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Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is back on the NBA radar, with the Detroit Pistons reportedly ready to chase the in-state legend over the summer.

Pistons owner Tom Gores, a Spartan alumnus, is "expected to after" Izzo, according to Sam Amick of USA Today.

Izzo has spent the last 19 seasons in East Lansing. He's compiled a .715 winning percentage over that stretch, making six Final Fours in the process and capturing the national championship in 2000. This season, he's back in the Sweet 16 and expected to keep rolling.
It's unclear if he'd have any interest in the Pistons job—currently held by interim coach John Loyer—but this isn't the first time he's been linked to an NBA gig.

The Atlanta Hawks tried unsuccessfully to lure him to the big leagues in 2000. A decade later he mulled the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching job but ultimately declined their offer. The uncertainty of LeBron James' future, that was the same summer he bolted for the Miami Heat, reportedly impacted Izzo's decision.

He seemed to permanently close his NBA door after turning down the Cleveland offer.

"I knew at the beginning that whatever decision I made would be a decision for life," Izzo said, per The Associated Press (via ESPN). "I am going to be a lifer. This is what I'm going to be, and I'm damn proud of it."
There's not a lot of wiggle room in those words. Of course, there are rarely such things as certainties in the world of professional sports.

If Izzo does have an interest in making the NBA leap, this summer might be the time to jump.

Two of his three top scorers are seniors (Keith Appling and Adreian Payne) and the third is a projected lottery pick (Gary Harris). The cupboard could quickly become barren, and Izzo himself said he's tired of chasing top-shelf recruits.
"It's very difficult ... there are so many influential factors," he said, via Sports Illustrated's Michael Rosenberg. "You've got to get good players, but you can't change who you are, and you've got to realize who you are."

Izzo doesn't seem like the type to abandon ship in the face of adversity, but it's tough to rule this out completely.

"I still think it’s a major longshot for him to leave, but the NBA door isn’t going to be open that much longer, and I don’t even know how much longer Izzo plans to coach, period," Patrick Hayes of PistonPowered.com wrote. "The timing and location of the job might not get much better than right now."

Do you think Tom Izzo will eventually join the NBA coaching ranks?
Yes, he'll do it this summer and join the Detroit Pistons.
Yes, but he won't take this job.
No, he'll finish his career at Michigan State.
Submit Vote vote to see results
The roster isn't half-bad, either.

Assuming the Pistons re-sign restricted-free-agent-to-be Greg Monroe, they'll have a fearsome frontcourt for the future in the Moose and sophomore Andre Drummond. Rookie Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has a horde of athletic gifts and a defensive edge.

Offseason home-run hacks at Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith haven't panned out, but the team has more talent than its 26-44 record would indicate.

Is there enough talent in place to pry Izzo away from the college game? Maybe not.

But I'd be surprised if Izzo didn't find this job intriguing enough to at least entertain an offer.

I would love this but I still cant see it happening.

Us going after Izzo makes a good narrative, and the rumor drumming press loves a good narrative.

I'll believe it (and develop some sort of option about it) when I see something more substantive.

It'd certainly be swinging for the fences in terms of coaching and he would be able to get our young guys disciplined as well. I really doubt this will happen though, it just doesn't seem likely he leaves MSU where he gets paid to do anything and with little scrutiny to run the team.

I guess money will be a big factor and if Gores is willing to pay up.

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It makes sense for the Pistons to at least gauge his interest. He's a great college coach, and has done a consistent and fantastic job of getting the best from his players, as he rarely gets the countries best recruits.

But, it doesn't make sense for Tom Izzo to leave the comfort and security of his MSU job for what would likely amount to a 2-3 year job and then an unceremonious ousting by a team owner. That's before even considering why he would want to take over this sad sap roster, when one of the article's reasoning for his potential departure is MSU's perceived lack of talent going forward.

What talent is there in Detroit? Drummond, sure, but he has a long way to go before being considered a top talent. Monroe is a good player, not a great one. The rest of the lot are overpaid locker room cancers, young guys with little upside, and adequately paid locker room cancers.

meh, its doubtful the locker room as is follows a college coach.

I wouldn't even want Izzo. You think Josh Smith gives a rats ass about him? Izzo has been a GREAT college coach, but motivating NBA players and getting them to listen to you is not easy. I'd much, much rather have a strong, established NBA coach like a Van Gundy or Karl. We have talent, we just need to get disciplined on offense and learn how to play good team defense.

Izzo didn't flirt with the idea of becoming the Cavs coach, he flirted with the idea of becoming Lebron James's coach.

I like the idea of Izzo as coach. My problem is I can't see Gores just hiring him as coach and I can't see Izzo taking the job just as coach. The last thing this team needs is to bring Izzo in and give him control of the roster and final say on decision making. You think the gap between us and the smart teams is wide now, Joe is one of the smartest player GMs (which is why most of them died out) and has been doing this for a decade and he gets his head handed to him, I shudder to see what it would be like with Izzo.

The only way I see this happening is if MSU loses one of these next two games and Gores makes Izzo a sweetheart offer. If Izzo takes MSU back to the Final 4 or further then I don't see him going anywhere.

