Tommy H. off the pine

Hopefully, this clears up any remaining misconceptions about why Tom Herzog started in place of Goran Suton on Sunday.

   The decision was essentially made after the Purdue game, when Tom Izzo realized he had forgotten to include Herzog in the last-minute bench clearing. This had nothing -- repeat, nothing -- to do with Suton's comments before the Wisconsin game. In fact, Suton didn't hear a word from anyone about those comments.
     (Had he guaranteed victory or something, then he probably would have been chewed out. All he did was say he doesn't like Wisconsin, and that they play dirty. Just like so many coaches do in using the media to try to influence the refs. I'm not saying that was Suton's intent, but if it was, bravo).
    However, Izzo could have replaced freshman Delvon Roe with Herzog and had Suton move to the four. I'm guessing Suton was chosen to give up the start based in part on his play in the Purdue game. But the primary purpose here was to make amends to Herzog, and perhaps to give him a bit of an emotional boost.