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June 11, 2010
As has been well documented, Tom Izzo made a visit to Cleveland yesterday with his family to meet with Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers’ front office people. It seems Gilbert did everything in his power to make the trip successful, including diverting the private plane to a smaller airstrip in order to avoid media. Well played sir.
The meeting lasted anywhere from 7.5 to 9 hours depending on who you listen to, and concluded with Izzo leaving town without announcing any kind of deal was in place. Does this surprise WFNY? Absolutely not. I would have been more surprised if he had made the announcement here.
So the waiting game continues, which of course fans here in Cleveland are quite used to at this point.
As for WFNY’s previous report, our source has not wavered from his stance that Izzo told player(s) that he would be taking the Cavs job. Now, there has been a lot of time pass since then, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone who has had to make this kind of life-changing decision to find out that Izzo has gone back and forth in his mind. There are many factors to consider here, including uprooting family.
The ironic thing is that since the story came out here Wednesday, we’ve found ourselves as a site kind of married to Izzo as the next coach of the Cavs even if we aren’t all really sure that he is the best man for the job.
And let me be perfectly clear about this: WFNY would much rather be wrong about a story and get the RIGHT coach here for the Cavaliers to win a title. Tom Izzo could be the right coach. We shall have to wait and see. We don’t think it will be a long wait to know whether he will accept the job however. As was previously reported, we do think an answer is coming today or possibly tomorrow. Rumors abound on twitter of a 4pm press conference.
150 Comments
@94 – Was that sarcasm? You must have missed the sarcasm button on the keyboard…it’s between the tab and the shift key.
BTW. I’ll totally go to a game with you if your buyin! wohooo!
What great coach didn’t have great players to go with him? Everyone uses that same arguement against Phil Jackson, too. But did the coach not play a role in making them great? Shaq coldn’t win a title until Phil taught him how.
I always buy, but I don’t drive.
And I think Coach K is considered just as iconic as any current coach in the NBA.
I actually wish Cleveland would hire a college coach (just not Izzo) because I think it would be an interesting test case of what happens when you put a good college coach onto a good team instead of a terrible one.
Yes College coaches have a track record of failing. So do NBA coaches, they get fired all the time. The NBA comes down to talent. Put Phil Jackson on the Nets last season and do they win some more games? Probably. Are they a playoff team? Hell no.
I would also argue that NBA coaches being able to move odwn to the college level and succeed has to do with name recognition which directly helps recruiting. Maybe so and so wasn’t a great NBA coach, but the name recognition he got in the NBA helps him get some decent players in college to hide his average coaching abilities.
I suppose you guys don’t find the idea of using your team as a “test case” amusing. But as a basketball fan I would enjoy seeing it. Again, just not with Izzo.
For what it’s worth there are some reports of another Izzo/ player’s meeting this afternoon on campus. Although it sounds like it was pre-scheduled for the fitting of their B10 title rings. Still, all in the same room.
Bron wants Byron
Players get rings for winning conference titles??Who knew.
I would love Izzo to come here and test the theory tivial. It would be the first time I can think of that a college coach got a shot at a good NBA job.
Gilbert wants Izzo.
Donavon was offered and accepted Orlando before changing his mind. I’m not sure if they meet your qualifications for a good job or not.
Also, i have to admit i’m becoming fond of this site, i’ve been reading through some of their other posts. Still disagree with the way they have handled what was said in the players only meeting.
Can’t say that I’m going to be an everyday reader but I think i’ll check in. I can’t wait for the next Tigers-Tribe series so I can stir things up in a whole different sport!
I don’t want Byron or Izzo.
I want Red Auerbach, Jackson, Pop, Riley, Rivers, and L. Brown, in that order.
Everyone else is Mike Brown.
it would be interesting seeing Red’s corpse on the sideline, but I don’t think it would help win many games.
who gets to light the cigar for him?
mgbode
John Naismith
I’m very hungry.
