Tom Izzo was 'bothered' by the Juwan Howard incident, which he described as "reminding me of Malice in the Palace."
When Mike Garland stormed into the room during a meeting with Tom Izzo and his three Michigan State basketball freshman on Sunday afternoon, it was a shock.
A fight broke out in Madison as his special assistant was watching the conclusion of the Michigan-Wisconsin football game. He was under the impression that his former college teammate and longstanding boss would be interested in knowing about it.
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| SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES |
Michael Garland burst into the room and said, 'You are not going to believe what is going on.' He only said a few words to me, and I didn't stand up from my chair since I didn't care what he said. As Izzo explained on Monday, "I was more concerned about my team and my guys." "So I simply responded, 'Yeah, I'll look at it later,'" she explains. 'No, you have to come see it for yourself; you won't believe it.' After that, I just replied, "See you later," and never returned."
Izzo reappeared a half-hour later, holding his cell phone to his face, watching the conclusion and accompanying violence. He said he didn't know what prompted Michigan coach Juwan Howard to approach Badgers coach Greg Gard and then attack Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft in the face. He went on to say that he might phone both Howard and Gard to find out more about what had transpired.
Nonetheless, as the longest-tenured coach in the Big Ten, the 27-year Hall of Famer anticipated being questioned about the incident, and he provided plenty of comments on the larger issues being debated rather than the specifics of what sparked the incident.
I was reminded of the Malice in the Palace when I was seeing it on a huge screen and saw individuals swinging with the supporters close behind them," I said. "I was concerned by that," Izzo said. "However, I'm not sure what prompted it; I'm not privy to the entire situation." I feel sorry for Juwan, I feel sorry for Gard, and I feel sorry for everyone else who is engaged in it because nothing positive comes out of it at all. From what I've learnt over the previous several years, there is no good that can come of it.
"So I'll just say that what I hope for everyone's sake, more than the sentence that's handed out, is that the situation improves. "I hope that the lessons have been learnt and that we can move on."
A local television broadcast from the floor showed a very irate Howard confronting Badgers coach Greg Gard as they proceeded through the postgame handshake line following the 77-63 defeat to the Wolverines. Howard told Gard, "I'll remember this (expletive)," as Gard reached out. Howard then screamed, "Don't (expletive) touch me," and Gard was grabbed by the shirt by the University of Michigan coach. Gard subsequently explained that he did so in an attempt to try and explain. In the following seconds, as Gard was pushed away, the former Michigan standout and NBA All-Star leaned above a crowd of spectators to deliver an open-handed smack to the skull of Krabbenhoft, who was a member of the Badgers from 2005 to 2009.
There was a frantic and terrifying scene that ensued, with players throwing blows and cops intervening to separate individuals from one another. That, according to Izzo, was the thing that worried him the most, rather than everything that had transpired previously.
"It was a frightening situation." I have no clue what happened or why it happened, nor do I understand what I witnessed. "I just hope that everyone learns from it and that things go better," he expressed hope. "And I suppose it provided me with an opportunity, when we gathered that night, to remind my guys how critical it is not to get involved in anything. Disregarding the sanctions, I'm more concerned about the injuries and what will transpire with the players. It didn't appear to be a favorable situation. But, unlike a lot of people across the world, I'm not going to make a comment on something I don't understand, which is something that happens rather frequently these days."
Izzo stated that he had no idea what was going through the minds of any of the participants, and that he had initially attempted to determine what conditions during a game would have led to the occurrence in question. But he didn't want to say anything about it until he'd spoken with Howard and Gard about it first.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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