Michigan State HC Tom Izzo, Uconn Dominates, UNC/Arizona Choke, World Series Picks + Fyre Fest

We're going to talk some march madness with him, we'll talk coaching the war drill, everything with coach Izzo. We're also going to recap sweet 16 games. We have four teams that have punched their tickets into the Elite Eight, so we're going to talk about that.

Maybe also do a little abbreviated baseball preview because it was opening day. We'll give our picks for the World Series. Our full baseball preview will come sometime in June.

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First time any two players have shot 0-for-9 or worse from three on the same day in the NCAA tournament. And Arizona and UNC are going home.

It just completely changed the complexion of the game. And I don't know why you don't say, Hey, look, you're a 10th-year senior. You can stay out there and not foul. And just, do, you know? Still be a positive for us? Grabbing up all the boards, running pick and roll, and Bama deserves all the credit, though. Grant Nelson was incredible. Grant Nelson was an absolute force.

Awesome mustache for that guy. awesome mustache. North Dakota State. That man, look, he should be on the North Dakota State flag, actually, he's the new symbol.

They should build a Mount Rushmore in North Dakota, and it should just be his face.

I don't think they guarded a guy off the ball once all night, like they were just back-cutting. Clemson was back-cutting Arizona to death. And then you had on top of all of it, they cut the lead. And just like, not deciding whether to foul or not, and then having someone leak out. And one with like 15 seconds left, game over.

We're going to shoot a three fun fact about the Arizona wildcats. They have now lost to a team seeded at least four spots below them in each of their last six N.C.A.A tournament appearances. That's the longest streak since seeding began in 1979..

They were fucking good.

And N.C. State and Marquette, I would say, but not Clemson.

A lot of people, not us, said they shouldn't be in the tournament, but I think clock has struck midnight on the Clemson Tigers.

PFT commenter Barstow Big Cat Philly Mays.

Every possession for Arizona felt like when you, when you're playing in like a long, terrible game of pickup and you're at, you know, 13 points. And then you're like, all right. Let's just shoot a million threes when you could have gotten a couple layups, so you're like, no, let's just keep chucking threes and try to end it this way.

Yeah, I respectfully agree with Danny Hurley.

Let him get a shot.

Watching his grandson make a shot.

Uh, nah, I mean, cause if they go back to back like this, the way they're going, like that's. That's way more impressive than Nova's two titles.

And then you looked up and it was a nine point lead, and then you looked up and it was a 20 point lead. And I was like, Okay, San Diego State pulled.

They got a monster down low, they got guards that can hit shots, like, they just do everything. And, uh, yeah, it's going to be. Actually. I was. So I was rooting for Illinois, not because of Big 10, but because I wanted to see Illinois versus Yukon, which we get now in the elite eight. Because if there's only if there's one person who could possibly stop Yukon, it's the way that Terrence Shannon is.

I think that the tournament you can't, not everyone, can be. Yukon, where it's like, every game you roll out and you're winning by double digits. Some teams are going to have to survive a B minus game and that's what it felt like Illinois did tonight, and they, you know, Iowa State's a very tough team, and Illinois like that. To Mass. And, and, uh, Terrence Shannon and Coleman Hawkins, like, I know that you constantly favorites.

I know Yukon Can can probably waste anyone, but this game is going to be so awesome on Saturday.

Otzelberger Otzelberger wears the.

It helps me stay as disciplined and as accountable as I need to be. Our program wearing that shirt so he wears it so that he can't put on weight. I love it, which is a smart move. And then if that's if that size becomes too small for you, then you know that you fucked up and you weren't accountable.

I do the exact.

I can't wait for tonight's games. Uh, should we do some picks for tonight's game? should we talk about it? Oh, hank.

Nice, yeah, you pour the beer right in there, I.

When you're, when you're.

Cause it will be the it would be the last thing we do before we.

The coldest, well, is it? the coldest is ice, the coldest you can get. No, you can get colder than.

It's fact, all right, so let's do some picks.

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I think it's I left it in the couch. You just look under one of those. Oh, it's on. I think it's under the cushion, the cushion, yup.

There it is, there's my phone. Can you pass me my phone? hank here? I'll come get my phone, all right.

Oh, there you go, yeah.

So let me look up on my normal phone. uh, what is it for people who are listening? Oh, people are listening? Uh, it's a beautiful pink phone case. I always been a case guy.

I don't know, I've always been a case guy, I've always been a pink case guy. I think that this is the height of masculinity and it screams. If I were to, uh, have to leave a locker room, I would.

