Tom Izzo goes on epic rant against analytics after Michigan State loss: 'They're phony'

Old man yells at cloud.

Oops, we mean: Tom Izzo yells about analytics.

That's what happened Sunday night, after Izzo's Michigan State basketball team was bullied by Northwestern in an 88-74 loss in Evanston, Illinois.

"Well I'm embarrassed," Izzo, in his 29th season as MSU's head coach, started in his postgame news conference. "They kicked our butt in every physical way they could. ... We deserved to get our ass kicked and that's what we did."

"That's not Spartan basketball," he said moments later.

Later, he was asked by a reporter: "How do you define Spartan basketball?"

Here's what Izzo, 68, said in response:

“Well we defend, we rebound. Today we didn't defend at all. The stats — all you analytical guys, I hate analytics, because they're phony. Sooner or later you look at a guy's heart, you look at a guy's eye, and then you find out about a guy. Everybody in the NBA and college now they want analytics. Analytics? What does analytics mean here? (Holding up stat sheet). Huh? Does it mean we won the game? (He slammed down the stat sheet for emphasis.)

“Analytics are crap. You know what? Sooner or later, guys gotta just muscle up. We just came off one of our best games we could play, and I had a guy (Malik Hall) that played his best and doesn't get a rebound tonight. I don't even think he scored a point. I mean, it's ridiculous.”

He then was asked "how do you explain that (performance)?"

"Bad coaching." Izzo said. "I do a bad coaching (job) because remember now, you're not allowed to blame a player. So it's bad coaching. And I'm not being sarcastic. My guys didn't play. You know, might get the football pads out again for rebounding. As I say all the time, I'll probably get sued."

Below is the video:

MORE FROM TOM: Izzo furious after Michigan State basketball performance vs. Northwestern

The second video, below, includes Izzo's "not allowed to blame a player" line, which, forgive us, but did seem a wee bit ... well, sarcastic. That exchange starts around the 1:55 mark.

The response on social media was, well, what you think it would be, with some loving the entertaining clip, while also pointing out it all seemed too silly. Others think the game "has passed Izzo by."

As The Athletic NBA draft analyst Sam Vecenie wrote: "Hear me out: you can believe in analytics, but also believe in players playing with toughness! It is possible!"

Michigan State basketball was ranked No. 4 preseason, but is just 9-6 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten. It next plays Thursday at No. 10 Illinois.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tom Izzo rants about his hate for analytics: 'They're phony'