So what’s the word on this press conference? It was originally rumored for fou, that’s come and gone. So can we get an update?
keeping TW on task: http://www.izzos.com/index2.htm
Associated Press reports Tom Izzo called his players together for a team meeting to tell them . . . he’s still not sure about the Cavs job.
http://www.freep.com/article/20100611/SPORTS07/100611041/1354/sports/Report-MSUs-Izzo-tells-players-hes-undecided
Peace
Ty
So you guys are still sticking to your original story that he accepted the job, told his players that he was leaving, and then notified no one else, including his current employer?!?!! This nonsense has been discredited by everyone else, including Izzo himself! If he had accepted the job early in the week, and went down to tour Cleveland with his entire family, he would have no problem making an announcement of some kind either last night or on Friday…no announcement, and moving closer to Byron Scott means Izzo has yet to make a decision in either direction. Your sources led you down a wrong path, time to admit it, even if Izzo does accept the job, he DID NOT tell his players he was leaving in that first meeting. Come back to reality.
if true, he sure holds a lot of closed-door meetings to tell them he’s still undecided.
who does he think he is? brett favre?
Chitown,
please think harder or longer or something.
How should I think, Matt? What specifically about my comment was irrational?
Specifically, it is irrational to say that a denial is sufficient to prove that a thing did not occur.
Why would all of his players lie for him? None of them has said: “he told us he is leaving.” That’s not been documented by any player or any other news source. Also: PDcavsinsider: “Tom Izzo tells Michigan State team he’ll decide on #Cavs coach job on Saturday.” Sure sounds like he has yet to make a decision AND inform his team of said decision.
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/06/tom_izzo_to_announce_decision.html
EAT CROW WFNY. oh wait, no. you missed the announcement by a day. sorry.
no idea what really happened behind the scenes, but doesn’t look like we’ll know what transpired in those meetings.
All his players aren’t lying for him. They are, by and large, silent to the press.
WFNY claimed their sources heard from more than one player. I wouldn’t expect the players to “out” Izzo in any way, except anonymously. (And now that there’s this dungstorm, if WFNY is leveling, I’d expect damage control.)
Why must more than one news source have the sources that WFNY claims to have had, or why must said players have spoken to the other reporting agencies’ sources?
As far as Izzo’s recent comments, it could equally be that he is trying to backstroke on what he already told his team.
I am not vouching for WFNY, but I think the adamant calls for a retraction are illogical (For reasons I’ve stated in prior comments).
@Chitown – that link now has the PD saying that Izzo already told his team what he is doing.
so, more conflicting reports from a closed door meeting. not really able to definitively say what happened in those, huh.
Is Rich still buying?
I would still like to see the Gloria James Delonte West affair rumor in the news. This will bring a lot of people to learn more about the NBA. will
So, it’s been two team meetings so far, and Izzo still hasn’t made up his mind. The only site to EVER report that Izzo told his players he was going to the Cavs … was this one.
Get new sources, guys. And man up. Admit you were wrong.
Yea I’m buying if you’re flying.
Let’s be honest here though. It seems fairly clear that Izzo did not say he was taking the job. How irrational would it be for him to have told his players, but then his players tell no one + Izzo doesn’t tell his employer + he then tells the AP that he is undecided? I mean…I think it’s kind of obvious that in fact, WFNY got it a little fuzzy and what happened was that the players came away FEELING like he might leave, but Izzo never said as much.
That said, I’m hoping it’s Izzo and not Byron Scott aka Mike Brown version 2.0.
Tickets on me, folks!
Rich,
I’m flying. (Now Kashmir (Zep) is running through my head)
I don’t see what requires Izzo or Izzo’s employer to tell the press what occurred in a room between Izzo and his players, much less what compels you now to rely on what is as easily construed as damage control.
WFNY said players, plural, told their sources, that they confirmed it, and now that they stand by it.
chitown, First and foremost, take off that stupid D.A.R.E shirt. What are you, 7?
Secondly, don’t you have to go put up a “PLEASE OH PLEASE LEBRON COME TO CHICAGO. PLEASE?” billboard?
Matty,
can we be less mean?
I didn’t realize I was being mean…
i thought it was pretty funny, but maybe i’m not the best judge on that one
“Did you guys read the original story citing today was the day the announcement would be made?”
Ok Rich they never said that friday was the exact day he would announce that he was accepting the job.
“We have also heard from a separate source that Izzo is holding off on announcing this until the end of the week, when his kids finish up school in the Lansing area.”
