Costa and Jansen give their thoughts on Michigan's and Michigan State's tournament runs that ended in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00And we've got to put some final thoughts on the season for Michigan and Michigan State.
00:05I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of for either of these teams.
00:10Both were bounced when they should have been bounced.
00:13And the way they should have been bounced.
00:15Michigan, you play sloppy all year.
00:17Turnovers in the first half, into the second half, 15 of them, Auburn's going to pounce.
00:22They were the number one overall seed.
00:24For MSU, what was the thing we said?
00:26A cold shooting night against the wrong team.
00:30That was how they were going to lose.
00:33So I don't think there's any shame.
00:35But I am curious if you're satisfied with your team's season.
00:38How you feel about the way they played this year and this weekend.
00:412-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
00:44I don't think anybody should be ashamed of either team.
00:47And Michigan made it way farther from the way they started the season.
00:52Let's go back even further.
00:54From where they ended last year.
00:56The hiring of Dusty May.
00:58The revamping, restaffing of the roster.
01:03And to where they were now.
01:05And getting to the Sweet 16, huge victory.
01:08For Michigan State, it was kind of similar where you have a team that starts the season,
01:14not on anybody's top 25,
01:16and you end up in the Elite 8,
01:18and you lose to the number one overall team in the country?
01:23I mean, would it have been nice to win? Sure.
01:26Could they have won? Yes.
01:28But they were going to have to do some things,
01:30much like Michigan was going to have to continue to do things
01:32that they hadn't done all season long.
01:34The well was eventually going to go dry.
01:36The well went dry for Michigan State because they just weren't a great shooting team.
01:39Defense was the thing that kept them in it all the way to the end.
01:44But that 17-0 run,
01:47that was insurmountable.
01:49They were never able to recover.
01:50They were able to get within 8,
01:52but then Auburn just said,
01:53OK, thanks.
01:54And they kept them at Arkham's Lake.
01:56We've seen MSU overcome double-digit deficits.
01:58They did against Ole Miss.
02:00That 17-0 run was curtains.
02:04Would've liked to see Tom take a timeout during that stretch.
02:06Would've liked to see Jace Richardson get back into the game.
02:08He left when it was 10-8.
02:10He came back and it was 23-8.
02:12And you're right.
02:13From there, it just kind of stayed at about 8, 10, 12 points.
02:16They get it down to 8 and then it bloomed back up.
02:19And MSU was, look, you shoot that way against a team like that,
02:24your season's over.
02:25And maybe you're at peace with it
02:27because that was always the Achilles heel of this basketball team.
02:30I don't think you're thrilled falling short of a Final Four.
02:33Michigan State's program's built on getting to the Final Four.
02:36Tom Izzo's legacy is Final Fours and more.
02:40But you let us know.
02:42248-539-9797.
02:44We'll get some ticket text in the mix on it.
02:45I mean, to me, first off, this is a team in the preseason
02:49that got zero votes in the AP poll.
02:51They weren't top 25.
02:53They weren't top 44 in the AP poll.
02:56So they significantly overachieved.
02:58And I thought talk of going into the tournament
03:00with them expecting them to get to the Final Four
03:03was a little unfair to them, and it was because of who was there.
03:07Like we thought, Selection Sunday, so it was St. Paddy's Day,
03:10the day after we broke down the bracket,
03:12and there was a clear four, right?
03:14And that held true.
03:16I mean, like I don't understand how State fans could be upset
03:19with what happened yesterday, because clearly,
03:21the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament had another gear.
03:24They showed it against Michigan, and they took it to State.
03:26And State always fell in holes earlier this year.
03:28It was one of their knocks, other than the three-point shooting.
03:31It's actually kind of miraculous what they did.
03:34It shows how good of a team they are, minus three-point shooting,
03:37because to end up where they ended up
03:40with 31% three-point shooting throughout a season
03:43is kind of a miracle in today's basketball.
03:45The three is more important than it's ever been.
03:48It's like if they could have shot 35%,
03:51what would they have been this year?
03:53I mean, seriously.
03:54Yesterday could have been a game, potentially,
03:56if they had knocked down a few threes.
03:58They knocked down a couple threes. They hang in.
04:00I think the other issue, though, was MSU's defense was their calling card,
04:04but there's no answer for the size of Auburn, right?
04:07Like Jani Broome is a problem.
04:09He's a problem for Michigan on Friday.
04:11He was a problem for Michigan State on Sunday.
