Crean couldn't manage and develop 3-4 year players because he didn't have a detailed, individual plan for each guy to improve their basketball fundamentals.
Meh, that's not actually true.
The one thing he was successful at was developing individual skills. That can be validated by looking at how well his players did at skill assessments at draft camps. Which is why I think he's a better assistant than head coach.
To put it into military terms he's more a trainer than field commander.
He focused on individuals. Individual skills. Individual offense. Individual defense. And, had training and skill development programs geared towards them as individuals.
What he didn't do was develop a
team, the sum was never greater than the individual parts. Which is one reason his teams always under achieved vs their respective talent level.
He recruited in the same manner, he could see and assess individual ability fairly well, he just couldn't see how they worked together as a cohesive unit.
Also, Crean didn't value basketball IQ, favoring athletic talent and measurables instead. Which caused his teams to be dumb......
I'm so glad he's gone....