**NCAA Basketball Thread**

[JRod1229]

Originally Posted by lockman21

Notice I said arguably.

That said, he's so ridiculously unappreciated. Your post is proof.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/column...ndy&id=2862538

Jud Heathcote was a great coach, no doubt, but in his 20 years as coach, they only went to the tournament 9 times, so it's not like Izzo took a powerhouse (Duke/UCLA/UK/UNC/KU) that could recruit for itself.

Izzo has been to every single tournament since the 97-98 season! Since then, he has been to more Final Four's then any other school, been to two national championship games, won one of them, sent 11 players to the NBA since 2000, and coached 4 Big 10 POY's. I would also like to add that Izzo has been to 8 of the last 11 Sweet 16's and 5 of the last 11 Final Four's. That's just ridiculous. Shit, try to convince some kids outside Michigan to come play up in fucking East Lansing in the winter. Fuck. That. The guy can flat out recruit, better than anyone else in the country, IMO.

He built himself a powerhouse, and shows absolutely no sign of slowing down.

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/viewcbse.asp

^^Check out the "Head Coach" section. Tell me who's number 1 right now. He's top 5, without a doubt, and as I said, arguably #1.

1st.. not even a chance... He is second tier in terms of recruiting behind Roy, Self, and Calapari. You think anyone loves going to Kansas or UK to play ball? History doesn't mean shit to todays players.

2nd.. they're the only team to play anyone.. come on man, lay off the kool aide for a bit. We all know he is a good, if not great coach, but he isn't the best in the game, sorry.

[MPizzle06]

Originally Posted by lockman21

Notice I said arguably.

That said, he's so ridiculously unappreciated. Your post is proof.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/column...ndy&id=2862538

Jud Heathcote was a great coach, no doubt, but in his 20 years as coach, they only went to the tournament 9 times, so it's not like Izzo took a powerhouse (Duke/UCLA/UK/UNC/KU) that could recruit for itself.

Izzo has been to every single tournament since the 97-98 season! Since then, he has been to more Final Four's then any other school, been to two national championship games, won one of them, sent 11 players to the NBA since 2000, and coached 4 Big 10 POY's. I would also like to add that Izzo has been to 8 of the last 11 Sweet 16's and 5 of the last 11 Final Four's. That's just ridiculous. Shit, try to convince some kids outside Michigan to come play up in fucking East Lansing in the winter. Fuck. That. The guy can flat out recruit, better than anyone else in the country, IMO.

He built himself a powerhouse, and shows absolutely no sign of slowing down.

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/viewcbse.asp

^^Check out the "Head Coach" section. Tell me who's number 1 right now. He's top 5, without a doubt, and as I said, arguably #1.

To me Izzo is the best in the country overall as well

I can see arguments for Roy or Coach K as well, and those arguments are valid. And to whoever said that Izzo is just a top-10 coach, that is just ridiculous. Izzo is at least a top 3 coach, and IMO the best in the country.

[UNC41]

Originally Posted by lockman21

Notice I said arguably.

That said, he's so ridiculously unappreciated. Your post is proof.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/column...ndy&id=2862538

Jud Heathcote was a great coach, no doubt, but in his 20 years as coach, they only went to the tournament 9 times, so it's not like Izzo took a powerhouse (Duke/UCLA/UK/UNC/KU) that could recruit for itself.

Izzo has been to every single tournament since the 97-98 season! Since then, he has been to more Final Four's then any other school, been to two national championship games, won one of them, sent 11 players to the NBA since 2000, and coached 4 Big 10 POY's. I would also like to add that Izzo has been to 8 of the last 11 Sweet 16's and 5 of the last 11 Final Four's. That's just ridiculous. Shit, try to convince some kids outside Michigan to come play up in fucking East Lansing in the winter. Fuck. That. The guy can flat out recruit, better than anyone else in the country, IMO.

He built himself a powerhouse, and shows absolutely no sign of slowing down.

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/viewcbse.asp

^^Check out the "Head Coach" section. Tell me who's number 1 right now. He's top 5, without a doubt, and as I said, arguably #1.

Izzo is absolutely one of the best coaches in the nation, although there are a couple of things I disagree with here. The isn't so much of an opinion, but North Carolina has been to three more Final Fours than Michigan State has since Izzo was hired and the same amount since the time you referenced.