Good luck with this lmao
Seriously I could see Izzo trying to strangle either Jennings or smith hahaha

theBigLip wrote:I wouldn't even want Izzo. You think Josh Smith gives a rats ass about him? Izzo has been a GREAT college coach, but motivating NBA players and getting them to listen to you is not easy. I'd much, much rather have a strong, established NBA coach like a Van Gundy or Karl. We have talent, we just need to get disciplined on offense and learn how to play good team defense.

This.

Our two highest paid players never attended college lol

ComboGuardCity wrote:Our two highest paid players never attended college lol

Neither did Lebron, Kobe or Garnett...


Even these guys who were one and done's, did they ever really attend college? I'm sure their coursework wouldn't really put them on a four year degree track.


The college thing is overblown with Jennings and Smith. They could have been at Michigan for 4 years and they'd still be mental midgets. Either you understand what it takes to play winning basketball and you want to learn it, or you are happy getting paid. Jennings is a prime example, he started the year off with a chip on his shoulder about being overlooked and looked to have made real strides with his game, but things have regressed dramatically, which is all on him.

ComboGuardCity wrote:Our two highest paid players never attended college lol

Actually both Stuckey and CV (both tied for 2nd highest paid on the team) did go to college.

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Piston Prince wrote:

ComboGuardCity wrote:Our two highest paid players never attended college lol

Neither did Lebron, Kobe or Garnett...


Even these guys who were one and done's, did they ever really attend college? I'm sure their coursework wouldn't really put them on a four year degree track.


The college thing is overblown with Jennings and Smith. They could have been at Michigan for 4 years and they'd still be mental midgets. Either you understand what it takes to play winning basketball and you want to learn it, or you are happy getting paid. Jennings is a prime example, he started the year off with a chip on his shoulder about being overlooked and looked to have made real strides with his game, but things have regressed dramatically, which is all on him.

There is obviously an ocean size IQ difference between the first ballot Hall of Famers (including 2 of the top 10 greatest ever) & the two dip sticks on our team. Thats like comparing Hakeem to Eddy Curry.

College is definitely not overblown with Smith & Jennings. Worst case scenario, it couldnt have made them any worse.

I wouldnt mind Izzo, this team needs all the toughening up it can get and thats one thing Izzo can definitely do. I think he could get our young guys to buy in, and if the Bonehead Bros dont like it they can watch the game from the bench. That being said, I dont think its very likely that he leaves MSU.

Whoever gets the job, I hope he makes it clear that he needs the public backing of the GM that players need to play good team D and play within their abilities on offense, otherwise they will not be playing. Even with our roster, we really are a playoff team if we had a good strong coach.

I'm down for Izzo as long as he focuses on defense and gets respect from our big 3 and Jennings.

Should just hire somebody that demand respect and
a GM that support it.
Back to basic with hard-nosed defensive basketball,
the pistons trademark!
Imo Izzo should fit in later, just not now

Izzo's schemes may not transition well to the NBA, but I would take the risk. He is a truly elite coach and one of the few basketball geniuses in the world. That being said I WOULD NOT give him full control over the team. The most I would give him is 100% control of the on court Philosophy of this team, control over his coaching staff and input on FAs and draft picks.

Izzo's strong team defense and slick interior passing on offense could really work with our roster, so why not give him a shot?

Clarity wrote:

Piston Prince wrote:

ComboGuardCity wrote:Our two highest paid players never attended college lol

Neither did Lebron, Kobe or Garnett...


Even these guys who were one and done's, did they ever really attend college? I'm sure their coursework wouldn't really put them on a four year degree track.


The college thing is overblown with Jennings and Smith. They could have been at Michigan for 4 years and they'd still be mental midgets. Either you understand what it takes to play winning basketball and you want to learn it, or you are happy getting paid. Jennings is a prime example, he started the year off with a chip on his shoulder about being overlooked and looked to have made real strides with his game, but things have regressed dramatically, which is all on him.

There is obviously an ocean size IQ difference between the first ballot Hall of Famers (including 2 of the top 10 greatest ever) & the two dip sticks on our team. Thats like comparing Hakeem to Eddy Curry.

College is definitely not overblown with Smith & Jennings. Worst case scenario, it couldnt have made them any worse.

Did college make a difference for Michael Beasley? Lamar Odom? Ron Artest?


Either the guy gets it or he doesn't. Jennings and Smith have never shown real interest in meaningfully developing their games or playing winning basketball. No amount of Coach K kumbaya sing alongs, co-eds throwing themselves at them and "classes" would make any difference for them.

Look at Smith. He knows he sucks from outside, he even had a year in which he shot no 3s the entire year. Everyone praised him and said "Josh finally gets it, he's making progress" and a year later he was back to chucking up anything he could get his hands on.

Face it, we as fans care a lot more than some of these guys. To a lot of guys this is just a job, winning would be nice but at the end of the day you still get paid. It's obvious that Smith and Jennings didn't have the dog in them that a guy like Lebron or CP3 does, otherwise they wouldn't be hanging out in the free agent pool begging for Dumars to call them. Josh especially has every physical tool in the book, there's a reason he's posting his worst statistical season ever and I'd be willing to bet it's got more to do with just signing his name to $50 mil guaranteed over the next 4 years than it does playing next to Drummond and Monroe.

The dog inside a guy more than anything separates the 2004 team from the Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings of the world. When guys like Ben and Chauncey got paid they thought "this is nice, but I've got a job to do and it's winning this game tonight". When our FAs signings got paid they thought "I've made it, I'm rich".