This is an exact quote, so it just depends whether you consider saturday to be in the end of the week.
a decision like this for izzo is really big. (<–insightful!!) he's certainly the second biggest coach in the ncaa now… recruiting assures his success as long as he's at state… his legacy is assured if stays in east lansing.
if he comes to cleveland and fails, he becomes no more than a pitino/calipari money seeker.
if were him, i'd stay at state. legacy is more valuable than dollars (which he has plenty of). it's the same reasoning behind why lebron should stay with the cavs.
i'd be delighted he came here. but rooting for him to come here is not where i'm at. this feeling is especially tuned in since i'm kinda offended by these other fan bases wanting to steal our guy.* i've been pleased to notice the comments here welcoming of izzo but there's also a lot of understanding of how it would hurt state and their fans.
*note: i recognize that blaming other fan bases for 'trying to steal our guy' is off-base. 'our guy' is making himself available so the offense should be directed at him. even so, i'd like to see these other fan bases create some distance with this dance. i'd like to see some honor among fanbases and i'd really like to see ny/chgo/la acknowledge that cleveland needs this more than they do.
Matty,
re: DARE shirt….hipster irony?
re: Lebron to Chicago, I could care less, I am a Pistons fan. I would prefer him out of the central, to be honest.
And no one has really addressed this issue. If Izzo told the players on Tuesday what he had already decided, why did he need to call them in for another meeting to “tell them he hadn’t decided yet”? This can’t be both ways. Or did he call the second meeting to tell them again what he already told them on Tuesday? I’m not saying that he won’t accept the job, I’m just saying that saying he told the players his decision on Tuesday is outright incorrect.
OK I’m over it. If Izzo goes, MSU gets Gregory or another former assistant who can still get the talent out of Detroit/Flint/Saginaw/Ohio–MSU will be fine.
I don’t believe what I read about Gilbert–EVERYTHING hinges on keeping LBJ. How much time does Gilbert give Izzo before he pulls the offer?
tired of commenting on this, i’ve already written some lengthy posts about using anonymous sources and having them contradicted.
I’ll just say that every major newspaper in Michigan, including several with permanent MSU beat writers, numerous Cavs beat writers, and others are working on nothing else but this story.
It seems virtually impossible that Izzo could have made a definitive statement about is intentions several days ago in a room with 15-20 people and this site is the only one with sources saying what that definitive statement was. Instead most are reporting the opposite. Clearly they’ve built up a ton of credibility with their readers though, so they must do a good job.
As for whether he stays or goes, I think he’s clearly wrestling with this decision. I’d say it’s 70/30 that he takes the cleveland job.
If Lebron stays it is a Golden opportunity. Even if he leaves it has a lot of what I think coach would be looking for in an NBA job. It’s in the midwest, he as a good relationship/ familiarity with the owner etc. But I think the longer this plays out now, it favors him sticking around. To me the delay means even though he knows it’s a great opportunity he can’t quite get himself to go through with it.
The longer Izzo remains undecided the more I think he takes the job which I think will be unfortunate for both Izzo and the Cavaliers. I hope I’m wrong though.
Chitown, the pieces are beginnning to fall into place…
What pieces?
The pieces that lend me a little insight into who Chitown Spartan is…..
(To be completely honest, I have no idea)
I just don’t automaticallys hate you anymore now that I know you’re not a Chicago Bulls fan.
Clearly, WFNY will publish a correction tomorrow. I’ve been a defender all week, but it is obvious the source was wrong. Time to man up.
Only way WFNY can somewhat reedem itself now would be if they break the next news related to Izzo’s final decision (they were wrong the first time – obv he never made a decision and never told his players he was leaving). But if Izzo decides to stay and they are first to report it, even then, they look a little foolish because of their first report.
Maybe Izzo is Waiting for Next Year…
Don’t worry. WFNY will STAND BY THEIR SOURCES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
C’mon guys. I’ve also been defending you throughout the last week but it’s time to publish that apology as you said you would. Trust me, I wanted Izzo here more to prove you guys right than because I’m totally sold on him as the next coach. It seems disingenuous to now bury your heads in the sand especially with no known timetable in place. Know when to fold’em guys.
Kind regards,
A loyal reader and visitor.