
How can he get there?
Thinking back to his last four trips. By analyzing them. By studying the notes he took after each defeat and placed in a folder. Notes on what he has learned. On what he could do differently. On which he could do the same thing.
Enjoying the return of this season in the scenery that made it an icon. It had been a while, at least at its high level, since he had been one.
Now that he's back?
"I appreciate it a bit more," he told reporters on Friday at the MSU's locker room in the US stadium. "I've also tried to analyze it a bit more. & # 39; What did I do? What can I do differently? & # 39;
It has been a difficult process for Izzo in recent seasons.
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Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo chats with reporters before training for their NCAA semifinal match against Texas Tech on Friday, April 5, 2019, at US Stadium in Minneapolis, NC. Minnesota. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)
"It makes you mentally crazy. If the ball falls in the basket, you have made the right choice. If it is not the case, you have not done it, "he said.
Sometimes it's as simple as that. It's as easy as stopping worrying about things that do not matter.
"(Earning a title) has nothing to do with ties or socks," he said. "It has nothing to do with whether you arrived at six o'clock Wednesday or at 12 o'clock or Wednesday. The truth is, I just tried to look at things differently. Maybe there were times when we were too stuck. Maybe there were times when we were too relaxed – I lost both sides.
The fact that he's back here at another Final Four – the eighth of his career – is why he's in the Hall of Fame. Yet, something is missing.
A kind of validation, maybe. A bookend to his career.
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Proof that he can adapt. That he can win at different times. That he can win with different rules.
Three weeks ago, when the NCAA released its support, Izzo felt a punch in his stomach. All the team did it. But not because he did not think he could beat Duke.
No, Izzo was irritated by the lack of recognition of what his team had done and, more importantly, what his team had become.
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Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo answers questions from the media in a hallway at the American Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Friday, April 5, 2019. (Photo: Melanie Maxwell, Detroit Free Press)
Because these Spartans reflect what he has become, how he survived and how he kept the basic aspects of his program – bouncing, defending, running – even as he modernized his attack.
He needs two more wins to seal everything for eternity, to show – mostly to himself – that he's learned from all these Final Four defeats, that the notes he's took and kept were worth it, and that they are worth reading. the week.
Of all the Final Fours made by Izzo, it only happened once – outside of the year when he won – with the assurance that the his team's highest level of play would be enough to win him … no matter what the opponent did. .
It's not that Texas Tech, Virginia and Auburn do not present formidable challenges. They do.
But Izzo and his team understand that they do not need to spend the night of an opponent to win. That has not been the case since 2010, when MSU lost to Butler in the semifinal – Duke won the championship against Butler.
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Yet even this 2010 team lacked his best player at Kalin Lucas. That year, they had arrived at the Final Four on a Korie Lucious drummer and a bit of goblin dust.
Over the last four years, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2015, there was at least one team with a ceiling that the Spartans could not reach, regardless of their performance.
This season, there is no North Carolina as there were in 2009, or even in 2005. There is no Duke like in 1999 or 2015. There are just three good opposing teams.
And while many now consider the Spartans Tournament a loss, not many people saw it that week before MSU knocked Duke down.
In other years, beating the Blue Devils and coach K could lead to a disappointment. Still, I would be surprised if the Spartans behave this way.
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Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo chats with reporters before training for their NCAA semifinal match against Texas Tech on Friday, April 5, 2019, at US Stadium in Minneapolis, NC. Minnesota. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)
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MSU Recruitment Coordinator Doug Wojcik would do the same.
"Disappointment?" Asked he. "I do not think so. I think the opposite. I think the light is at the end of the tunnel. I can only speak for myself, but I trust Cassius (Winston). I really do. Nothing is too big for him. Nothing is too small for him. "
Since MSU arrived here Wednesday, the coaches felt … the release; the players are free.
"We really enjoyed the week," Wojcik said. "We feel good with our team."
Helping MSU get there was part of Izzo's strategy this week. Although he does not have to do much. These Spartans have a kind of buoyancy. Unsurprisingly, coaches do the same.
For once, they are not above their heads.
Izzo knows that his team could lose Saturday night and, if not, maybe Monday.
But he also knows that this Final Four is different, that he and his team will have a say in the result, which he has not done for a long time.
Contact Shawn Windsor at 313-222-6487 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.
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