Would you guys feel like?

Very simple.

A little frog, I don't understand the.

I love Tennessee, love them, love them minus two and a half. ooh, give me Tennessee.

Give me the power. T Okay, it's t season. Okay, well, uh, you can.

Order now. Um, boys, so we have these games. Wait, Hank, are you going to be duke hank? Very important question.

Yeah, you're going to go all in.

I I. When I moved, I got rid of some clothes and I had one Duke sweatshirt.

Yeah, I actually have a nice.

Very, yeah, just.

We get it, so we want to do some. We'll do our full, uh, baseball preview in the coming weeks, but we should probably give our picks for the World Series. Also, I want to say I'm starting to think, maybe Shohei Otani does have a gambling problem.

Right, take one player, was it one player a week? Ooh, I kind of like doing the whole draft at once. We talked about doing one player a week for the first nine weeks of the season.

Hmm, I feel like that's going to be kind of like the.

Okay, when, when the time comes, we'll know it, it's going to take Shohei, we'll feel it when it happens.

Like, we'll feel it being like, Oh shit, there's nothing else to talk about. Dingers only time, yeah, but baseball's back one.

Pretty nuts. So what do we got for World Series picks?

Diamondbacks had a 14 run in it. Yeah, so Rockies are out the.

Mariners Maybe yeah, they get bad luck.

Yeah, okay, great sports town, all right. So my Um World Series pick is I'm going to have I won't pick the Cubs site.

They are already, they're already own one, so they might just think they got to hold a climb out of. I'm going to say I'm going to take the Orioles over the Dodgers. Okay, you took half mine? I've been on the Orioles for the last three years and I'm just going to stay on the Orioles.

You?

That's true. Um, did you know that their new owner owns the Magna Carta? I was watching the game today and they had, they had the owner up in the box, they were interviewing him during the game. This dude bought the Magna Carta.

I'd rather.

He's just like a very rich ravel. He's a very, yeah, very rich person who owns everything else. And he's like, You know what, I need? The Magna Carta.

That feels like something that should be in a museum, it should now. You sound like Indiana Jones, but yeah, yeah, it's a Jay-z song, too.

I don't know who was first. Uh, Jay-z might be on the hot seat next up. Holy Grail. Get both of them. No, that's the name of the song.

What Magna carta, Holy Grail? No way. Yeah, that's crazy that I just accidentally said that and didn't actually know it.

Oh, damn, you don't make him feel dumb? It's wild. Sorry, hank, but yeah, this motherfucker bought the Magna Carta.

Anyways, my pick is, uh, the orioles, and then I'm going to go, you can't. I already took them. I wanted the orioles, I already took them. You told Hank to go first, and then you went out of nowhere.

You can't take them. That's the pattern of the show is Hank gives his pick and then I give mine. Sorry, so you're someone else besides you. I have the Baltimore orioles.

Nope, and then I have my pick, then I have the Atlanta Braves.

I've had the Orioles for three straight years.

No.

You should sit at Oreos.

You had a perfect spot there. God damn it, do it again. Hank pods over Red Sox. No, you idiot.

Max What's your pick? Philly's over Orioles. Okay, all right, fine.

Max has the Orioles. Jake, What's your pick? Yankees over Braves? Okay, okay.

I'll go.

We all have.

I'm going to go with the.

Yankees losing Nope Jake has the Oh yeah, okay, I have the Orioles losing to the Braves.

Okay, I have a strike, I think there's going to be a strike and nobody's going to win. How about that? No World series vacated.

I want the Orioles to win now, so bad.

This would be a great clip, all right. What else anything else going on in the sports world before we watch Hank trying to drink out of this? Yeah?

Major League baseball big head I have.

Minus one and a half, minus one and a half every single game. They might be favored. They were favored for three games last year, they went one and two in those games, which is, it's so sad to say that out loud.

Plus 120 tomorrow, so it, so it hit in day one, so we're up on the air. Um, we hate John Fisher. Fuck the guy's a piece of shit and he's ruined the team. He's made them unwatchable as a big fuck you to the Oakland fans.

He's trying to move the team to Las Vegas. Vegas doesn't even really want them that bad. So he's a real piece of shit. He's my new Dan Snyder. I want that guy gone.

And if you happen to be a listener in Las Vegas, there is an act right now. It's called it's a that I think they're putting forward. Called the Schools over Stadiums Alliance, which is basically the billionaires should pay for their own fucking stadium act. I like this, um, to try to not give him the $380 million. I don't know anything about Las Vegas politics or what else is in the bill, but I will endorse voting against giving John Fisher the $380 million act.

