Tommy Amaker had yet another opportunity after Thursday night’s abomination to take some personal responsibility for his team’s underachievement. Instead, and rather too predictably, he takes the road most cowardly. The latest addition to the his galleria of excuses, deflections, and self-serving spin came today when he scolded those who have the audacity to question his team’s rightness for the field of 65 given that “We have the same conference record as Michigan State and everyone has them getting a bid.â€
Hoopraker would gladly offer a few answers:
1. Michigan State is still playing, Amaker’s team was upset by the conference 10 seed. When Michigan State needed a win against an inferior opponent to bolster their resume, they get it done. Same scenario for Michigan and very different result. MSU follows the Purdue win with a monstrous win over Illinois on Friday. They control their destiny while Michigan sits at home playing victim, begging the committee to overlook the stench of 7 losses in the last 9 games.
2. Non-Conference and Overall Strength of Schedule:
RPI: MSU 16, Michigan 37.
Strength Of Schedule Rank: MSU 12, UM 25.
Record vs. Top 30: MSU 5-6, UM 2-8.
UM’s toughest non-con was UCLA, a loss. MSU went 2-1 versus Gonzaga, Boston College, and Arizona. In conference, MSU played all of the top six teams in the conference twice. UM played only four of the top six twice.
3. Overall record:
MSU 22-10
UM 18-10
Yes, 20 wins is still a benchmark in NCAA basketball. Just as it has been in the modern age.
4. Bad losses. MSU lost badly to Hawaii on 11/19/05, their first game of the season. UM lost 94-66 to Iowa on 2/4/06, halfway through the B10 slate.
5. Overall program respect. Some may say it’s all about the numbers for the season at hand and mostly, it is. However, there is something Izzo has earned over his tenure at MSU that you can only dream of. It’s called respect. The National Title, the Final Fours, the Big Ten titles, and all the Top 10, Top 20 rankings that Izzo has notched are worth something. If a selection committee needs to make a judgment call, the Izzo tradition of excellence has, and should, have influence. Not that he needs any favoritism, but when it comes down to shades of gray, the committee is going to give Izzo teams the benefit of the doubt. Amaker on the other hand, has earned nothing but doubt.
6. Not that the selection committee cares about Amaker’s postgame sound bytes, but I think it is worth noting that when Izzo lost Trannon and then Gray to injury, he never used it as an excuse. Meanwhile, the past two seasons Amaker has trotted out the injury excuse at every opportunity.
