I watched tonight's game and could not help but think:

- Wow, we could not play much worse.
- What happened to White's rebounding, especially with Hicks out?
- Kirkland is playing well, but in foul trouble.
- I think Tyler needs a new diaper.
- How in the heck can we let a 14-point 2nd half lead get down to 7 against these guys?
- I am glad we are 6-0.  We are going to look really good and really bad at times this year.
- What happened to any rebounding?  I will have to remember to make it a key in future previews.
- Other than the first 5 minutes, UC let Detroit dictate the tempo.  Not looking good for a decent size portion of our schedule.
- Man, I am sick and depressed about not beating these guys by more.
- Did they really outrebound us by double digits?

Then I looked at the final score.  61-44.  17 points!  And as bad as they played and rebounded, as many minutes as Souley, Murray, Lucas et al received,and as bad as Detroit might be, UC won by 17.  That's not too bad, especially for this team.  Tonight they willed this victory into reality.

Maxiell, who did not see the ball for quite some time, responded to a Huggins dictate (I am imagining that is why there was the drastic change in focus on offense) and began moving a lot more, posting more strongly, and receiving the ball down low.  He missed a few more free throws than I'd like, but his activity on offense got him very involved defensively and his 4 (or 5?) blocks were huge.

Kirkland keeps on keeping on. Out of all of our players, he is the most gifted offensively in terms of ability and size.  Or should I just say the package?  He looks really good on the mid-range jumpers.  Other than the missed jumper, rebound, then half effort at a lay-up that came up short, Kirkland has looked completely unlike himself, and I am now prepared to say he is a new player.  I think he has crossed over and is officially the got to guy for UC.  He played defensive power forward, and still was able to score 19.  I think he is for real now.  Unless I jinxed him.

Nick Williams showed a few flashes of what he can offer, and actually made a few key defensive plays.  Still not where I want him to be, but improved over previous efforts this year.

Muhammad looked as good passing as I have seen him (which is not saying much).  I look for him to continue to work a better mix of shot and pass into his repertoire.

Bright is going to be able to contribute at some point.  He has a lot of good skills.  I would like to see him put more effort into rebounding (him not being able to fill in for Hicks killed us on the boards).  On the other hand, I was able to see some things he can do to help this team this year.  He'll need to put it in a higher gear in practice and games, but he can be a major contributor and factor in this season based on his progress.  I expect UC's overall fortunes to parallel Bright's progress.

So why do I think the glass is half full?  Heck if I know.  I want to be critical of this team, and they often give good reason to, but at the same time I see effort, and perhaps enough talent to make things interesting.  This team reminds me of the final four team.  Talented, but a bit rag tag in their make up.  That is not to say that I think they will make the final four, only that they have the talent to make a run if things break right.  Let's see how they progress and see what happens if and when Banks becomes available.  Of course, UC fans know first hand how things usually break.  As such, I will take the sweet 16 and be happy at this point.  Thrilled even!   Looking forward though, I hope I have reason to up my expectations.  Then we'll really see how full the glass really is.