04:15Even if State goes shot for shot,
04:17I think their ability to turn teams over
04:20and shut teams down for four or five minutes,
04:22Auburn had the answer to that.
04:24They weren't going to go four or five minutes without Auburn scoring
04:26because they could go down to the low block and the low post,
04:29and there was no answers.
04:30I mean, Izzo said before the game he was going to play Zapawa and Booker.
04:33Booker didn't play. Zapawa did. It didn't matter.
04:35Well, some people criticize Izzo for not going to the press earlier
04:39in the second half because of how it worked.
04:41Well, you don't know that.
04:42Over time, usually teams can figure out how to break a press,
04:45especially a talented team like them.
04:47Auburn was struggling with it, but I mean, exactly what you said, Jim.
04:49I'm sitting there, and I'm like State is giving up way too many easy baskets.
04:53Like in that lull there between the 12-minute mark
04:56and like 7-minute mark of the second half,
04:58it's every time State needed a stop, they couldn't get it,
05:01and the game would go back to a 10-point lead.
05:03They could never claw their way because they were playing
05:05one of the power teams, and it finally caught into them.
05:08I mean, anybody that watched both those games Friday,
05:11I mean, Auburn, wow.
05:13And guess what?
05:14They have the fourth worst odds to win it.
05:16That team's the fourth best team in college basketball?
05:19It does look like there's a clear hierarchy at the top,
05:22and it's our first time we've had one seed since 08,
05:25all one seeds in the Final Four.
05:27Yeah.
05:28I think anybody who watched their team play this week,
05:31and this is Michigan and Michigan State fans, would say,
05:33yeah, Auburn was a cut above.
05:35Our team had flaws.
05:36We weren't going to win against a team like Auburn.
05:40And it's why I would ask Spartan fans today,
05:42are we going to still claim that we would rather have played Auburn?
05:47Because there was a lot of, I'm indifferent to who we play,
05:50or I'd actually rather play Auburn because Michigan fans
05:53are loud and obnoxious.
05:55Okay, would you rather have played Michigan or Auburn?
05:58I hope we can put that to bed today.
06:00I hope we're not stuck doing that routine.
06:01I'm not going to play Monday morning quarterback and say,
06:03because we lost, I would have rather played the easier team.
06:07Going into it, Michigan State fans all said, and they all agreed,
06:12would Michigan be an easier path?
06:15Yes.
06:16But a lot of them were okay with playing Auburn
06:19because they wanted a chance at the big dog.
06:22Yeah, you get bit.
06:24And I agree with that.
06:25I said it last week.
06:27If I was Michigan State, I'd want to play the big dog.
06:29We've already dispatched to Michigan twice.
06:31Even after seeing it.
06:32I'm not going to go back and say, oh, well, I'm going to change my mind now.
06:35But it's not in hindsight.
06:36We had the conversation ahead of time.
06:38And I said what I said.
06:39Congrats.
06:40You get toughness points for playing the best team,
06:42and your season ends.
06:44Congrats.
06:45You got to play the toughest road.
06:47You know who cares?
06:48Nobody.
06:49UConn won a national title beating five seeds.
06:51Do you think only half the banner hangs?
06:53MSU's in a 25-year drought.
06:55They should have rather played Michigan, clearly.
06:58There's no need to fight about it.
07:00There's no need to be stubborn about it and go, well, we were the tough team.
07:02We would have played anybody, any time.
07:04You want the path that gives you the best chance to win the title.
07:07There's no shame in it.
07:08And to stick to it after watching Auburn play is nonsense.
07:13Greg, you look like you have something to say.
07:15They don't have any agency over who they play.
07:17You don't get to schedule your elite eight opponents.
07:20Right.
07:21I'm sure they would have liked to play Western Kentucky to go to the Final Four.
07:24Sure.
07:25Yeah.
07:26But that didn't happen, did it?
07:27Did they get a chance to play Michigan again?
07:29No.
07:30No.
07:31The question was who you wanted to play.
07:32They had to play Auburn.
07:33And that's what you wanted.
07:34MSU fans wanted that.
07:35Yes.
07:36In this hypothetical world, sure.
07:37They wanted that.
07:38And so if you think if they all said, oh, well, we would much rather play Michigan.
07:43Yes, we want to play them a third time, that they would have played somebody different
07:47yesterday?
07:48No, it's just a question of are you willing to own up to, yeah, Auburn was a really bad
07:52draw for MSU.
