Tom Izzo Talks Prepping for Louisville and Dogs the Refs for Screwing Illinois in 2005

Will Brinson — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:42:50 +0000

Tom Izzo popped into the Waddle and Silvy show on Monday, presumably to chat about Michigan State and their chances of winning the title in Detroit this year (I mean … duh, right? Yeah, duh.) Instead, Waddle and Silvy decided to ask him about prepping for Louisville and “home court advantage.”

Thank God they did, because Izzo kind of laid into the refs from the 2005 National Championship Game, which Illinois lost to North Carolina (paging Dr. Leitch … your anxiety is calling …). He also mentioned that they saw some weaknesses in the Cardinals’ zone Sunday when he was on briefly, before downplaying how awesome it is to play in basically your home town.

On just one day to prepare for Louisville:
“…Very athletic team, but in their zone we just saw some gaps in the middle of it … they made some adjustments … but it just left the wings open …once we got that lead, I don’t know if we were inspired and they were depressed but it just kind of grew.”

On the home court advantage in Detroit (and not putting anything into it):
“Well, I don’t know how much it will bring us, Bruce and I were both in that Final Four in 2005 and there was a ton of Illini fans there and, uh, who actually cheered for us too in our opener, but I think what they needed was a couple more officials in that championship game and they’d be our national champs themselves, no insult to the striped guys, but that was a tough game there. And now that’s even changed more … I’m sure we’ll get some tickets … but, uh, I don’t know how much the home court does for you … it won’t be like it was on Sunday [against Louisville] …”

Listen to Tom Izzo (bonus … Bruce Weber!) on ESPN Radio Chicago with Waddle and Silvy (Izzo joins call at 9 minutes into podcast)

NCAA Tournament South Region Interviews

Jimmy Shapiro — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:43:32 +0000

At the start of the year, most pundits thought that the North Carolina Tar Heels, led by senior All-American Tyler Hansbrough, would be cutting down the nets come April. At one point, there was even talk of the ‘Heels navigating a tough non-conference and competitive ACC schedule undefeated. That of course didn’t happen, but here we are, with the tournament set to tip-off this week, and North Carolina is where they want to be, with a #1 seed in the most geographically favorable region. Standing in there way are a tough Oklahoma squad, led by PF Blake Griffin, one of just a handful of guys in the game who can hang with Hansbrough; and a dangerous, but perhaps tired #3 seed in Syracuse, who expended an awful lot of energy in the Big East Tournament. Will they have enough left in the tank to muster a run at a Final Four? Can John Beilein complete the resurrection of the once proud Michigan program with a run like the ones he was able to lead while at West Virginia? Gonzaga, Illinois and Arizona State all are dangerous, and don’t blink an eye if you’re guarding Temple’s Dionte Christmas, perhaps the most dangerous scorer in this bracket that nobody’s really heard about. Odds to win the South Regional can be found after the interviews, compliments of Bodog, www.BodogLife.com.

Reason why #1 seed doesn’t make it to the Final Four: If Ty Lawson isn’t close to a 100%, North Carolina is very beatable. Roy Williams should rest him for at least the first game against Radford.

Best bet in the first round: Butler + 2 1/2 over LSU

Player I’m most looking forward to playing in the NBA: Johnny Flynn. I’m biased as a Syracuse grad, but I think he’s the best point guard in the country. Deceptively strong with a better jumper than most point guards. I hope he stays another year, but I doubt it.

Prediction for this bracket: North Carolina, they’re just too deep. However, if Lawson is still hobbled, I’ll go with Syracuse. Sleeper pick would be Gonzaga.

Listen to North Carolina (#1) Head Coach Roy Williams on The Dan Patrick Show

Listen to Oklahoma (#2) Head Coach Jeff Capel on ESPN Radio with Tirico & Van Pelt

Listen to Syracuse (#3) Head Coach Jim Boeheim on KLAC with Chris Myers and Steve Hartman

Listen to Gonzaga (#4) Head Coach Mark Few on KTAR in Phoenix with Gambo & Ash

Listen to Illinois (#5) Head Coach Bruce Webber on WSCR in Chicago

Listen to Arizona State (#6) Head Coach Herb Sendek on KTAR in Phoenix with Doug & Wolf

Listen to Butler (#9) Head Coach Brad Stevens on 1070 the Fan in Indy with Bob Kravitz and Eddie White

Listen to Michigan (#10) Head Coach John Beilein on WTKA in Ann Arbor

Listen to Temple (#11) Head Coach Fran Dunphy on WIP in Philadelphia with Howard Eskin

Listen here to Western Kentucky (#12) Head Coach Ken McDonald on KTAR in Phoenix with Gambo & Ash

Listen here to Akron (#13 South) Head Coach Keith Dambrot on ESPN Radio Cleveland

Listen here to Stephen F. Austin (#14) Head Coach Danny Kaspar on ESPN Radio Syracuse

Listen to Morgan State (#15) Head Coach Todd Bozeman on WNST in Baltimore with Drew Forrester

Listen here to Radford (#16) head coach Brad Greenberg on KJR in Seattle

Team	Odds
#1 North Carolina	1/3
#2 Oklahoma	3/1
#3 Syracuse	4/1
#4 Gonzaga	9/2
#5 Illinois	13/1
#6 Arizona State	14/1
#7 Clemson	18/1
#8 LSU	27/1
#9 Butler	35/1
#10 Michigan	35/1
#11Temple	45/1
#12 Western Kentucky	60/1
#13 Akron	100/1
#14 Morgan State	350/1
#15 Radford	350/1
#16 Stephen F. Austin	350/1

Sports Radio Interviews » Illinois Fighting Illini

Tom Izzo Talks Prepping for Louisville and Dogs the Refs for Screwing Illinois in 2005

NCAA Tournament South Region Interviews