Harris defends Izzo: ‘Society getting soft’
As Tom Izzo faced criticism for berating his player, former Michigan State star Gary Harris told the Daily News that the scene was normal from his former coach and nobody involved took it personally.
Moreover, Harris said the attention is an indictment of everybody else’s sensitivity.
“Society is getting soft if they think that’s a problem,” he said.
During Michigan State’s first-round NCAA victory over Bradley on Thursday, Izzo — the longtime and legendary coach — was seen shouting angrily at freshman Aaron Henry and even had to be held back by other players.
It became a nationwide argument about whether Izzo crossed the line. Harris, who played two seasons under Izzo and is now with the Nuggets, said players are forewarned about the aggressive coaching style.
“You know what you’re getting yourself into when you come in there. And that’s just how he gets the best out of guys,” Harris said. I just think it’s funny that people were saying it’s bad. Tom Izzo has been doing this for a long time. He’s a Hall of Fame coach for a reason. That’s what he does.
“He’s cussed me out worse than that before. It’s all good, though.”
At the time of Izzo’s fury Thursday, Michigan State was losing to Bradley and Henry appeared lackadaisical on defense. Harris said he spoke with both parties and it was water under the bridge.
“I talked to Henry and he was just like, ‘Hey, it happens.’ He knows he was in the wrong,” Harris said. “He was defending himself (to Izzo). Izzo likes when you challenge him anyway. So it’s just competitive dudes.
“No hard feelings between them. That’s all that matters. They’re both locked in.”
Izzo told reporters that his actions were justified and it worked because Henry played well afterwards.
“What’s wrong with challenging a kid that makes some mistakes?” Izzo said. “Aaron Henry — trust me — did some things that you can’t do as a starter on a top-5 team at the end of your freshman year. They were effort-related.”
“I did get after him. He did respond. He did make a couple of big buckets. He did make some big free throws but that’s not good enough. It’s one-and-done time. The ‘my-bads’ are out the window.” Harris agreed. “That’s coach, he’s trying to win,” he said. “They were struggling against a Bradley team. There’s no time to be buddy-buddy with anybody. So I talked to Izz, I talked to Aaron. It’s all love. We know they’re trying to win. I’ve been through the same thing. I don’t think there was anything wrong with that at all.”
Harris was an First Team All-Big Ten selection at Michigan State and advanced to the NCAA Regional final as a sophomore. On Friday night, he started for the surging Nuggets against the sad-sack Knicks at MSG,