I mean, getting three 80 in Vegas can't be hard, you don't think so? No, I think Bruno Mars probably tough.

Then why it's got him hooked up no time? Oh, did you see Sage Steel call him? Joe Rogan? Yeah.

So.

Because he's so polite. Like, do you think that we didn't want to ask DJ Burns that? But I would never ask guy that, cause I love DJ Burns. DJ Burns is awesome. The vending machine, yeah.

I want him to win. By the way, we we signed an Nil deal with DJ Burns. Yeah, awesome, sure.

In the store now, in the store now, and Jack Gokey, who's here, uh, he watched the Games with us on UH. On Thursday night. We're going to do a PMT challenge video, which we got to figure out what we're going to do. I think I've got an idea for it, okay?

We're going to have.

Okay, yeah, I think maybe we do that, but maybe it's like he goes first and he gets a minute, see how many he makes than we go. So it's a little more, it's less chaotic. We can have people rebounding also so that we can watch.

All right, either way, we're going to make a great video. Uh, all right, Hank, you want to try it? Yeah, all right, here we go.

Hank, hank, hank, hank, hank, hank, hank. Also sorry to Michigan State fans. We didn't realize that you all are trying to get Tom Izzo to wear a suit again. Uh, if we had known, we would ask them. But I talked to someone in Michigan State afterwards and Tom Izzo said, Why would I wear a suit? I can dress comfortably.

All right.

Well, it doesn't pick up, doesn't take a full beer, but if you hold it sideways, wait, Max, Max has you.

Come on, Max, hold it up, you hold it up, and he's going to pour it. Oh, there we go, let's not stand in front of the camera.

Don't stand in front of the camera, Max, Oh, it's so cold, I told you on Hank, Oh the, the ice is cold.

Yeah, oh no, your hands. Oh my god, hank, this is now sounds like a five-year-old.

You're making a mess of this. Oh, Jesus, Hank, the ice is so cold. Oh, the ice is cold, Max, the ice is cold on my little lips.

My whips are freezing, he's sucking it down. Way to go, Hank, Good job, all right.

That's not my best. Let's kick it to ourselves with, Uh, Tom Izzo. awesome, awesome interview with Tom Izzo. And we will do a full baseball preview. Maybe we'll have our friend Jared Kravitz or someone else.

Come on, talk to us about baseball. We have to get Jeff passing on.

Uh, all right, let's kick it.

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Okay, we now welcome on a very, very special guest. He is Hall of Fame basketball Coach. Michigan State. It is Tom Izzo coach, thank you so much for joining us. We got a million questions.

You have been someone on our list that we've wanted to have on the show for a very long time. I guess I'll start here because it is tournament time. You guys, obviously, you know, bounced last weekend, but had, you know, you have tons of success in the tournament. So I wanted to start with, what is it about the tournament that is so different than the regular season from a coaching perspective?

That has given you all the success you've had in your career.

I got alums like Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser, I got guys like the Vincent Brothers, I got guys like Steve Smith who, Sean Raspert. Those guys kind of caught fire with our group right away. And we started having reunions every year and those reunions brought excitement. And what they did is, you know, magic was about winning championships, Cleaves was about winning championships, you know Draymond, you know, winning championships, and it just kind of grew.

And so now when March comes, I mean, most people think I do nothing until March. And then I coach a little bit in March. This year. I did a lot before March and I did nothing in March. But I think that what you do is you realize it's one and done. And when those players call back to our current players and say, you know what month it is, it's March, you know, and it matters. And there's no my bads anymore and there's no mistakes. So I get a help from a lot of my great alums and I probably get too much credit for what I do. They deserve the credit for what they do and what they did when they were here.

That's everywhere, but our former players, I think, separates us, makes it special. The way they call back. I mean, Irvin called when we were playing against North Carolina. You know, I got the pool ready for you guys to come out here. We're all set, you know, get to win this game. And I relay those things. Or sometimes they'll faceTime. I will do it in a meeting room.

It's pretty cool and it's one of the things that staying at the same place for a long time and having some of those great players. But the players do deserve the credit, guys. I don't say that humbly, I say that honestly.

I had a good staff, Tom Crane, Brian Gregory, Stan Heath, Stan's been in the pros, those other two guys have coached at major colleges. And we sat down and said, Oh my God, if we beat Eastern, it was just let's win a game. That's all we want to do is win a game. Then I learned the Mike Krzyzewski rule you got to win the weekend once.

