The NBA coach's bone yard is littered with the carcasses of college coaches who thought moving on up to the pros would be easy.

In the last few years, Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Mike Montgomery, Lon Krueger, Tim Floyd and Leonard Hamilton among others have all gone to the NBA and have all failed, some (like Kruger, Floyd and Montgomery) miserably.

Now comes word the Chicago Bulls are talking with Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo.

I think Izzo is a great college coach.  I think he should stay there. 

The biggest differences between college and the pros are the never ending seasons and the players.  In college, you recruit the player, he plays for you and then moves on to the draft.  In the NBA there is a salary cap which, unlike scholarship limitations can really foul your roster.  And then there is the attitude of the multi-million dollar players who, if they don't like you, phone it in until you get canned and the next guy takes over.

Tom Izzo certainly makes a lot of money at Michigan State, a university that has an excellent reputation for college basketball.  For many, that in and of itself would be a dream job.  And it is, considering Izzo is coach for life if he wants to be. If he was smart, he'd stay there and continue to grow his program.

What attracts the teams to the coach is the coaches reputation for being a winner.  They want an educator in addition to the coach.  And what all these people that hire these coaches forget is that the players aren't interested in being taught.  They are interested in being catered to and enabled.  College coaches don't do that.  They preach defense.  They preach team.  They preach all of the things that NBA players can't comprehend.

Coaches are always looking for challenges and different ways to implement their philosophies on new people.  In this case, Tom, try golf.

And for John Paxson, whose job is hanging by a thread right now, this is too big a decision to gamble away on a guy who is not a pro coach.