I also don't think you can make a strong argument for Izzo as the best recruiter in the country because he hasn't proven that he can go out and recruit kids on a national level. There is a ton of talent in Michigan and does a great job of keeping it there, along with getting some very good players in bordering states, but does little outside the Midwest.

Just off the top of my head I'd say that Roy, Howland, Matta, Self and Cal are guys who are better recruiters than Izzo. I'd probably throw Pastner in there with all the work he had done at Zona and Memphis before taking over. Izzo in a second tier or pretty darn recruiters that includes Coach K, Boeheim and Calhoun.

Another thing Izzo has benefited from is a lack of early entries in the draft. He's only had two kids leave early since Randolph and Richardson did in 2001. Michigan State usually doesn't have the talent that other elite teams do in any particularly year, but they are generally a more veteran team and often make up for the talent difference with experience.

Izzo is a fantastic game coach, although the one glaring exception I've seen is that he isn't when Michigan State plays North Carolina. Sure that may make me sound like a homer, but he's tried to run with the Heels the last three times they've played when that was clearly the absolute worst strategy any team could have taken against the '05 and '09 North Carolina teams. The only chance he had to win any of those games was to slow it down and play Big 10 basketball, and that wasn't his gameplan in any of those games.

[ovationman240]

Syracuse baby!

[Lee3691]

Originally Posted by UNC41

Another thing Izzo has benefited from is a lack of early entries in the draft. He's only had two kids leave early since Randolph and Richardson did in 2001. Michigan State usually doesn't have the talent that other elite teams do in any particularly year, but they are generally a more veteran team and often make up for the talent difference with experience.

Very good points

[lockman21]

Originally Posted by UNC41

....

I might have been a little bit of a homer when I said best recruiter in the country, but I'd say he's top tier for sure. I'd put him right there with Self, Williams, etc.

Since 1999 -

UNC Final Fours =

2000, 2005, 2008, 2009

Michigan State Final Four's =

1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009

Either way, Izzo is right up there was the point I was trying to make.

But yeah, what is with Izzo's desire to run with UNC? Never understood it. Especially last year. He coached so well against Kansas, then Louisville then UCONN, then he decided to run with UNC? Weird.

[UNC41]

Originally Posted by lockman21

I might have been a little bit of a homer when I said best recruiter in the country, but I'd say he's top tier for sure. I'd put him right there with Self, Williams, etc.

Since 1999 -

UNC Final Fours =

2000, 2005, 2008, 2009

Michigan State Final Four's =

1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009

Either way, Izzo is right up there was the point I was trying to make.

But yeah, what is with Izzo's desire to run with UNC? Never understood it. Especially last year. He coached so well against Kansas, then Louisville then UCONN, then he decided to run with UNC? Weird.

Your reference point was the 1997-98 season, and the Heels made it that year.

And yeah, I don't think Michigan State could have beat the Heels with any gameplan Izzo could imagine, but still, why run?

[Rodey]

Duke should be able to handle Arizona State tonight, at least I would hope so.

On a side note, living in Wisconsin I get forced to watch the Badgers sometimes and I have to say, if someone doesn't step up and become a consistent third scorer for them, they're going to have a really long year. Jason Bohannon might be the worst "three point specialist" I've ever seen. I heard comparisons to Redick when he was first coming in. I laughed then and I'm laughing more now. He has no value on defense and he brings little to the table on offense. Wisconsin just does not have the offense to compete with a lot of teams.

[JRod1229]

6 down.. 6 to go...

If UK plays like they did today they are gonna get run out of the gym by UNC and UConn. They have to realize, and in a hurry, that their athleticism will not win every game for them. I mean to go to OT against a horrible Stanford team, wow. Get it together Cats, now.

John Wall = the truth.

[JaJunk]

UNC, UConn, Indiana. Can't wait to see how we stack up early on. Go Cats!!

[whygohome?]

Originally Posted by JRod1229

6 down.. 6 to go...

If UK plays like they did today they are gonna get run out of the gym by UNC and UConn. They have to realize, and in a hurry, that their athleticism will not win every game for them. I mean to go to OT against a horrible Stanford team, wow. Get it together Cats, now.