07:53That's a team you didn't want to play.
07:56I think when we saw their seating, two, and they were in Auburn's portion of the bracket,
08:04everybody said, oh, yeah, that's going to be a tough game.
08:06And then if they won that one, oh, you get a chance to play Florida?
08:09Did Jim say it was going to be a tough game?
08:11Oh, they've lost three of their last four.
08:13Easy draw for MSU.
08:18The point was, if you're given a choice, Auburn or Michigan, we had people say they would
08:23rather play Auburn.
08:24So you get what you wanted, and I hope you're happy with it.
08:27248-539-9797.
08:29The rest of us looked at it and said, yeah, it would have been a better matchup to play
08:32Michigan.
08:33And you're probably still playing.
08:34Izzo's in his ninth Final Four.
08:36And you see what happens.
08:37You live to fight another day.
08:39Anyway, observations, 248-539-9797.
08:43Are you satisfied with your season?
08:44It's weird to say nobody likes when your season ends.
08:47But both these teams overachieved.
08:48MSU got one round further.
08:50They were the better team.
08:51What do you think?
08:5297-1.
10:23We got ticket texts.
10:39We got phone calls.
10:40We're talking Spartans.
10:41We're talking Wolverines.
10:42Season ended over the weekend.
10:44Auburn did it to them.
10:47But there's nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to feel bad about.
10:51Both these teams overachieved.
10:53So are you satisfied with the season?
10:56I think if you're Michigan, you're satisfied with year one Dusty May catching a little
11:01bit of lightning in a bottle, winning a Big Ten tournament title, and making a sweet 16,
11:05and reestablishing some standards for the program.
11:07Now, the reality is you've got to do it all over again.
11:09Next year, you're going to lose Wolf and Golden and welcome to college basketball.
11:13For Michigan State, I think the headline in the Freep was program refreshed.
11:17It had been a few years since they had made a run.
11:20You go to the Elite Eight, but again, welcome to college hoops.
11:23Fears will be gone.
11:25Fiddler will be gone.
11:26Jace has a big decision to make.
11:28And they're going to have to reboot and counts for nothing next year.
11:31That's just the way the sport is now.
11:34It is the way the sport is now.
11:36It's from year to year.
11:37And I can't speak in regards to Michigan State fans.
11:42Do they think it was a successful year?
11:44Coach Izzo, what do you think about him getting back to the Elite Eight, missing out on a
11:48missing out on a Final Four, not another national championship.
11:51It's been a long time.
11:53But for Michigan, that's where I can speak.
11:56Yeah, it was a success.
11:58We mentioned it last week.
11:59Getting to the Sweet 16 and beating the powerhouse that was UC San Diego,
12:07that was a good win.
12:10Getting to the field of 32.
12:12Getting past the field of 32, I think, is where most people would say,
12:15yeah, they've probably outkicked their coverage.
12:17They've completely obliterated any detriment or any questions about Dusty May,
12:26his extension, what he can do with this program, and what it means going forward.
12:30And for him, too.
12:31Hey, got to rebuild the roster for next year.
12:33A little easier to do when you make a run like this.
12:35You become more attractive.
12:37Well, yeah.
12:38And I mentioned it earlier where all of these teams are a little bit of a disadvantage
12:42because the transfer portal opened.
12:44They're not because, hey, we've got a team that, hey, I'm sorry,
12:48we can't host you this weekend or we can't take your phone call
12:51because we happen to still be playing.
12:53Like, that's a good selling point.
12:56Let's get to the phones.
12:57Michael on a cell.
12:58Good morning.
12:59You're on 97.1.
13:01Morning, John.
13:02Jim, nice meeting you this weekend.
13:04How you doing?
13:05Hey, good to hear from you.
13:07I wanted to talk about the conversation with Izzo
13:10and if he's ever going to get his second.
13:13I kind of agree with John.
13:15I think he can.
13:16I'm not going to bank on it and put my life savings on it.
13:19But I do think he needs to utilize the portal.
13:22I don't think it has to be at the volume like Dusty May did,
13:26having to rebuild an entire roster because the core is still there.
13:30But I do think he needs to find some scoring in the post
13:33and try and find someone who can knock down some shots
13:36because that was kind of the story yesterday.
13:40It felt like the only guy who could consistently get his own shot
13:43was Jace Richardson,
13:44and he didn't have like a super efficient day or anything.
