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Iz BG staying or will he zo?

Published by Swampy Meadows
06-12-2010

Iz BG staying or will he zo?

BEVERLY HILLS (MI) –- I write this Saturday morning as we all anxiously await…the World Cup game between England and the US on ABC! No seriously, MSU Coach Tom Izzo is expected to announce (hopefully sometime soon!) whether he will stay a Spartan or become a Cav. Reports say that Izzo is agonizing over the decision and knowing his makeup, he probably didn’t sleep a wink.

Meanwhile “FTS” stayed awake all night thinking up the title for this column:

“Iz BG staying or will he zo?”

No, my spell-check feature isn’t disabled to help make the site run faster. If you ‘read between the lines’ it has BG in the middle of Izzo, which is exactly where UD fans find themselves in this whole mess. If TI says yes to MSU alum Dan Gilbert and takes over the perhaps soon-to-be LeBron-less Cavs, Flyer Coach Brian Gregory will face the same choice as his mentor –- stay where he’s happy and has everything going for him or chase the elusive specter of his “dream job.”

Both guys are cut from the same cloth. They are teachers, first and foremost. If you ask me, UCLA coaching legend John Wooden could not have died at a more opportune time for Coach Izzo. All TI has to do is get out the articles about Coach Wooden’s life and his copy of “The Pyramid of Success” and he will ultimately make the right decision.

Let’s face it, what is Izzo going to teach the Cavs players, really? Will he be giving Delonte West lessons on tattoo artistry? Teach Big Z how to grow hair or be tall? Instruct Daniel “Boobie” Gibson on how to choose a better nickname.

I don’t think so.

Izzo reportedly told members of his Spartan team that he is “struggling with his decision.” Let’s face it, any time you have to “struggle” or “agonize” or any other painful verb, maybe the grass isn’t greener in the other fella’s yard, it’s just Astroturf.

Izzo and BG are all about building a sense of family and loyalty in their respective programs. What are you teaching your players if you think about yourself first without any regard to the impact your decision has on them and the team chemistry that you have built?

Make no mistake about it, if Izzo does go the NBA then the MSU job will be offered to BG in a heartbeat. And he will have to make the same gut-wrenching choice as his sensei, for all of the same reasons, just not 6 million of them. And BG will have to decide smack dab in the middle of his Basketball Camp held on the UD campus every summer.

This whole ‘BG in the middle of Izzo’ situation makes for a great teachable moment, don’t you think? How better to instruct your players, recruits, fans and university on the principles of team, family and loyalty than by displaying these virtues for everyone to see.

As a wise man once said:

“Nothing difficult is ever easy.”

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: swampy@udpride.com

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By Tony T 71 on 06-12-2010, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by Swampy Meadows

BEVERLY HILLS (MI) –- I write this Saturday morning as we all anxiously await…the World Cup game between England and the US on ABC! No seriously, MSU Coach Tom Izzo is expected to announce (hopefully sometime soon!) whether he will stay a Spartan or become a Cav. Reports say that Izzo is agonizing over the decision and knowing his makeup, he probably didn’t sleep a wink.

Meanwhile “FTS” stayed awake all night thinking up the title for this column:

“Iz BG staying or will he zo?”

No, my spell-check feature isn’t disabled to help make the site run faster. If you ‘read between the lines’ it has BG in the middle of Izzo, which is exactly where UD fans find themselves in this whole mess. If TI says yes to MSU alum Dan Gilbert and takes over the perhaps soon-to-be LeBron-less Cavs, Flyer Coach Brian Gregory will face the same choice as his mentor –- stay where he’s happy and has everything going for him or chase the elusive specter of his “dream job.”

Both guys are cut from the same cloth. They are teachers, first and foremost. If you ask me, UCLA coaching legend John Wooden could not have died at a more opportune time for Coach Izzo. All TI has to do is get out the articles about Coach Wooden’s life and his copy of “The Pyramid of Success” and he will ultimately make the right decision.