You got to win the weekend because the game isn't good enough anymore. Nobody cares if you win one game and you got to start preparing ahead of time for the weekend. What we did that weekend is we went from playing eastern Michigan to Princeton, and Princeton was really good. They ran all that backdoor stuff and it was a hard prep and we said, how are we going to get this through to our guys? So we took these 20 minute segments and so we got home that night at one o'clock in the morning.

I said, we're going to watch 20 minutes of film so that they go to bed dreaming about Princeton. We got up in the morning, we had breakfast, we had like 15 minutes before breakfast, breakfast 15 minutes after. And we'd have a walkthrough, we'd have 15 minutes of walkthrough, then we'd have lunch, then another. So I tried to divide it up, knowing that the tension span, especially in this pressure packed time. And I think of all the things we've done, the Princeton game helped. Kind of my philosophy, our philosophy, and so now we stole something from Mike and Duke. Any weekend we go, we try to win the weekend. Which means I got a couple assistants working on the other two teams that we could play and we might not even get there.

The thing is, this 15-20 minute segments I think has really helped us. So, yeah, you mentioned coach K I.

Unfortunately, during the regular season this year, guys, we were consistently inconsistent, but when you look for it over my career, I think we've been pretty consistent. I just thought, when I heard that from Mike, you know, we got to win the weekend, God. It made sense. Because after we won our first once, we got through that first weekend, that first year, when then North Carolina beat us in the sweet 16. You know, after that it was we went to a final four, then we won the national championship. Then nobody cared if you won a game in the tournament, all anybody cared is, did you advance?

So that's when the weekend and prepare for the weekend. And some people would say, well, you're preparing for a team that you might play two games from now. You're not putting enough into the game, you're playing well. We did, but we also prepared for that next, and I think that's.

A tough prep would be a team like Kentucky in the past when Patino was there and they're pressing the whole game. You know, now you don't run into many presses. And all of a sudden it happened to us Florida with Billy Donovan, we didn't run into any teams that pressed.

We play Wisconsin to, like, a 52-48 game, you know? Because back then Dick Bennett, it was slowed down and that we had to play that style. And then everybody said, Well, two days later, you're going to play Florida. And I said, Great, we want to go up and down. They pressed the whole game.

We attacked it, you know, we beat them 89 to 70 or something, you know, so I think that was another key thing. With our teams, we could be versatile.

We could play smash mouth, we could play racehorse and I think the best teams I had could do both. And you need that when you get into tournament play and you don't know who you're going to be playing, yeah.

So I went.

Because I have an answer. I have a guy that I hated so much that every time I saw him on TV, my blood would boil.

Who do you think that was for? Like, who do you think most? Like, when you, when you came out into an opposing stadium, you're like, Oh man, they really hate this guy.

Oh, back then, yeah.

Well, you guys are on top of your stuff.

But it makes sports fun, the hate is fun, that's what I love.

Yeah, you know what I mean, it goes to total respect, because I mean, Bo was here, his first trip here. I think he broke our 54 game home winning streak, so all of our people hated Wisconsin and then we both got so good.

And then at 15, we were both in the final four and we found out when we got to the to Indianapolis, we were both pulling for each other. You know? And and now I'm, I'm friends with Bo. I called him when I went out to California, you know, because you respect people that challenge you every day. If you're really good, you're not. That's what you need, and they do it the right way.

In Wisconsin, Greg Gard is a good friend there. They've always done it the right way.

Coach I got a tough question to ask you because you've been known as being a fiery guy. You've been called the fifth angriest coach in college basketball. They did a poll. But you're also known as a teddy bear. I read an article about you recently that said that you were actually a teddy bear. So are you a nice guy?

Are you a teddy bear? Are you angry?

Kind of theory, you know? And I think the only way you do that is spend time. So part of me doesn't care what most people outside think. What I care about is the reunions that we have.

Does everybody come back, does everybody call in in March? Does all those things happen if those things are happening? I think I've done it right, but I can see where people and people take things wrong.

You know, the guy makes the same mistake seven times. What am I going to say? Hey, Johnny, would you please do it right this time? You wouldn't do that with your own kids? And sometimes I get accused of that, but I know this.

I love my guys, I spent a lot of time with them, they've done a lot for me. And I'm probably deservant of being angry sometimes. Yeah, I've always loved the specific.

And it's like, shut the hell up, like he's coaching a certain way. So that has to make you feel great, though, when all your guys, like, always come to your defense almost immediately. Like Draymond, if you grab a player, Draymond would be like, that guy and coach. Have a relationship that none of you can speak on. That has to feel great.