13:47But I thought his absence was noticed during that 17-0 run.
13:50They don't have enough shot makers.
13:52Fears got some stuff late.
13:54He wasn't very good early.
13:56Holloman, over.
13:58And Fears wasn't even making free throws.
14:00That's the one thing he gets downhill and gets to the hoop.
14:02He's got to hit free throws.
14:03Not enough shot making from any of the guards.
14:06I think that's going to be a huge area they have to address.
14:08Yes.
14:09We've talked about it with the Pistons for a long time.
14:11You have to be able to play in modern basketball,
14:13and that's being able to shoot the three.
14:15And if Michigan State wants to get over the hump,
14:17they're going to have to have somebody that's a knockdown shooter.
14:20And that's the thing too.
14:21If you're going to pull off upsets, that's the great equalizer,
14:24knocking down three.
14:25See, MSU beat everybody they were supposed to, right?
14:29Every tournament game they were favored, they won.
14:31Now they played with fire.
14:32They had to come back, but they were the better team.
14:35So they could just lock in defensively and hold on for dear life
14:38and eke it out.
14:39You face a team that's better, that's got one-on-one mismatches
14:43that can win in the half court, your only chance is to knock down threes.
14:47And when you're the worst three-point shooting team left in the tournament,
14:50predictable result.
14:51Yes.
14:52I mean, it is.
14:53So the combination for them is you've got to be able to still play the same way.
14:58You've got to play great defense,
14:59but you've got to be able to be more consistent shooting.
15:02And some of that will come with some of the guys that will be back
15:05in experience if they're willing to come back to Tom Izzo's team.
15:08That's always the big question right now.
15:09Transfer portal's open.
15:10Who's going to enter it at this point?
15:12But I think he's got a better shot at retaining as many players
15:17as he wants to as anybody else.
15:19Some ticket texters.
15:20I'm oddly satisfied with MSU's season.
15:23Before yesterday, I didn't think I would be if and when they lost.
15:27But after watching Auburn and Duke play, it's clear they're on a different level
15:30and there's not much you can do against teams that good.
15:33The team did all they could.
15:36A texter says, as an MSU fan, I wanted Auburn.
15:39I wanted to beat three one seeds to do something no one's ever done.
15:42Good season, but not satisfied.
15:44I hold our program to a higher standard.
15:46See, I think that's at the crux of it for MSU.
15:49Can you call it a success if you don't make the final four when your program
15:52in Izzo is built on final fours?
15:54You probably don't feel like it's a success,
15:57but you also, at the same time, understood that they weren't ranked
16:00to start the season and they won a Big Ten regular season title
16:03and they finally got out of that opening weekend and made the Elite Eight.
16:06I think refresh is a good word for them.
16:09They needed a refresh.
16:11They had gotten kind of stale, right?
16:13There was a lot of talk about, does someone have to tell Tom to hit retirement?
16:18And now I don't think people are saying that.
16:20Yeah. No, I don't think they are.
16:22And do you think in the next couple of years,
16:25I mean, who knows how long he coaches?
16:27He's still vibrant. He's still coaching at a high level.
16:29He has all the intensity. How much longer can he coach?
16:33What do you think? Five years? Six years?
16:35There's coaches in their mid-70s.
16:37But yeah, I mean, another three, four years.
16:40If this reinvigorates them.
16:43Ticket text, 2485399797.
16:46Can we stop calling Izzo Mr. March?
16:48He had the easiest road to get to the Elite Eight,
16:50won the first three games they should have,
16:52and they didn't look good in any of them.
17:00Getting there is one thing.
17:02And obviously, there's no participation trophy.
17:05You don't get to just sit there.
17:07They don't raise banners for Elite Eight participation.
17:10You've got to get to the Final Four.
17:12You've got to win a national title.
17:14But they have as many bites at the apple almost as anybody else.
17:19The Mr. March thing.
17:21They did great in March. They just don't do great in April.
17:24That's when you take a Final Four to a title.
17:27I don't have an issue with it.
17:29The guy has had so many deep runs in the tournament.
17:31I think that's a weird fan thing.
17:33People want to fight about, is he Mr. March or not?
17:35Ticket texters, 2485399797.
17:39Jim's poor wife.
17:41She probably gets told, I told you so too much.
17:44JFC, shut up cookies.
17:47Jim Costa, what a horse bleep take.
17:49Let the boys enjoy.
17:51You always want to beat the best.