Let’s face it, what is Izzo going to teach the Cavs players, really? Will he be giving Delonte West lessons on tattoo artistry? Teach Big Z how to grow hair or be tall? Instruct Daniel “Boobie” Gibson on how to choose a better nickname.

I don’t think so.

Izzo reportedly told members of his Spartan team that he is “struggling with his decision.” Let’s face it, any time you have to “struggle” or “agonize” or any other painful verb, maybe the grass isn’t greener in the other fella’s yard, it’s just Astroturf.

Izzo and BG are all about building a sense of family and loyalty in their respective programs. What are you teaching your players if you think about yourself first without any regard to the impact your decision has on them and the team chemistry that you have built?

Make no mistake about it, if Izzo does go the NBA then the MSU job will be offered to BG in a heartbeat. And he will have to make the same gut-wrenching choice as his sensei, for all of the same reasons, just not 6 million of them. And BG will have to decide smack dab in the middle of his Basketball Camp held on the UD campus every summer.

This whole ‘BG in the middle of Izzo’ situation makes for a great teachable moment, don’t you think? How better to instruct your players, recruits, fans and university on the principles of team, family and loyalty than by displaying these virtues for everyone to see.

As a wise man once said:

“Nothing difficult is ever easy.”

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: swampy@udpride.com

I disagree that BG is the first choice for MSU. Montgomery is the best fit being the associate head coach and having recruited most of this years and previous years players. If MSU hires anyone else they run the real risk of losing at least some of the recruiting class from this year, just as UD would with the loss of Gregory.

By College B-Ball Fan on 06-12-2010, 12:33 PM

Tony, I respect your opinion---but everything that I've read for the past 3-5 days points in BG's direction if Izzo leaves from the article in todays DDN to the blirbs online quoting the father of a current player who was a part of a meeting with Izzo earlier this week, etc. I don't think we'll ever know thw answer though because I also think that Izzo stays and the Cav's hire the "coach with NBA experience"----Go Flyers!

By axehandle on 06-12-2010, 12:59 PM

Although its possible some recruits could leave MSU if TI leaves, most likely they won't. I've heard the same claims after coaching changes before. Most of the time if a new coach is named soon and is a good choice, the players stay ( other than Memphis). If the new coach acts quickly to reaffirm the players,they realize they choose the school also for other reasons than just the coach. I truly hope that BG remains at UD. But if the scenario plays out and BG ends at MSU, UD also can keep their recruits and thrive as long as the administration is prepared.

By UACFlyer on 06-12-2010, 01:13 PM

His job at UD is not finished....

...and he knows it!

TK did not hire BG to take the Flyers to the NCAAs once (with his players) in seven years, or to win an NIT, although that was very nice. Let us not forget, however, that the Flyers NIT championship was a sweet salve soothing what otherwise would have been the most disappointing season in many, many years.

BG was hired to put the Flyers in a position to "compete for the national champioship" occasionally, e.g., a few times in a decade. We all know what it means to be positioned to "compete" for the championship. It's not the Final Four or winning a first round game. At a minimum, the competitors in any given year are the teams that make it past the first two games, make it to the Sweet 16,....at a minimum.

That has yet to happen. Until it does Brian Gregory has not done the job he was hired for.

By Bat'71 on 06-13-2010, 08:27 AM

I'm afraid that if Coach Izzo leaves for Cleveland, BG is gone. I'd be surprised if he doesn't have an "opt out" clause in his contract if the MSU job becomes available. It's a school where he and his family are probably very comfortable and where they've got long time friends and associates. BG coaches in the same style as TI, has a similar philosophy and is now battle tested, having re-built the UD program and competed at the highest level. MSU would be crazy not to offer BG the job. MSU can offer him a lot more money, provide first-rate facilities, give him a higher profile program to sell to 4/5 star recruits and BG doesn't have to be much better than .500 in conference to get a bid to the Dance. If you're BG, what's not to like? I'd be surprised if we don't have a Plan A, B or C in place if this eventuality takes place, but I'd be sorry to see BG leave.