UConn Gets a Jolt of Excitement Called Shabazz Napier Part of growing up is knowing when you have acted like a fool. It is also knowing when to say you're sorry. Shabazz Napier, I am a fool, and I am sorry. Earlier Wednesday, my feeble Midwestern mind attempted to offer some kind of analysis as to what Connecticut needed to do to keep advancing in the Big East men's basketball tournament. I mentioned two people who I thought were the biggest factors in lighting the fire under this overly stoic Huskies team. What I originally said: "Coach Calhoun and Ryan Boatright." What I meant to say: "Shabazz Napier and his alter ego, Shabazzketball." If you look back (don't), Bazzy Bazz wasn't even mentioned once. For those of you who watched UConn-West Virginia, you might understand a little bit of what happened, but you really had to be there to feel it. For most of the game, UConn operated as five individuals, especially on the offensive end. They were playing "my turn" basketball where Jeremy Lamb goes one-on-five, then Boatright goes one-on-five, then Napier goes one-on-five. My turn basketball works against other young, my turn teams like DePaul, but will last only so long against meat-and-potato teams like West Virginia. With about 11 minutes to go the Huskies were dead in the water. Double-digit deficit, horrendous body language, no verbal communication among players whatsoever. It was the dark side of UConn, and it was ugly and disappointing to watch. Then Shabazz added the -ketball to his given name and went on one of those special runs that always seem to happen in this tournament. It started with a 4-point play at the 10-minute-31-second mark. When it happened, I turned to a fellow freelancer responsible for the game story and asked if he was nervous about making deadline. He calmly said that he was not. A 3, a pair of free throws, two assists, another 3, and two more free throws, all from Napier, cut the lead to 4 points with less than three minutes to go. It was like watching an E.R. doctor use the defibrillator on a dead UConn nation. But even after all of that, it still felt like a one-man effort, and if I had to call the winner then, I would have said W.V.U. in regulation. Shabazzketball needed believers. And then it happened. At 2:29, Shabazzketball picked Dominique Rutledge's pocket near midcourt and went in for an uncontested layup, and as Napier was waiting for the ball to be inbounded, he started bouncing up and down, charging the defibrillators one last bolt. At the 2:20 mark, just four seconds after finishing the layup, he did one of the more common sports gestures you'll see: he gave his own heart just one fist pound, and it was as if the entire building was brought to life. You don't get that on TV. I asked Shabazzketball about that moment. "I honestly didn't even know I did that," he said. I just try to play with passion, and when you play with passion you just go with your instincts. Good instincts. All day, and for most of the season, watching UConn at times has been watching a team without an emotional core. After Wednesday, there is no question where that emotional core lies. And even though Napier fouled out and did not finish the overtime, he didn't need to. The rest of his teammates were awake then, too. At the end of the news conference, Napier said, "As long as you get on that pillow and said I gave it my all, what else can you say and what else can you do?" You can get some rest, and get ready to do it all over again Thursday.