Actually thalassocracy "plays" well because the Minoans were expert seafarers bringing in taxes from the islands and defending their mercantile interests.
As for Evans - rather than my writing it - this should dispel that "myth":
http://www.hellenicbookservice.com/Kriti/cretan_history.htm
The Minoans had widespread trade; empires are built by the point of the sword and spear, and the Minoan dominion (however large it was) wasn't the quaint Victorian vision of Evans. For the most part, the Minoans' trade routes -- as well as Crete itself -- were taken over by the Mycenaeans.