I didn't think UL looked terrible. I think they have 4-5 very good players. but melding them into a functioning whole is something that takes a coach years as a head coach to be able to do. UL have taken a flyer on promoting a career assistant to the top job, and Payne is learning as he goes. UL did a lot of good things against UK**, and when UK plays its best game, better ranked teams than UL will fare worse than UL did. But learning how to keep teams alert and involved and motivated takes hands-on experience for a coach, and Payne is learning that as he goes along. That's a separate skill from Xs and Os.
Everyone's an impatient know-it-all these days. Produce Now! is the demand. If you have faith in your guy, don't squander it.
**for example, exploiting help defense. Time and again, UL knew where UK's help was coming from, and they got the ball easily to a player in a position to score. They also knew which UK players would bite on a pump fake and were able to get contact fouls and keep us off-balance. They also exploited a weakness of UK players: they like to initiate contact but when they're pestered or jostled by defenses, they lose focus.