17:55People are still doing this.
17:56They still said they wanted to play Auburn.
17:59Jim, you're the only one that can't put this to bed.
18:01You're stuck on your opinion that Michigan State and Michigan could have met up.
18:04Let it go.
18:05Eric in North Carolina.
18:07Most Spartans were saying, next team up.
18:09Not, I'd rather not play U of M.
18:11This is insufferable.
18:12Joe in Livonia.
18:13You know, one thing this tournament proved though.
18:15You're going to run into one of these buzz saws eventually.
18:17So whether you get to a final four, if you get to play Michigan.
18:21Okay, well then Duke or Florida or Houston's waiting.
18:24Are you asking me, would you rather make the final four than the elite eight?
18:26I'm simply saying that, of course you would and stuff.
18:30It's not of course.
18:31I just read these texts.
18:32It's not of course.
18:33It is for you.
18:34I mean, but it was for you last week.
18:36See, you said this last week.
18:38Are you doing a little, I told you so, so what?
18:40Yeah.
18:41We certainly talk about when we're wrong around here, don't we?
18:43I mean, look, I just never understood.
18:45Yeah.
18:46I wanted to lose.
18:47Yeah.
18:48I wanted to go out one round earlier.
18:49Yeah.
18:50Maybe you lose in the final four.
18:51Wouldn't you rather be there?
18:52Wouldn't you rather win one more game?
18:54But yeah, you got to play the tougher route.
18:56So congrats.
18:57You guys are the toughest team also on your couch.
19:00It doesn't do anything.
19:01I mean, I just think in general though, this tournament proved that we said
19:05two weeks ago that there was four juggernauts.
19:07That's what we thought.
19:08But this is the NCAA tournament and things happen.
19:10Well, they delivered.
19:11They're the top four teams in the Ken Palm.
19:13The next four teams are the four teams that made the elite eight.
19:16I mean, if you want chalk, that's the chalkiest thing ever.
19:19All you had to do was go to the Ken Palm ranking selection Sunday,
19:22take the top eight teams and make the elite eight.
19:24And then the four one seeds to win.
19:26And you would have had the entire thing.
19:28Correct.
19:29From that point on.
19:30I mean, it's just the reality for me.
19:32Like it's clear state played.
19:34I thought state played better against Auburn than Michigan.
19:37That might be something that people don't agree with.
19:40It's kind of like for Michigan.
19:41Once Auburn decided to wake up and say, oh, there's 10 minutes left.
19:45We might be in trouble here.
19:47And they just went boom.
19:48And the onslaught was on onslaught was on.
19:51And Michigan started turning a ball over left and right versus state
19:55fought and fought and fought yesterday.
19:57And maybe on a given Sunday, they could have won that game out of a
20:01couple of times.
20:02But to me, it's like, I wouldn't be disappointed if I was a state fan this
20:07morning, considering expectations before the season.
20:10And if you truly realize that there was a given four teams like that,
20:13there was a clear four.
20:15It's like you went as far as you could.
20:17You made it to the end of the rope and you couldn't shoot threes.
20:20Yeah.
20:21Disappointed in a game, but not disappointed in the season.
20:24I think both fan bases can agree to that, that they are disappointed in
20:27losing because it did feel kind of helpless.
20:29Michigan's like, oh boy, we can't get out of our own way.
20:32We feel helpless.
20:33And for MSU helpless in a different way.
20:36But they couldn't shoot consistently to close the gap.
20:39Couldn't get the stop.
20:40If you had told me Kohler and Fiddler would have put up the stat lines,
20:43they did.
20:44I would have told you won the game.
20:45The problem was everybody else.
20:47And a lot of things people were looking games with.
20:50They had a lot of shots that were contested, blocked, unusual turnovers
20:57at times.
20:58I thought for state.
20:59I remember there was one clearly where they got the rebound and broom
21:02flicked it out of their hand.
21:03It's like ball security.
21:04On a perfect day, they could have beat them probably.
21:08But this was the way their seasons were going to end.
21:11Michigan State season was going to end on a cold shooting night to a
21:14better team.
21:15I mean, it was hard to sit there and say that you feel like they let you
21:20down.
21:21This is who they are.
21:22It's just kind of like that's the reality of this college basketball
21:24season.
21:25We know who these teams are.
21:26It's so predictable.
21:27You're right.
21:30If state would have played Michigan, they would have beat them again by
21:3213 to 17 points.