Using Kenpom ratings, Cronin's highest ranked tempo was only #235 in his six complete seasons with four being over #300. But in four of the seasons, he also had a top-40 offensive efficiency and three of those were top-20ish. His highest ranked offense had the second lowest tempo. So far this season our tempo is 66.3 which would be his highest ever (but still relatively slow).
Higher tempo isn't necessary to run an efficient offense. Last season Duke had the #1 offense with the #269 tempo. Purdue was 7th in offense with a #300 tempo. Of the 30 highest tempo teams, only four had top-50 offenses.
I don't understand all the complaints about Cronin's offense. There aren't enough data points to determine a trend, but the main takeaway from this data is that Cronin's offense has been very efficient most seasons even with a very slow tempo. Of course you need a top-10 type offense to win a national championship but you also need that good of a defense too and you won't get that with most other coaches who stress offense. It may not be pleasing to the eye test, but it gets the job done. As noted in the thread below, it's what you're doing during the time you have the ball, either working for a good shot or aimlessly dribbling around that's important. Also note that good defense slows down the opponents, reducing possessions.
The numbers next to the data points are offensive ranks. The two low ranks are from Cronin's first season when he had to deprogram "Alford's players" and in 2024 when the Euro experiment was an dismal failure.