Tom Izzo calls out fans for Twitter behavior: 'I'd fight those people'

Tom Izzo has had it with the Twitter haters. The Michigan State coach went on a miniature rant over the Twitter behavior of some fans when it comes to his current players.

Bottom line: He would rather you take it out on him than his players, though he stopped just short of an epic ‘I’m a Man’ Mike Gundy speech.

“There’s a few things that have really taken a toll on our jobs as sports guys,” Izzo began. “Everybody thinks they know.”

Izzo singled out two players by name in his discussion of the Twitter behavior in question. One was forward Joey Hauser, who’s the teams’ second-leading scorer. The other was center Mady Sissoko.

It’s unclear whether Izzo was specifically referencing Twitter issues with those two or not, but his comments followed along those lines.

“One probably helped a guy move on and one probably almost helped a guy to quit,” Izzo said. “And you want me to stick up for Twitter? You want me to look at people that don’t have a clue and say the things they say? I struggle with that.

“So Mady has got to get better. Every day he works to get better. Every day he does everything I can ask of him. Some of it sooner or later is in talent. Some of it was how do you start out? You know, he misses that senior year because of the injury. Then he misses his freshman year, more or less, because of COVID. You don’t get to get better.”

Twitter behavior in the crosshairs for Tom Izzo

The point Izzo was making is that, right or wrong, players do follow what’s said on social media and it can exacerbate issues on the team.

Do fans have a right to say whatever they want on Twitter? Sure. Whether they should say whatever they want is another matter.

“I understand, but when you say that it bothers me because you don’t deal with the mental health issues,” Izzo said. “You don’t deal with the confidence issues. He’s just coming right above a guy that’s out there. I deal with it morning, noon, night and late night. There’s not a day that goes by.

“You walk up into my office right now there’s a board. There’s all kinds of stuff. There’s things about Iowa, there’s plays on there. The whiteboard is black because we use the black pen and it’s covered, from head to toe. And I had a guy that came in to do a game last week, Jimmy Jackson, a friend of mine and I laughed. (The board was) useless. Had three meetings last night that meant more than that board means.”

Bottom line: Keeping your roster right mentally is increasingly challenging in the social media era.

And Izzo wants everyone to know the negative impact they can have on the end product they so desperately crave (i.e. good basketball).

“When I see people out there ripping my guys… I’ll rip my guys,” Izzo said. “You know why I rip my guys? Because I love my guys. I spend a lot of time with my guys. I’ve got some idiot out there ripping my guy that spends no time with my guy? And I see what it does to my guy?

“You’re damned right I’d fight those people. So if they want to rip me, I get paid to get ripped.”