Thoughts so far...

At the half, here are some quick-hit thoughts on what I've seen:

(Bad)

* Same old same old inability of our front-line guards to keep perimeter containment...which causes EVERYTHING to break down
* Our guards cannot make a simple low-post entry pass to save our soul, which is the height of lunacy for a Bill Self hi-lo team
* Refs sure did hit us with soft touch fouls, and the disparity was glowing there for awhile
* Taking Ellis out with touch fouls hurt us pretty badly, because it caused Self to play Jamari Train Wreck Traylor far too long
* Jamari is a veritable disaster out there, and he hurt our team multiple times, enabling UK to hang with us and ultimately take the lead
* Poor early-clock decisions by Vick and Greene hurt us when we REALLY needed to run good offense and get buckets down the stretch
* Ellis didn't look like he wanted to be "the guy" at first. The air ball spoke volumes about pressure. Step it up, Perry!
* Graham, in particular, has been a matador against Ulis

(Good)

* Bragg and Diallo have contributed REALLY nice minutes.
* Diallo was out of position on D 1-2 times early, but is playing well and showing great body language
* Selden has had a nice night. He has to be the man if Ellis is going to be a wallflower...
* Frank hasn't taken too many misguided drives to nowhere tonight (good), but he needs to be more of a scoring option (like he was earlier in the year)
* Self has been willing to use the young guys, to decent gain (except Vick)
* Self even admitted to having sprinkled in some zone, so he's making some adjustments to our matador D on Ulis

In the second half, we have to strive to dictate the terms of the game. Tighten up the D and stay very strong on man, with help. Sprinkle in zone as needed. Keep the young guys in as much as you can, alongside Perry, for their athleticism and capacity to score. DO NOT PLAY JAMARI ONE SINGLE MINUTE UNLESS WE ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO (foul trouble, etc.). If you have to use another big, please put in Lucas. Selden, be the man. You have it in you. Perry, you got schooled by UK several times now in your career. Grow a pair and defend your HOME COURT and the name on your jersey!

Hope they can turn this around. I have faith, but they need to really punch the Wildcats in the mouth and GET THE CROWD INTO IT! (So far, the crowd has played very little role...in part because we utterly cannot put together decent runs on both ends of the floor)

Go Hawks!