Draymond Green and Zach Randolph are playing against each other in the West Semi Finals, and the series is tied 2-2. Which means that it is now a best of 3 series to see which Michigan State star moves on to the next round, Draymond or Zach.
For Zach, it’s been about making sure that he stays in his best form, and Izzo knows that. From Michael Wallace ESPN:
“When I talked to Z-Bo, the first thing he said on the phone was, ‘Man, coach, I’m so proud of Day-Day.’” Izzo said of Randolph, who referred to Green’s nickname since childhood. “I’m like, ‘Man, he’s going against you and that was your first comment?’ He goes, ‘You know, I think he got screwed in the draft, but I’m really proud of all the work he’s put in already to become the player he is right now.’”
Draymond also talks about his weight problems and how Z-Bo and Michigan State helped him to prepare for the NBA, he also talks about the nicknames:
“That’s when I started hearing a ton of Z-Bo stories; a ton of them,” Green said. “Being overweight, walking into the training room my first day, the strength and conditioning coach was like, ‘Who is this doughy boy?’ He started poking me. He was like, ‘We’ve got another Z-Bo in here; a baby Z-Bo.’ I used to get that all the time. It was nothing bad, because we both did what we had to do to drop the weight.”
Despite this series being very important for both the Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies and the series being tied 2-2, this series means a whole lot more for Draymond Green and Zach Randolph, bragging rights. As two power forwards, who constantly get compared, due to the school they went to and the size and type of player they are, they must love going at one another. Izzo even came out to support Z-Bo in game 4 at Memphis, and there were 5 Michigan State players a part of the festivities. Game 5 is at the Oracle on Wednesday night, and statistically whoever wins that series when the series is tied 2-2, wins the series most of the time.
According to Kyle Austin of Michigan Live:
“Spartans coach Tom Izzo flew down from East Lansing to see the game, along with his family and associate coach Dwayne Stephens.
There, they watched Golden State forward Draymond Green and Memphis forward Zach Randolph battle one another in the frontcourt in a game won by the Warriors.
And the top two scorers in program history were both on hand as well: Shawn Respert as an assistant coach with the Grizzlies and Steve Smith on the TNT broadcast.”
Tom Izzo baby. https://t.co/R3TQhRD18Z towel. pic.twitter.com/4rDAy61b4D
— Grind City (@grindcitymem) May 12, 2015
