This might be getting into semantics, but I think complaining and whining are different things. Complaining could easily be construed positively (i.e. "working the refs" that so many people clamor for) or negatively (disagreeing staunchly with ever call rather than having any element of perceived strategy to it).
As an example, I don't think Fran is whiny. I think he's a complete asshole with a serious anger management issue that his doctors have likely been telling him is going to cause his heart to blow up sooner than it otherwise would, but that's just me guessing. He's kind of in a league of his own, so I'm going to set him aside for the moment.
Crean is probably your typical whiner. To his credit, you don't regularly see him in a ref's face screaming or shouting obscenities. He's more passive in his approach, but with that "naggy" kind of flavor to it. I don't think he's the whinest coach in the country necessarily, but I suspect refs are just as annoyed by this guy as they are a coach who's barking in their face way more often.
Conversely, Bo Ryan was a complainer through and through. He's the aforementioned bark-in-your-face-constantly type; the refs never made a correct call again his teams. He was effective at getting some calls at times, but the results he got doesn't change my view of the way in which he got them - constant complaining, albeit it in a less rabid manner than Fran goes about it.
Izzo on the other hand - to me - strikes a nice balance between complaining and whining, at least in the perception of it. Yes, he complains. Yes he whines. But I think he does it with a sense of humor at times, an occasional smile, that type of stuff. I don't know whether any of that is genuine or not, but the perception that he's able to pull off reasonably well is one of a guy that doesn't take himself too seriously, a guy that says his piece (even aggressively at times) but then moves on, etc.
* Before anyone mistakes me on account of my username: No, I'm NOT an MSU fan...
