Questions about Crean's Coaching Tenure

[Maynard 561]

I was having a discussion with a few friends about CTC and the hopes that his tenure is coming to an end.  Some of the classic arguments in favor of Crean came up during the conversation (recruiting, offensive efficiency, etc).  This led me to a few questions.  1. Crean's offense has always failed the eye test for me.  Even during the 'good years' with VO, CZ, etc the offense was often ugly.  Has anyone looked at the combined "in conference" offensive efficiency ratings over his career?  2. Because of my work schedule I don't get to follow teams other than IU as closely as I would like.  It seems that IU has had an inordinate amount of injuries over the last 9 years.  Are other teams experiencing the heightened number of injuries or could there be something about IU's strength and conditioning program that are leading to this?

 

I hope that this is all over soon.

[WayneFleekHoosier 47,969]

I'll tackle the injury part first.

I think the answer might be multifold.

I don't have data to support our injuries being a higher rate but from following B1G basketball as closely as I do, it's clear we have a very high injury rate.

Reasons:

1. Crean is willing to recruit kids with injury histories and often finds diamonds by recruiting kids that miss time in exposure in HS due to said injuries. This is a major factor that doesn't get discussed.

2. Crean is readily purported to have super intense and long marathon practices as well. This can certainly weaken players and make them more vulnerable.

3. Not sure I can pinpoint anything regarding strength and conditioning that makes them more likely. There may be factors here but we've had several SC coaches, always have problems anyway.

4. Crean also has the propensity to play players through injuries early and often. (Probably all coaches). Playing injured always raises the risk of compensation injuries. This could be a big factor as well.

All these things play a part, but we all know the real reason. The human joints can't handle Crean's substitution patterns because no human was ever intended to get off the bench that many times per game (wink wink).


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[IU Hoosier41 14,465]

While I've never enjoyed Crean's offense, it has been highly effective. Watch some post game press conferences with other coaches to see what I mean. They hate playing Indiana's offense as it's incredibly difficult to prepare for.

It's also the reason we say a bunch that Indiana is the only team that can beat Indiana.

Kansas and UNC would agree with that. Luckily for the rest of our schedule Indiana has whooped Indiana.


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[WayneFleekHoosier 47,969]

Yes, the offense can look beautiful when we space, hit 3's, and transition.

There were certain games in that 2012-13 that the offense looked incredible (UNC). There were a few last year (@UM, Illinois).

Problem has ALWAYS been, we are predictable and when outside shots aren't hot and we can't get into transition our herky-jerky half court offense stalls out.

In general, offense hasn't been my biggest complaint with Crean, although this year and Vonleh year especially expose offensive limitations as well.


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[Alford Bailey 12,355]

3 hours ago, Maynard said:

I was having a discussion with a few friends about CTC and the hopes that his tenure is coming to an end.  Some of the classic arguments in favor of Crean came up during the conversation (recruiting, offensive efficiency, etc).  This led me to a few questions.  1. Crean's offense has always failed the eye test for me.  Even during the 'good years' with VO, CZ, etc the offense was often ugly.  Has anyone looked at the combined "in conference" offensive efficiency ratings over his career?  2. Because of my work schedule I don't get to follow teams other than IU as closely as I would like.  It seems that IU has had an inordinate amount of injuries over the last 9 years.  Are other teams experiencing the heightened number of injuries or could there be something about IU's strength and conditioning program that are leading to this?

 

I hope that this is all over soon.

Yes the offense has mostly been crap. How many times over the years have we given the ball to our best player at the top of the key to make something happen. Hitting threes in transition made things look better.  Dont know that we can specifically blame Crean for all the injuries but Id bet the farm they slow way down when he is gone.

[Maynard 561]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Yes, the offense can look beautiful when we space, hit 3's, and transition.

There were certain games in that 2012-13 that the offense looked incredible (UNC). There were a few last year (@UM, Illinois).

Problem has ALWAYS been, we are predictable and when outside shots aren't hot and we can't get into transition our herky-jerky half court offense stalls out.

In general, offense hasn't been my biggest complaint with Crean, although this year and Vonleh year especially expose offensive limitations as well.


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"When outside shots aren't hot"  is the key for me.  Two or three years ago I did a little research to see which B1G schools had the best record while shooting a lower % than their competitors.  Indiana was at the bottom of the list.  I understand that the offensive scheme deserves credit for getting more open shots and thus having a higher percentage, but it has always seemed to me that EVERY offense looks good when shots are falling.  Very seldom throughout Crean's tenure have I felt like the execution was good during a game and the shots were just not going down.  Far more often I have felt like good shooters have bailed out bad possessions.

[Maynard 561]

1 hour ago, IU Hoosier41 said:

While I've never enjoyed Crean's offense, it has been highly effective. Watch some post game press conferences with other coaches to see what I mean. They hate playing Indiana's offense as it's incredibly difficult to prepare for.

It's also the reason we say a bunch that Indiana is the only team that can beat Indiana.

Kansas and UNC would agree with that. Luckily for the rest of our schedule Indiana has whooped Indiana.


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I typically only watch CTC's postgame.  Catch me up a bit, what do other coaches find so difficult? 

[WayneFleekHoosier 47,969]

I typically only watch CTC's postgame.  Catch me up a bit, what do other coaches find so difficult? 

Usually athleticism and speed. Multiple ball handlers.


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[BubbleKnuts 569]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Usually athleticism and speed. Multiple ball handlers.


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You mean multiple ball turnovers

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

You mean multiple ball turnovers

When he has the right pieces, the athleticism, multiple ball handlers, pace of the offense, and ability to rebound has made up for the excessive turnovers. What we see in down years is that it's a high risk/high reward system that crashes hard when you pull a few key pieces. Indiana's offense under Crean is not one I think any coach wants to face. It's usually stacked with guys who operate well in transition and can score from
deep. Not the Vonleh year or this year.


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[Brass Cannon 24,271]

2 minutes ago, Walking Boot of Doom said:

When he has the right pieces, the athleticism, multiple ball handlers, pace of the offense, and ability to rebound has made up for the excessive turnovers. What we see in down years is that it's a high risk/high reward system that crashes hard when you pull a few key pieces. Indiana's offense under Crean is not one I think any coach wants to face. It's usually stacked with guys who operate well in transition and can score from
deep. Not the Vonleh year or this year.


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Even the good teams basically had no chance to beat disciplined defenses. Butler and Wiscy for example. 

[Hovadipo 55,172]

8 minutes ago, Walking Boot of Doom said:

When he has the right pieces, the athleticism, multiple ball handlers, pace of the offense, and ability to rebound has made up for the excessive turnovers. What we see in down years is that it's a high risk/high reward system that crashes hard when you pull a few key pieces. Indiana's offense under Crean is not one I think any coach wants to face. It's usually stacked with guys who operate well in transition and can score from
deep. Not the Vonleh year or this year.


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This year kind of puts into perspective how bad we were offensively the Vonleh year. At times the offense bogs down and really looks terrible, but we're still 30th in adjusted offense on KenPom this year. Vonleh year? 124th....

Edit: We were 38th in adjusted defense that year, though.

[HoosierAloha 30,024]

I heard Dakich mentioned that Crean was baffled that the team went through scoring droughts while turning it over. I wonder if Crean realizes this has to do with some of the bizarre lineups he has on the floor together.