Across the room from Payne, Keith Appling, Izzo’s starting point guard, said it was fun playing for a coach like Izzo, who was willing to listen. Appling had earned Izzo’s trust; he had already passed through the fire with which Payne was struggling.
“He’s not a regular guy,” Appling said of Izzo.”He’s going to yell. He’s going to scream. And for some guys, it takes longer just for that to take place.”
But the yelling is not devoid of purpose.
“It sounds impossible, but he wants his guys to be perfect — nothing more, nothing less,” Appling said. “And if you don’t hold up to those standards, he’s going to let you know about it. At any given moment. In front of the media or behind closed doors, it really doesn’t matter.”
Asked what he thought Izzo wanted him to improve on, Payne laughed nervously and said, “everything.” But then the tall, lanky post player thought more carefully and said consistency was important. He said Izzo wanted him to become more consistent and become a tougher rebounder.
The fifth-year senior Austin Thornton remembered what that was like. Out of many instances, he recalled one blowout road win for the Spartans during his freshman year.
“I was in for garbage time and I messed up something and he called timeout. You would’ve thought the world was coming to an end, the way he screamed and yelled at me,” Thornton said. “That’s his coaching style. That’s why he’s been so successful.”
“I don’t care what anybody says,” Thornton said. “I don’t care who you played for before you came here. There’s an adjustment period that always takes place with every single player.
“And he coaches every single player, every single minute as if it’s a close game. That’s hard for guys to understand sometimes. ‘Coach, we’re up by 30 points, why are you screaming and hollering?’ Well, he’s preparing for down the road.”
Thornton said of Izzo: “He doesn’t change. Guys grow up.”
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