Simply, lack of trust. Early on, the UConn players played loose and shared the ball freely. Some of this was undoubtably because the competition was not as strong/couldn't apply great ball pressure etc. But now our guards think twice and three times before passing the ball to several of our players. Good reason for this, because those players have frequently fumbled it and blown opportunities. However, without that trust, our offense has degenerated into largely one-on-one plays by Bazz or Boat, with some singular one-the-ball screens mixed in. Currently, quite sluggish and painful to watch (although Bazz and Boat both have the talent to make spectacular plays, in the long run it is not winning basketball. Bazz and Boats' knee problems have contributed no doubt, but mostly from the perspective that their one-on-one abilities are less effective.
Regardless of how cringe-worthy AB has looked by not catching entry passes or miss-timing his jump and turning an easy dunk into a turnover or a foul and only 1 out of two FTs, or PN making a ridiculous 720 degree spin and throwing up a low percentage shot or TO getting the ball 15 feet from the basket against Harvard in the first half, attempting to back down his man then throwing up a 12 foot near-air ball instead of passing it out and keeping the ball moving, the bigs still need to be part of the offensive flow. We cannot afford to have Bazz or Boat dribble in place for 20 seconds and then try to make a play.
Your reply huskyharry was well thought out and flat out nailed it! It just seems that Bazz, Boat and Daniels feel they have to carry the offense. It's a catch-22 situation though. The fact is those 3 can't carry the load night-in, night-out against the competition they're facing, but on the other hand, they're not going to win if the other players don't execute well. Kromah has been assertive at times, but a lot of his offense comes early before they seem to settle into their dreadful half-court offense. I'm not so sure if Bazz and Boat are looking to run plays for him and Giffey as much as they should.
I really think if they persevere through their progressions where there is a lot more movement, Bazz, Boat, Daniels, Giffey, Kromah and Omar, who looks completely lost lately, will shake free for more good looks. When they run their stuff, they do so slowly and are constantly resetting letting the D set back into solid defensive position. Notice how teams run their stuff against them where they eventually begin to scramble, trying to recover into solid defensive position. There's no reason why our talent can't do the same. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think they need to get all 50 toes constantly moving on offense for a full 35 or until they create a good shot for someone.
IMO, if this team wants to be able to execute at a high level come tournament time, they're going to have to get more players involved in the offense. They need much quicker and timely off-the-ball player movement and must move the ball via the pass more quickly. They are pounding the ball way too much. I'm okay with an offense where our best handlers break their defender off the dribble, but 40 minutes of that is not only ineffective it's simply tough to watch.
I haven't lost hope with this group, but KO needs to be willing to lose a few games along the way by letting the team get back to the player & ball movement we saw earlier in the season so that they'll be playing their best ball come March. Of course you run the risk of not making the tournament if they drop too many games, but I don't think that will happen. I think they'll likely win about the same amount of games if KO gets them to commit to getting everyone involved compared to doing what they have been doing the past few weeks.
Oh, it would help if they can learn to execute the fast break better. They seem to blow at least 3 to 5 odd number breaks each game, with selfish play, sloppy handling or poor passing. I think we all expect more from this team. They are more capable than what they've been showing lately.
