Tom Izzo says Matt Painter has done the best 'role coaching job'

Purdue completed its season sweep of Michigan State over the weekend, winning 77-61 at home over the Spartans to maintain their stranglehold on the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll. After the game, MSU head coach Tom Izzo has nothing but compliments for Purdue’s Matt Painter. Izzo said he thinks Painter coaches players to fit their roles better than anyone in the country.

“But as I said about Matt (Painter’s) team, and I reiterate this, it’s the best role coaching job I think in the nation,” said Izzo after the loss, pointing to Boilermaker forward Caleb Furst as a perfect example. Furst is a hell of a player and he barely takes a shot and he plays his role to the Nth degree. Very, very, very good at it.”

This year, Painter has the overwhelming frontrunner for National Player of the Year a his disposal in Zach Edey, but he’s fit a perfect cast of role players around him to make for the clear top team in the country to this point in the season.

Coach Izzo went on to comment on the Spartans’ inability to close the gap as the game came down the stretch. Every time Michigan State was able to get the deficit close to 10, Purdue had answers to keep the lead out of reach.

“We cut it to 10. At halftime, they hit the 3 … I guess it was a good call. I don’t think officials make bad calls,” joked Tom Izzo. “We’re going for the last shot, could’ve cut it to 15 or 14, instead they hit a three and I get a technical for questioning something. The guy didn’t give it to me that was questioning. And so that’s five points, so that’s really a seven-point swing, too, we don’t get – the 3 they hit and the technical. That’s a seven-point swing and Purdue’s too good of a team to make seven-point swings.

“But I give my team credit, we bounced back, we played our butt off, we had four possessions late where they had a 10-point lead. We threw it out of bounds once, we traveled once, didn’t even get shots when we cut it to 10. I think that’s when the game was over. But Edey played awfully well. They did an unbelievable job at getting him the ball.”

Edey played like what he is: the best darn player in the country. And MSU simply had no response for him or for Purdue’s shotmakers outside.