If you’re a great defensive team, you aren’t going to score as many points just because you don’t have as many possessions, because it’s going to take– if you’re a great defensive team and a great offensive team, you still only get so many shots, you’re only going to score so many points. It’s going to take people 30 seconds, because you’re not going to give up the layup on the fast break, we’re going to make them earn it. If it takes them 30 seconds to score instead of 10, that’s 20 less seconds we get the ball back.
“So you can’t get deceived on what great offense and great defense is. At times have we’ve been – favorite word – dysfunctional, whatever words you guys want to use. Yeah, I’m the one that said it. I said our offense isn’t as smooth because guys aren’t maybe together on it. We’re not practicing with the same guys. We’re playing 100%. But this little bit of national perspective and everything on the Big Ten, let me see now, it’s been 11 years. We’ve been to five. There’s been four or five other teams. In 11 years, there’s been pretty good representation in the greatest game of all, the greatest weekend of all, that’s the Final Four.
| Michigan State’s Tom Izzo defends Big Ten’s style of play |
HT on the video clip: UMHoops.
calls out digger by name. me likey
I noticed that he called Digger out too, although I’m not sure that’s a strategy that’s going to win him many points with the media (after all, Digger works for the most powerful network in sports). We (meaning MSU) were pretty much middle of the pack this year tempo-wise but old perceptions die hard. John Gasaway had a post up earlier about how certain stereotypes for certain teams persist despite all evidence to the contrary. UCLA was plodding this year but because they’re a PAC 10 team, and we all know the PAC 10 is a run and gun league (he says sarcastically) they aren’t criticized for being boring.
I think the Big East suffers from a grind it out stereotype as well. Maybe not to the extent the Big 10 does, but people think of it as a physical league and have going back to the glory days of the 80s. Pitt, Georgetown, and UConn all play a pretty deliberate style of basketball. Even run and gun Louisville wasn’t that far ahead of us in tempo.
The only quibble I have with Izzo’s comments is that with the right personnel you can play fast and play good D. North Carolina plays fast (8th fastest in the country), and their tempo free stats show them as the 18th best D in the nation. That’s not quite where we are but it’s still pretty good. I’m not sure if playing against the plodding Big 10 would slow them down but they are proof that it can be done.
I’m not sure if this is the talkshow he was referring to, but here’s a link to Tom Izzo on PTI for those who missed it:
http://insider.espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4029241
The game WILL air at Breslin. Doors open at 5:00. No admission.
http://news.msu.edu/story/6132/