Even Charles Barkley stuck up.

If I, if they made the same mistake nine times. If you think that any coach Nick Saban who was here with me, uh, you think any coach that, I guess Pat Riley, that is more, you know, more volatile. JOHN THOMPSON Um, that they just do that on one or two or three mistakes, you know, some of it. They do it because I know where that kid wants to go. He went, he wants to win a championship and get to the NBA, and you know what, I do the same thing in school.

If if he wants his degree and he's doing things that make that hard, I'm going to get on them there too. And what I think, that I hope I say this right, I'm not phony, yeah.

What you see is what you get, and they see it from the day they come here, so there's no surprises. Yeah, and and by the way, it has been dialed back a lot. Because because our society is so damn soft that, like you say, they look, you look at you, getting mad at a guy.

You could even look at them wrong and somebody saying something nowadays.

It's it's built on something, it's completely different than what we're watching in a two second clip. So I, yeah, I've always had your back in those situations, always, always stunned me. Now you, you love coaching, rebounding, and your teams are always tough.

Have you found that it's harder to instill tough, hard nose like rebounding your war? Do you still do your wardrobe where you put them in pads, football pads and helmets?

We go to Ohio State first time all year. I think we had 28 24 games in a row. We had won the rebound battle. We lose it. A couple of players go off on a couple other players in the locker room.

That's not what we do here. And I said, Wow, nothing better than a player, coach, team, right? Guys, so you get back? I call Saban. I said, Listen, I need 12 sets of football gear. Practice tomorrow.

He goes, Huh? I said, Can I get them? Yeah, sure, call my equipment guy, I get them.

So last 20 minutes of price, we're going to do our little wardrobe. So I said, since we're getting soft and we don't want to get anybody hurt, we'll put on football pads that way you can't get hurt. So we did, and I was mad.

I wanted it to be, uh, they had so much fun that it became all we talked about. And then we talked about it for five years later and 10 years later. And so now the guys will say, Coach, bring out the football patch, you know, rebound is good, you can't do that, man.

I'd get sued. Nowadays, I can't do that anymore. So it's, uh, it's a shame, you know that, because those guys had a riot doing it and nobody got hurt. Of course, because you're in full pads, helmets.

It was, uh, it was one of the great things you get to do. It was a memory making moment and I'm afraid that our society is getting so screwed up. We don't have as many memory making moments. And there were some guys that copied me.

There were some guys that called me asking what I do, but those same guys call me. And we're not rebounding as well. They say, Do you do that? I go no time for other things. I don't want to, I don't want to get guilt. You know, the sad part is back then, you know? Of course, we videotaped every practice.

Hell, I had to get rid of that video. I said, somebody will, somebody will sue me later on. So, and now when we have reunions, all the players want to see that.

I kind of want to do it. We should actually do that in the office court. Yeah, helmets and shoulder pads, yeah.

So so, explain the drill to us so that we can recreate it here.

Right, I don't know, you know, he's at Houston, so maybe he's just coming on the scene. Um, I don't know what he does every day. But it's hard to make teams tougher because our society is so soft, you know, and you say, Well, that's barbaric. They used to say we were a football team on Hardwood.

I always took that as a compliment. Yeah, that was a great compliment. But the game is getting more physical again because I think they're letting it go more. But players aren't necessarily more physical, except Houston, um, their most physical team, I think, in, uh, in the tournament.

And then I got the job here, and then six months later, Nick got the head job here, so we reunited and we were here five years together. And, uh, did I ever think he'd be what he is? No, no.

Is it incredible that what he's done, it is incredible? Um, you can talk about having good players, a lot of people have good players and don't get it done. He is, to me, um, one of the greatest coaches in any sport.

And I mean that with respect, admiration and knowledge, you know, I know what I'm talking about. Um, and he was, I mean, you're talking about demanding? Um, he probably did the opposite as I did. I put football pads on my guys to play. He probably put his guys in jocks and t-shirts and said, Now go tackle each other, he probably.

No, but the real truth is, usually when it gets in the season, especially the tournament, I don't sleep at all. You know, you don't sleep much, why would you sleep? And that's for death. You get. You got a tournament to win.

Yeah, and when I don't sleep, my voice goes, I swear to God, it's it's not, it's not. You don't have players. I get blamed for so many things that aren't true now, some of them are true. But um, it's not that at all. It's it's when I lose sleep or I don't sleep well, like even now you don't sleep well.

Now, how could you sleep well? You don't know who you got, who's in the portal and who you're paying and who's going on. But right now, um, it'll start coming back a little bit, I think.

