For Izzo, Tough Style Is Also a Winning One INDIANAPOLIS - In the corner of a crowded locker room, in a hushed voice, Michigan State forward Adreian Payne sounded ashamed. He wanted desperately to please his coach, Tom Izzo, whose factory-like program specializes in toughness and churns out Final Four appearances, but Payne acknowledged he hadn't yet adjusted to Izzo's coaching style. "You know, it's hard," said Payne, a sophomore forward. It's tough. I'm still not used to it. I'm a little bit used to it. You could say I'm used to it, but not comfortable. But then he remembered advice that had been passed around the locker room, and he sounded as if there was still hope for himself. "You've got to listen to what he's saying instead of how he's saying it," Payne said. Because if you listen to how he's saying it, you're not going to respond well. Izzo's style has worked for a while: Michigan State will be a high seed - potentially a No. 1 - for Izzo's 15th consecutive N.C.A.A. tournament bid. On Sunday, the Spartans will battle Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament championship game, playing, perhaps, with a No. 1 seed on the line. And again, at 26-7 and ranked in the top 10, Izzo's Spartans are known as one of the toughest teams in the nation, let alone the conference, brawling as well as balling. Izzo's mantra has usually held true, "Players play and tough players win," because he has a proven style of molding mentally tough players. Across the room from Payne, Keith Appling, Izzo's starting point guard, said it was fun playing for a coach like Izzo, who was willing to listen. Appling had earned Izzo's trust; he had already passed through the fire with which Payne was struggling. "He's not a regular guy," Appling said of Izzo."He's going to yell. He's going to scream. And for some guys, it takes longer just for that to take place. But the yelling is not devoid of purpose. "It sounds impossible, but he wants his guys to be perfect - nothing more, nothing less," Appling said. And if you don't hold up to those standards, he's going to let you know about it. At any given moment. In front of the media or behind closed doors, it really doesn't matter. Asked what he thought Izzo wanted him to improve on, Payne laughed nervously and said, "everything." But then the tall, lanky post player thought more carefully and said consistency was important. He said Izzo wanted him to become more consistent and become a tougher rebounder. At least, Payne said, Izzo wasn't yelling at him as much as during his freshman year. The fifth-year senior Austin Thornton remembered what that was like. Out of many instances, he recalled one blowout road win for the Spartans during his freshman year. I was in for garbage time and I messed up something and he called timeout. You would've thought the world was coming to an end, the way he screamed and yelled at me," Thornton said. That's his coaching style. That's why he's been so successful. Thornton and the senior star Draymond Green tend to follow up with their teammates and translate Izzo's message in a nicer way. "I don't care what anybody says," Thornton said. I don't care who you played for before you came here. There's an adjustment period that always takes place with every single player. And he coaches every single player, every single minute as if it's a close game. That's hard for guys to understand sometimes. Coach, we're up by 30 points, why are you screaming and hollering. Well, he's preparing for down the road. Another one of Izzo's forwards, the 6-foot-9, 270-pound Derrick Nix, seemed confident bordering cocky at the corner of the room, opposite Payne. Nix thought Izzo's "passion" was admirable and the reason why players play well for him. The yelling didn't bother Nix, who said of himself, "I'm built to last." "It depends on what type of player you are: if you're a tough player, you can handle him," Nix said. But if you're not as tough as people think you are, he'll probably get you frustrated a little bit. That night, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament, Payne had already made progress; he scored 16 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and intimidated Iowa in the paint in a blowout win. Still, Payne seemed unsure of himself, and leaders like Thornton and Green will surely bridge the gap for their coach until Payne is mentally tough enough. "That's just what guys did for us when we were younger," Thornton said."And that's what we're supposed to do. And that's what these guys are supposed to do when the new guys come in the next couple of years. Thornton said of Izzo: "He doesn't change. Guys grow up.