Tom Crean

[cuseinseattle]

I hate to do the outcoached thing because I think it is a really overplayed card. However can anyone remember a team that seemed so lost playing the zone in the tournament. I agree with the Oklahoma comparison but that was in the elite 8 so that was a short turn around. Indiana played Temple on Sunday and had multiple days to prepare. Can anyone remember a team looking this bad with that much time when they have offensive weapons and are a scoring team?

 

[OrangeFoo]

What was he going to do differently? I said before the tournament started that Indiana in the east was the best matchup for us...
- They don't pressure our guards down the floor
- Their one big guy is skilled but not athletic where as we have at least two guys (Southerland/Grant and Keita/Rak) on the court who are as big and 10x more athletic than him on the court at any given time and one in CJ who is almost as big and wayyyyyy more athletic.
- Their guards are tiny and not that athletic especially when compared to the BE guards we played all season
- Indiana doesn't play zone ever

Crean's team did all the things they were supposed to do and executed perfectly but they couldn't get a shot off because we had a man there or stole the ball or blocked the shot. The one area I think Crean messed up was by not going zone on us but he lost that game on offense not with his D. We play that game 10x we win 9... the only way Indiana wins is if they start stroking 30 footers. This was basically a mismatch in terms of athleticism.

 

[VaBeachOrFan]

Crean hasn't solved the Zone yet!-VBOF

 

[Hoov50]

What was he going to do differently?

He has no clue how to attack a 2-3 zone. Didn't have a clue when he was at Marquette and doesn't have a clue now. All he needed to do is watch some of our Big East games. Screen our guards on the top it messes with our defense. Especially since moving screens are apparently legal against SU. Send a guy consistently to the foul line and not an unathletic soft center. Don't spend a ton of time in practice working on traps in the corner when good ball movement can avoid being trapped. Play controlled and don't rush the ball up the court unless you plan on trying to score quickly before our defense is set up. Quick but not manic ball movement. Many of these things he could have done the week leading up to the game. A few could/should have been in game adjustments.

Crean was/is arrogant and thought the IU hype and preseason ranking would allow them to roll over SU. Even at halftime he gave no credit to SU. He is a jackass and always has been a jackass.

It was a bad matchup but Crean did nothing to combat the matchup.

 

[stuckinbig11]

I hate to do the outcoached thing because I think it is a really overplayed card. However can anyone remember a team that seemed so lost playing the zone in the tournament. I agree with the Oklahoma comparison but that was in the elite 8 so that was a short turn around. Indiana played Temple on Sunday and had multiple days to prepare. Can anyone remember a team looking this bad with that much time when they have offensive weapons and are a scoring team?

Indiana was overrated to begin with.

 

[sabach]

Early in the game Zeller got the ball in the high post and turned to pass it to the low post and passed it to the guys shin. My ten year old son turns to me and says "they don't know how to pass through a zone dad." I knew we were in good shape from that point on.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Saying how to bet the zone is easier than executing that strategy. BE teams have had years to learn how to beat our zone...the IU kids and two days of practice before heading to DC. That's not enough time. Plus, we are pretty freaking good at playing it...instead of saying IU didn't prepare, how about the notion that they simply had no clue what who they were playing. If we play this way tomorrow, Marquette is going down...

 

[Hoov50]

Saying how to bet the zone is easier than executing that strategy. BE teams have had years to learn how to beat our zone...the IU kids and two days of practice before heading to DC. That's not enough time. Plus, we are pretty freaking good at playing it...instead of saying IU didn't prepare, how about the notion that they simply had no clue what who they were playing. If we play this way tomorrow, Marquette is going down...

I agree one hundred percent with what you are saying, but if Crean had a clue you would have at least seen some of these things attempted even if they were unsuccessful. Most possessions it looked like IU literally had no clue what they should even be trying to do.

 

[kuethstheman]

I agree one hundred percent with what you are saying, but if Crean had a clue you would have at least seen some of these things attempted even if they were unsuccessful. Most possessions it looked like IU literally had no clue what they should even be trying to do.

I think I saw them try every possible approach at least a few times. It didn't often work because they couldn't execute it or SU beat them to the spot they were trying to open up.

If IU had hit a few more shots and if they didn't get blocked 10 times, we'd be talking about how great Crean was at breaking down the zone. They still would have lost because of all the turnovers but they got a lot of good opportunities over the course of the game.

Crean's biggest problem was that his defensive strategy, assignments, substitutions didn't work. I don't think his understanding of how to beat the zone was the problem.

 

[Hoov50]

I think I saw them try every possible approach at least a few times. It didn't often work because they couldn't execute it or SU beat them to the spot they were trying to open up.

If IU had hit a few more shots and if they didn't get blocked 10 times, we'd be talking about how great Crean was at breaking down the zone. They still would have lost because of all the turnovers but they got a lot of good opportunities over the course of the game.

Crean's biggest problem was that his defensive strategy, assignments, substitutions didn't work. I don't think his understanding of how to beat the zone was the problem.

They seemed to try more things from the corner than the foul line where the zone is the weakest. It was almost like they thought it would be to their advantage to get trapped in the corner and then try to break the trap. They also never set a pick on the top of our zone something that every Big East team does with at least some success. Our zone is good this year, and I have posted on the past, probably the best can ever remember (my memory starts in the early 90s). However, not being able to score against the zone and not knowing how to attack it are two different things. I would argue that last night both were true about IU.

 

[HakAttack]

The best part was when he had the deer caught in headlights look during his half-time interview from the locker room with Rachel Nichols.

He looked absolutely terrified.

That's when I started to relax a bit last night.

 

[syr02esq]

You should read the Indiana rivals message boards. Many threads criticizing Crean.