Hall.

Doc Rivers I work with Doc and the Goodwill Games.

So, uh?

You know, I do think one thing that has helped me, and my father did it, but my grandfather did it. You know, when you were an immigrant, like they were coming in, I mean, you were in a working man's world, you know, you just worked your way, you didn't know anything else you were. My family were working in the mines or working here and there. And so I think work ethic helps you become successful in whatever you decide to do. And I think, uh, Italian guys, I know their fathers or grandfathers were all in that.

That doesn't mean other nationalities aren't either. You just asked me a question, that's the only dumb answering.

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But are you ever? do you ever have a conversation with them? You're like, Hey, listen, you're, you're an unbelievable player, but yeah, maybe don't go after everyone all the time.

I mean, I am the luckiest human being on the planet, you know? I coached Mateen Cleaves and and I coached Draymond Green and I did not coach. But he's from here and he's still around a lot in Magic Johnson. And there's a lot of great players. But I'm not sure there's as many great winners who can take average teams or good teams and be the difference in winning. You know, a lot of people make great plays, how many people make winning plays?

Like Raymond's tossed back to step. And that illegal screening kind of sometimes sets and moves a little bit. Those are winning plays and he didn't even take the shot right, and I think that's what's not. Appreciate the toughness, the rebounding, that he can guard a LeBron and he can guard a seven footer.

You know, Draymond is, Do I wish once in a while? Yeah, he probably wishes. Once in a while. I wouldn't be like, I am, you know, but would I trade him for the world? No.

And by the way, I didn't keep him under wraps, I just I. Just. That was back in the day when huddles weren't filmed because he was still as crazy in those huddles. It's just that nobody got to see him back then, you know? But yeah, but I, I absolutely love him, he's, he's a versatile player.

He is, you know, those guys that say they don't care. The only thing he cared about was rebounding, and when he had nine, cause he always wanted a double double, he knew he had nine. And he'd come to the bench. And in the huddle, he'd say, Not one of you guys grabbed the next rebound, I'm getting it, just cut your guy out.

I'm getting it, we're on a free throw situation, I'm getting it. And and I would sit there and say, Is that selfish hell?

No, I loved it, I thought that was absolutely awesome. And that's Draymond, you know, he's, he put winning, he puts winning above scoring, even rebounding assists. More than I think any player I've ever coached, you know, it was guys like him or Cleaves.

They'd come into the locker room. Never look at the stat sheet, they just look at the W or the L, and people can say that, and not a lot of people that do it, yeah.

No, definitely not. Does all the little dirty work that makes a difference in the end? And, uh, and for that, uh, I know one thing if you had eligibility left, I'd take them back. I deal with, you know, there's there's always going to be an issue or two.

And do I wish, like, Do I wish last night he wouldn't have got thrown out of the game? Yeah, I wish he wouldn't have got thrown out of the game. But I don't know everything that happened in the game either. There were some things back in the day that happened with LeBron and that I'm not sure. We're all great months fault either, you know, but you get an image.

It's like being the fifth angriest guy, or whatever you call it, right? Image. And then it precedes.

He's like, I'm good.

Last night.

My theory is that he wants to.

So so, and yeah, I am a big Draymond fan. I think his basketball IQ is so off the charts that people they don't realize what he's able to do. Without actually like the where, the spacing and defensively being like a coach, who else, though, have you coached? That, you would say, is underrated? That people don't fully realize how talented he was, whether it be actual stats or on the floor being a general for you.

I mean, Dream out when he was here did some of that. I had a kid named Valentine who was pretty good at that, believe it or not, in a whole different way, a whole different guy. Cassius Winston, I mean, he wouldn't even take a shot for a half, he'd just be making everybody else better.

And then I say, Okay, can, can we win the game now? You know, can you make some shots at a very high level? And yet wasn't the gifted athlete, he wasn't six, five, you know, maybe underappreciated.

And and then, you know, even a guy like Jason Richardson, believe it or not, who had this gifted athleticism? That he was a very humble and and very caring guy. That, I mean, he didn't start his freshman year, and that's like an American, not to start a guy that was that good. But it was because of the team we had and Zach Randall went through the same thing, and you know, everybody said this and that about Zach. I absolutely loved having Zach.

I mean, he was, he was really good and a and a really good teammate. And you know, that's maybe guys, what? We don't judge people on enough, how hard they play, what they do to make others better, and what kind of teammate are they? I would promise you, and I don't know, I don't, I'm not with the organization. I'm I'm betting that he's an very much an incredible teammate.

