By TOM SHANAHAN
LAHAINA, Hawaii – As the eight coaches participating in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational took their seats upon an outdoor dais with a Pacific Ocean backdrop at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, tournament director Dave Odom asked them to don their Jim Maui sunglasses.
You’ve got to have a little fun in Maui to satisfy the sponsor before getting down to the gritty work, right?
ESPN’s Dave Schulman, serving as the moderator, asked questions both analytical and whimsical for the 36th annual Maui Invitational Monday through Wednesday at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Izzo, we all know, is intense on the bench, but Shulman also recognized he is a great set up for the whimsical. He’s not afraid of self-deprecating humor.
“I’ve been here many times, but my first one, I’ll never forget it,” said Izzo of his head coach debut, succeeding retired coach Jud Heathcote in the 1995-96 season. “It it was against Chaminade and we blew you guys (looking at Chaminade coach Eric Brovair) out by two (actually, three, 69-66). Jud Heathcote and Magic Johnson were sitting right behind me. You talk about pressure. That was pressure.”
But during a breakout session off the dais, Izzo also spoke about his No. 3-ranked team (3-1) preparing for Monday’s first-round game at noon (5 p.m. ET) against Virginia Tech (5-0). The Hokies’ new coach, Mike Young, took Wofford College to the NCAA Tournament round of 32 a year ago.
Away from the dais, Izzo said sophomore forward/guard Aaron Henry is “99 percent” recovered from his ankle sprain suffered in the Seton Hall win on Nov. 14 and from subsequently sitting out the Charleston Southern win on Nov. 18 that served as the Maui Mainland opener.
“The ankle is fine,” Izzo said. “He’s practiced well. I don’t think he’s playing as well as he can and needs to play. That’s hopefully what tournaments like this do for you. You play three days in a row one. If you don’t play well you get exposed. If you do play well, the adulation goes to you.”
MORE FROM THE COACHES
Schulman queried each of the coaches, but first he offered what he likes about the tournament field.
“We have got iconic programs,” he said. “We have got a couple of Hall of Fame coaches here (Tom Izzo, Kansas’ Bill Self). We have got a National Player of the Year candidate in (Michigan State’s) Cassius Winston. We’ve got one of the great freshman in the country in (Georgia’s) Anthony Edwards. We’ve got (Dayton’s) Obadiah Toppin, a breakout candidate, who is going to be, if he’s not already, a household name very soon. We got a lot of exciting things to look forward to over the next few days here in Mau.”
Here are snapshot comments from each of the coaches:
— TOM IZZO, No. 3 Michigan State (3-1): “It’s been an interesting year for us so far, losing what I consider maybe our best two-way player, Josh Langford. And then with the tragedy that happened to Cassius, we’re kind of trying to figure out where we are, trying to figure out when we can practice. But I do have a hell of a point guard. He’s different than most. I’ve never seen him touch the rim, never ever seen him dunk, so him and I have something in common; maybe that’s why we have a good relationship. But he’s an interesting player.
“I’ve got another guy named Xavier Tillman, who is just kind of a solid. He’s Draymond Green-ish. He just does all the dirty work, does a lot of the things. So we got a good team but we’re still trying to find ourselves, like a lot of these teams are.”
— MIKE YOUNG, Virginia Tech (5-0): When asked about his team’s avalanche of three-point shooting (68 of 161, 40 percent), he said: “That’s just where we are at this point in our development. I would like to be able to throw the thing in the post and get fouled more often. I can’t.
“But we do have a number of guys that can shoot the basketball. I think we pass the ball pretty well and have a very good point guard (Wabissa Bede) that has been good for us through five games. His assist/turnovers are 32 to 7, something like that. So our turnovers have been down and our kids are willing to share the ball and we, again, we do have a number of guys that can shoot it.”
— TOM CREAN, Georgia (4-0): “The thing that stands out to me — and this is why I’m not sure we’re ready for this yet — is the physicality of the teams in this tournament. There’s experience here, there’s physicality. We play Dayton. Dayton is not only deep, physical, but they’re so active; tremendous activity and movement. And their offense and their defense, the way they support each other. We’re in a big-time learning stage with 10 new players. We have seven scholarship freshmen, two walk-on freshmen and a grad transfer.
