Tom Izzo gets into heated exchange with player during March Madness loss

Whatever point Michigan State coach Tom Izzo wanted to get across to Gabe Brown, he certainly made it — and then some. The TBS broadcast’s camera caught Izzo getting into heated exchange with

Whatever point Michigan State coach Tom Izzo wanted to get across to Gabe Brown, he certainly made it — and then some.

The TBS broadcast’s camera caught Izzo getting into heated exchange with his junior forward heading into the tunnel at halftime of the Spartans’ “First Four” 86-80 overtime loss to UCLA late Thursday night.

The coach can be seen in Brown’s ear with his arm around this waist, causing an upset Brown to try to pull away and Izzo getting a hand of his jersey. Izzo then ran after Brown toward the back of the tunnel to say a little more. The player heard him coming, turned around appears to saying something angrily back at his coach with Michigan State up, 44-33, at the break.

“He missed a play and I told him. He walked away and I told him to come back,” Izzo said. “It was a normal thing. Just this day and age, everything is something. It was over a missed switch that we had talked about.”

Izzo got into similar confrontation with Aaron Henry during the 2019 NCAA Tournament, but his former players defended the coach’s actions on Thursday.

“Typical Michigan State exchange… move on RELAX!” Warriors star Draymond Green wrote on Twitter.

Typical Michigan State exchange… move on RELAX!

— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) March 19, 2021

Brandon Wood called what happened part of what makes Izzo a great coach.

“That was one of the parts Izzo’s coaching style I respected the most,” Wood tweeted. “The situation going into the tunnel was nothing! He allows his players to challenge him and he’s coming right back at you! I bet he was hype after all that.”

— with AP

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Joseph Staszewski

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