You know, he's an incredible teammate that's making a name for himself, Jaron Jackson, just an incredible teammate and good guy and a.

Tom Izzo And, you know, the media. It's like a big cycle, it's like a pendulum that swings back and forth. At some point. You're like, Okay, this coach is underrated. And then once you start winning enough, if you haven't won enough recently, they say Tom Izzo is overrated. Now you might be back to being underrated again.

So can you judge yourself? Are you overrated or underrated as a head coach? Well, I think you're always.

I wasn't happy with our performance, I said, right out where we underachieved this year, and I said, why, you know, and I can. I can name you seven games that we either led or were right down to the wire on and we lost. And usually you win some of those this year.

We didn't, we lost them if you went out, if you went a half of them. You. You win 24 games and you're a four seed and everybody's happy, you know, but really, your team's no better because you only won by a couple of points. And, uh, so, you know, I I think I have a good relationship with the media guys most of the time, and I'll tell you why. It was my old boss Judd Heathcote and, uh, uh, coach Magic.

And and I was a GA on his staff, and it's just my second year here. They were talking about firing Judd, and, uh, so I'm, I'm reading these articles, that's when I read the paper. I don't do that anymore, but I'm reading these articles and they're talking about firing them.

And once a week we had open for the media, and so the media came. Watch practice and after practice, judge telling his dirty jokes to him, you know, like he always did. He's got his arm around two guys and he's walking across and I'm ticked off. I said, Coach, that guy just ripped you today once you fired.

And I said, What are you doing? You know, and my dumb ass from the up, I didn't know, you know what, uh, what was going on? And and he said, I'm going to tell you something if you want to survive in this profession.

Everybody's got most to feed and everybody's got a boss to please, he said. Those guys do, too, some of them are good guys that just have to do what they have to do because that's the way it is. And so I've always appreciated that if I don't like something, somebody says most of the time, I'll call them and say, Hey, you're off base on this.

Here's why they might tell me why they think what's getting harder, guys, is with Twitter. I mean, let's face it, everybody's attacking you or anybody in the media, you know, they're attacking them on what they should think and say. And then those guys give into it and then they go to us. You know, I have practice open once a week, too. I kept the tradition because I thought that way the media could see. You know, I don't hide nothing.

I've never closed my locker room, ever, ever, never. So I think they appreciate that, but I appreciate them. I just wish that somehow they could understand what's going on each and every day now, because the world has changed a little.

She realized the buyout would have been too high, so she didn't jump it. But you know, I mean, it is what it is. I mean, you know what? I've had feelings about it, that I I don't, I don't like it. I, I've said it, especially the especially, the the portal and and the reasons why. And yet, you know what, when in Rome do like the Romans, you know, we don't have a choice.

We play with the cards we dealt. And I've said this on many of shows, and I've said it many times. And I won't say a lot about it because it always gets me in trouble. But I will say this at the end of the day, the majority of kids players, I think, are going to lose out.

There'll be a few that it works out for, but the majority. I mean, we're going to have over 2000 in the in the portal. And guys are now doing it two and three and even four times. Where are they going to have to go back to later on? What are you? you? you? You love Wisconsin? Would you love Wisconsin? If you went to Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State and Northwestern? your career? Would you love Wisconsin?

I don't know, you know, that's yet to be seen, but I, I honestly believe that. I think a lot of players are going to make bad decisions and not learn how to fight through sometimes. I mean, if I told you how many guys would have left here after one year in my career, I'd have to count them on 27 hands, right?

And it's just part of the deal. And now those same guys are my biggest advocates, you know, and had the most fun. So there's always a time to transfer guys. Every place isn't for everybody. But the way we've made it so easy, I think, is going to be detrimental to the player more than it is the coach and coach. They're going to lose their jobs.

I mean, but that's okay, cause, as some people say, we make a lot of money and we do, but we have a lot of responsibility and work a lot of.

And maybe when he's done with four years, he actually graduates. Because 90 in basketball, I think it's 96 are never going to play again, you know, there's 4 in basketball. They can play in Europe and G League, Canada football there, I guess. Now there's a new league.

So maybe it'll get an up 2 play, but most of those kids are never going to play again. And are we really punishing them by telling them they got to sit out and get better and get smarter and get their academics on track? And I know some guys that set up for me. I had a kid, Morris Peterson, that would never been a pro.

Yeah, it wasn't for the fifth year, so I understand, you know, the modern day. I agree with you, but there's unintended consequences to a lot of these things. And I'm going to do what they said, I'm done, bitching about it.