John Wall = the truth.

i wouldnt call them horrible but yeah we should have beaten them by double digits. Had that guy from stanford made his free throws we would have lost the game, plain and simple.

but yeah, john wall has ice water in his veins already...amazing

GO CATS

[dmbbearcat]

If Cincinnati hits free throws in OT, they win the Maui Invitational. Pathetic. Although I can't be real angry, they beat a couple of good teams out there and showed that they can make some noise in the Big East.

[SmoothD41]

Originally Posted by JaJunk

UNC, UConn, Indiana. Can't wait to see how we stack up early on. Go Cats!!

again, I said this a couple weeks ago to another Kentucky fan....do NOT use Indiana as a litmus test. Indiana is going to struggle to win 10 games this year. They lost to Boston University and George Mason last week . Kentucky should win by at least 15-18 points, even in Bloomington.

[dmaul1114]

WVU looked good against Long Beach today...likely get their first real test tomorrow assuming Clemson doesn't get upset today.

[Lee3691]

Have we mentioned how UCLA is looking like Steve Lavin is coaching them?

[JRod1229]

Oklahoma.. not much better...

[RJ2kWJ]

Man I'm worried about this game today... but reeeaaallllll pumped.

[Rodey]

Originally Posted by RJ2kWJ

Man I'm worried about this game today... but reeeaaallllll pumped.

If they play like they did on Wednesday it'll get ugly.

[HolyCow]

Well OU evidently sucks.

I will now run headfirst into a staircase.

[unccrombie]

this "national championship rematch" promotion is buggin the hell out of me. anything to hype a game up.

[Rodey]

Great win today for Duke despite the fact that their offense was incredibly stagnant and they shot the ball terribly.

I was very impressed with the way they were able to handle the superior athleticism of UConn at almost every position and the way they were able to get position and bring down a ton of rebounds, especially on the offensive end.

Andre Dawkins is going to be a special player and he's going to end up being huge for them this season. The kid can absolutely stroke the three. He's looking real good so far. Once they get Mason Plumlee back I think this is going to be a really tough team.

[kydmb99]

Florida takes down Michigan State... good win for the SEC

[JRod1229]

^ Arkansas loses to E. Tenn State... Miss State to Richmond... LSU to Arizona State.. Alabama to Florida State... not good

[dmaul1114]

WVU beat Texas A&M by 7--shouldn't have been that close. Let them hang around too long after being up by 12 with 7 or 8 minutes to go.

Will play Portland in the title game on Sunday, after they pulled of another upset beating Minnesota just now. A bit let down by all the upsets--was hoping to get some match ups with Clemson and Butler/Minnesota in the 2nd and 3rd game to have some good early season test and see if this top 10 ranking is deserved.

[thebridge15]

So are there any good teams or no? Should we just throw out the rankings entirely and assume everyone's equally mediocre?

[Rodey]

Originally Posted by thebridge15

So are there any good teams or no? Should we just throw out the rankings entirely and assume everyone's equally mediocre?

It's sure looking that way.

[Pengin4192]

Originally Posted by kydmb99

Florida takes down Michigan State... good win for the SEC

Middle of the road SEC team takes down the best team in the 'best' conference in the country.

[dmaul1114]

Yeah, I'm not sure why people were all over the Big 10. It's a solid conference, but far from being clearly the best at this point.

Rough day with Mich State losing to Florida, Michigan losing to Marquette, Minnesota losing to Portland, and Illinois losing to Utah.

4 ranked teams losing to unranked teams.

People slept on the Big East as a lot of big name players graduated, but I have a feeling (biased as a WVU fan of course) that it will end up the top conference again. Nova and WVU look good as expected, and some teams like Syracuse, Marquette and Louisville have looked very good and seem to have reloaded rather than needing to rebuild. UCONN got dominated by Duke today though.

[clayj41]

Good to see the Spartans show some vulnerability, even though I don't necessarily see them losing two games in a row.

[Pengin4192]

Originally Posted by clayj41

Good to see the Spartans show some vulnerability, even though I don't necessarily see them losing two games in a row.

Better hope they do. If UK plays a good game, you guys could easily lose three out of four in that stretch