“So we’re trying to indoctrinate 10 new guys into this. But I think we’ll learn a ton about what we have got to get better at. I’ll never forget 25 years ago we (as a Michigan State assistant to Tom Izzo) went 1-2 in the tournament. We learned an awful lot about where we had to go. And a week later we turned around and we beat Arkansas, who was the defending national champion. So, to me, it’s unreal learning that you get from coming out of this if you’ll apply it the right way.”
— ANTHONY GRANT, Dayton (3-0): “I think the first thing that you notice about (Toppin) is that he plays with great passion. He really enjoys playing the game. I think he really enjoys competing. He’s 6-9, really athletic, and has a diverse skill set. So I think he’s a guy that is an engine for us and we’re excited to have him.”
— BILL SELF, No. 4 Kansas (3-1): “Well, we played well in New York and had 28 turnovers, so we didn’t get off to a great start. We have been a little better since then. But I like our guys. We have a good blend of experience and some young youthful exuberance, so to speak. And we do make mistakes but we usually make mistakes trying.
“So I do think we have a chance to be a pretty good team in time. We’re not close to being a team yet. But this tournament usually lends itself to allow teams to become much closer, getting away and having a chance to experience three games over here. We’re excited to be here.”
ERIC BOVAIRD, Division II Chaminade (2-0): “This event is so special to us. It’s something we talk about and plan for a long period of time. It’s what we’re known for worldwide, especially in the basketball world. So it’s an incredible event. I don’t take it for granted. I woke up this morning, looked outside and just thankful to be in an incredible place like this.”
“My first six guys have a lot of college basketball experience, some of them, fourth and fifth year players and have been at Division I schools. But a guy I’m really proud of is Tyler Cartaino that’s been in my program for five years now. He was Male Scholar Athlete of the Year of our conference. He’s not only a great student, but a great basketball player. Four years ago he didn’t even see the floor for us, but continued to work really hard and now he’s a preseason All-American and first-team All-Conference player. So I love to see a guy develop like that.”
MARK POPE, BYU (3-2): “We have a veteran team with some really talented players. Jake Toolson is a special offensive talent. He can score at all three levels and is an unbelievable finisher around the rim. T.J. Haws is a proven veteran point guard. We have to play a little bit different. We’re pretty small and we’re not very deep right now, but we have some veteran guys that know how to play this game. They are excited about playing it a different way and trying to figure out how we can win that way.”
MICK CRONIN, UCLA (4-1): “I keep trying to remind myself, ‘These guys didn’t play for you.’ So I go home every night, I think the pressure’s on me, not my players. Because when you take a job you’re speaking Greek to the guys and you’re not speaking Greek to yourself.
“So you have to try to invoke what we’re all so good at up here which is patience. Coaches, we have a plethora of it, we really display it all the time with officials. But, yeah, the biggest challenge is just trying to have patience and focus on the journey, not the result sometimes, and making sure that you’re doing the right things every day, because that’s what you can control. And really trying to help my players through the transition is my focus.”
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I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055
Tom Shanahan, Author: Raye of Light http://tinyurl.com/knsqtqu
— Book on Michigan State’s leading role in the integration of college football. It explains Duffy Daugherty’s untold pioneering role and debunks myths that steered recognition away from him to Bear Bryant.
http://shanahan.report/a/the-case-for-duffy-and-medal-of-freedom
Don’t believe the myths at Duffy Daugherty’s expense about Bear Bryant’s motivation to play the 1970 USC-Alabama game or myths about the Charlie Thornhill-for-Joe Namath trade. Bear Bryant knew nothing about black talent in the South while he dragged his feet on segregation.
http://www.shanahan.report/a/forty-four-underground-railroad-legacy-facts
http://shanahan.report/a/myths-that-grew-out-of-1970-alabama-game-with-usc
http://shanahan.report/a/mystery-solved-in-thornhill-and-namath-myth
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winner and biographer; “History writes people out of the story. It’s our job to write them back in.”
https://www.augustpublications.com/
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