Tom Izzo has a message for critical Michigan State couch coaches

Every Michigan State fan thinks they’re an expert. There’s been a point in time in every Spartan hoops fan’s life that they believed that they knew better than Tom Izzo.

Every single time, Izzo has humbled us.

Izzo is a Hall of Famer for a reason, and it’s because he’s one of the best of all time at what he does. He’s a great Xs and Os coach and excellent motivator. He’s also one of the best situational adjustment coaches in the game and he continues to show that every year during the NCAA Tournament. Not many coaches make in-game adjustments quite like Izzo.

He’s also an elite decision-maker. Izzo is usually on the right side of a tough decision.

That includes knowing what to do when one of his players is called for two fouls early in the first half. A lot of Michigan State fans have begged for him to play guys after they get their second foul, especially if they’ve sat for most of the first half.

On Sunday against Ohio State, Izzo put Jaxon Kohler back in the game near the end of the first half after he picked up two early fouls. He promptly picked up a third.

Because of that, he had a message for all the Spartan couch coaches in the fanbase and the media.

Izzo sounded off on the fans and members of the media who have criticized him for years for not playing guys in the first half when they pick up their second foul. It immediately backfired the first time that Izzo does it so we can pretty much kiss that option goodbye, barring an extreme circumstance like an injury or game getting out of hand early.

Seeing Kohler pick up that third foul in the first 20 minutes and being forced to sit him and then watching him pick up No. 4 too early in the second half was a nightmare scenario. It almost led to an upset loss to Ohio State at home — again.

Izzo did this maybe not to prove a point, but he got his point across. He won’t be doing this regularly.