I'm just going to do my job, but I'm just telling you, the majority of kids aren't going to have a place to go to.

We'll, we'll kind of level back to a spot where people can have the freedom of movement. But there's also a lot more guys staying, sticking it out. And it's better for the school, it's better for the fans, it's better for the player. Like.

I do think that there is that middle ground that we hopefully will find. Yeah, like, I think, if a coach leaves.

Right, should you be able to do something different than somebody that just started it yesterday? I mean, to me, you should, but I ain't arguing it. No more guys, I lost that battle that train has left.

Yeah, you're adapting my job, Yeah, you're.

R H. O B A C. K.

Com promo code Take 20 off your first purchase Cusez Polos, Hoodies, Joggers, Shorts, Rowback.com. Talking about this tournament, I know we're going to run this tomorrow. So four of the sweet 16 games have already been played, but from your perspective, you played a lot of these teams.

You obviously played Purdue a bunch, you, uh, I think you played Alabama last year, you played Arizona this year, Duke this year. Like, who do you think is the is, the is the team that you're looking at? And you're like, this team has everything?

And they're they're playing the ball that will get them to the final four and to cut the nuts down well, we just played North.

I've seen some of their personnel and anybody that's as tough as that, I think, has a chance. We played Arizona early, we played Duke early, we played, you know, Illinois is another team that has actually come on, yeah.

But, uh, I think Purdue has the best chance because of what happened to them last year. They've got the best rallying point and they've got a player of the year. And to deal with him on a second day is hard. It'd be interesting to see how they do when they played the night or tomorrow night. I guess it is they got Gonzaga to burn at it. Thank you.

Um, but I, you know, I think if I looked at four or five teams, Carolina has got to be one of them. Uh, Arizona has got to be produced. Gotta be. It sounds like it's just the one seeds. Um, who would be in Yukon? Yukon's just been rolling.

Yeah, Yukon right now, um, from what I've seen, is the best overall team and it'll be a hell of a battle. If it's them and Purdue and then you, you take, uh, a Houston, I mean, they can beat you different ways.

They can score a lot of points or they could beat you 3935.

I swear they can, I mean, they can tighten the screws down. And, uh, so those would be the top five or six teams. That doesn't mean a team like Alabama, who shoots a hundred threes, might be hot and win a game.

Uh, that doesn't mean that Gonzaga and job Mark Few has done. Couldn't work out, you know, I don't know. Uh, there's a lot of. There's a hey right now. The one thing I do know about this tournament the last two, three years, flip a coin, yeah.

Something strange is going to happen. Yeah, probably, probably teams that you thought would get out of tonight aren't going to get out.

Teams up tomorrow night aren't going to get out. And yet, uh, some years, it's chalk and everybody gets there, you know? I think when you were in the final four with three ones in a two, that's odd, you know, we've been a seven and been in the final four.

So I don't know, guys, I'm not the expert, I'm not gambling on it, but you guys can't be and you guys have been great. I appreciate you having me on. I maybe, uh, who knows, maybe we'll do it again as the tournament goes.

Since, since, I have some unfortunate off time right now, yeah, and we have to have you.

Yeah, cause you could do it with us, we'll sign a waiver.

You guys have a great day, a good tournament.

They're not getting the time. And, uh, yeah, that was really cool. We also next year you'll, you'll be part of Birthday Week, cause you and I share a birthday and PFT is the day after us. So, uh, well, yeah, we'll, we'll have you come out. And two, it would be an all time visual.

At the end, I thought they were going to make a run and they run into the same team that we did the first year. Yeah, pretty good team, pretty great team.

Yeah, they were really good, I mean, everybody thought ours was a fluke until they won about 30 something games.

That's life as a mid-major, though, you gotta you're. you're a great stepping stone, but being a.

Thank you so much. Hopefully we see in person next year when you're coming through Chicago. Appreciate the time coach.

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There's a bit of that going around, just a great sign for the spring and summer. It happened twice this week where I've found sunglasses from last summer in old pair of coats, that's huge. The one wouldn't be notable, but it happened twice, basically in the same week. Where I put on a windbreaker, reached in the pocket, found a pair of sunglasses I thought was.

Yeah, Reverse Fyre Fest. There's nothing better.

That was a good bachelor party for you, good bachelor party for me. Then the other two, I just didn't know they were lost in the wind, but I was like, Fuck, I went from three to zero. How did this happen?

Back up to two.

It's been a while for that, I think I've gotten rid of all my stones by now, I have to. I know that you had one big cat a few years ago.

But I had another one.