I agree with your thoughts on this, but I would modify one thing: while the approach may be wrong, it's a deeper problem than that. It's his conditioned mindset that's wrong. Izzo, like most high-level basketball coaches, has had decades in a privileged, powerful bubble. He has an affinity for his players and a long-honed self-preservation instinct. I don't think he's willfully doing anything wrong with this rambling response, it's just that he's trained to think a certain way and is probably incapable of viewing the situation from a more open-minded viewpoint.
Also, these post-game responses are unlikely to ever satisfy the masses. Imagine your most difficult stretch of a workday, busting your butt for several hours, and then going before a gaggle of reporters (many with an agenda) and not only having to continue doing your job in a kind of fatigued state but also having to address this completely tangential, non-work-related (in his mind) matter in a compassionate, honest, diplomatic way.
He failed, but it's not an easy thing to do.