At 9 p.m. MSU alumnus and three-time NBA champion Draymond Green took the press podium with pride, sharing his emotions about the night his jersey would be retired and flown next to Magic Johnson and Mateen Cleaves in the Breslin Center.
Three hours later, coach Tom Izzo took that same podium, but with a completely different set of emotions.
“What a shame for me, for our fans, and really for (Green,)” Izzo said in reaction to the Spartans' 87-75 loss to Duke Tuesday night. “I mean, this thing meant the world to him. I have never seen a guy so excited about coming back.”
The 25-year Michigan State basketball head coach entered the press room visibly frustrated, blaming himself for the underwhelming performance the green and white showed in one of the most anticipated matchups of the season, and more importantly, in front of a Spartan legend like Green.
“I'm embarrassed,” Izzo said. “Embarrassed that a player that I love came back here and probably laid some of the groundwork with Mateen Cleaves on toughness and I didn't think that we played with that tonight.”
On a night that Green described as one he “could only dream of,” the No. 11 Spartan squad struggled to put up much of a fight against No. 10 Duke. Michigan State never claimed dominance over the Blue Devils, struggling to find a rhythm that resulted in a poor performance all across the board.
Green was joined by fellow Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, general manager Bob Myers, owner Joe Lacob and teammates Klay Thompson and D'Angelo Russell. Izzo expressed disappointment in the Spartans for not showing out on a night that held such significance not only within the Spartan community but specifically to Green.
“I sure do feel bad because I’m so proud of that kid and what he’s done,” Izzo said. “That probably is as big a disappointment for me on a night of somebody that I appreciate, love and respect and you'd hope you'd play harder to honor that.”
When analyzing what exactly went wrong for the Spartans, Izzo did nothing but put the blame on himself for Michigan State’s lack of toughness during the top 15 matchup.
“There’s no reason that you don't play harder ... that falls on me,” Izzo said. “I thought some guys didn’t compete as well, but that’s my job, so the only one who should be held accountable for that is me.”
Michigan State has struggled with a month that has been anything but what they expected, with the largest factor being the death of Cassius Winston’s brother Zachary. When asked how Izzo plans on brining normalcy back to this evolving Spartans squad he again put himself on the chopping block.
“I was told by a couple of very important people to me that you don't wait for normalcy,” Izzo said. “I'm just not doing a very good job of pushing that.”
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