It was not a jab at all. He said that he knew, and Fran knows, that Iowa has really struggled on defense. He went on to say that he cannot figure out why; maybe, he said, its just commitment on the part of the players, which he struggles with at MSU as well. You left out another interesting comment: "This is the best offensive team we have seen all year." by Izzo. I think this comment was tied tightly to the comment about not understanding why Iowa's defense has been so bad. So, maybe he was getting at this: This is a good bunch of basketball players, good athletes, who have proven that by their offensive game. Why in the world are they not playing defense better?" When he talked about the 5 games in twelve days, it sounds like he was right. Sure did not throw his kids under the bus. I did not hear one word from him that I would conclude that he was not giving Iowa credit.