First of all let me repeat what I've said here and elsewhere over the past few days------and that is that I think Tom Crean is one of the very best coaches in the Country (if not THE best) insofar as game prep, matchup BB, situational BB, and motivation. IMO he is simply outstanding in these areas-----I really believe that!.
Having said that though, I have a hard time understanding why he spends so much time in the preconference schedule pummelling cream puffs by stealling the ball and rapid transition up and down the floor. As I've mentioned many times, the BE is a half court offense game-----so one question is----why are we preparing this team to run at every turn in the preconference when we can't run with anywhere near the same frequency (for several reason) in the BE? IMO we should be preparing this team to play the half court offense-----every minute spent on forcing the fast break in Nov/Dec is one minute less spent on practicing what we'll need in the BE (half court offense).
Additionally I said before the BE season----that our success or failure in the BE will be determined by steals & forcing TOs (because that was/is a MAJOR-MAJOR emphasis). -----and sure enough in the win streak we did very well in that respect (although we had too many TOs of our own-----too much in a hurry, IMO)----however in the last 3 losses (collectively) we have had fewer steals and have forced fewer TOs than the opposition. As I pointed out months ago-----teams protect the ball better as the season develops plus stealing the ball takes effort-----a lot of effort (mental & physical), but as the season goes on physical and mental fatique build up-----so it's hard to hang one's hat on that as well late in the season!
I recall TC's first couple years here----we played essentially a containment defense (jamming the middle)----and I also recall that we were among the nation's leaders in limiting trey percentage (with a lot less talent than now)-----I would recommend we go back to that type of D and forget about the "deflection" emphasis-----with the quickness we have and in a containment defense (a help defense)-----the inside should be virtually impregnable!
