How the Huskies went from fractured to Frankenstein

It was a late January practice, the first one after the Huskies totaled their bandwagon in Los Angeles, and the University of Washington players weren't sure which Lorenzo Romar they were about to encounter.

The basketball coach had been strangely calm a couple nights earlier. The Huskies had suffered their worst loss of the season, an 87-61 thwacking by USC, and Romar entered the locker room.

"I'm not going to yell," he declared. "Keep your heads up and stay with it."

But the team wondered if, after some teething time, relaxed Romar would turn into ragin' Romar. The Huskies probably deserved the wrath. They were 3-5 in a maligned Pac-10 Conference. They were a laughable 0-6 on the road. They were accused of being immature, cocky and undisciplined.

Several players sought reassurance in the Good Book and adopted one consoling Bible verse: "The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him."

Modern interpretation: Good things come to those who wait.

Then again, what good could come from waiting when your coach is about to erupt?

Romar opened practice that day by asking his players a question.

"If you could be any body part, what would you be?"

Some players laughed at the random inquiry, but when called upon for an answer, they turned serious. Some said heart. Some said brain. Some said eyes, lungs, legs, arms, ears. After a few minutes of banter, Romar made his point.

"To function properly, every part of the body is necessary," he said. "Even if you're just the toe, you're as big as the heart. Every part of the body is just as important. Every part of our team's body is just as important."

And soon after the anatomy lesson, the Huskies — a team of this and that — found their heart and its soul, learned to use their long arms and skinny legs and created a proper vision for a season that seemed doomed.

Consider it their Frankenstein moment.

This team is a monster now, more potent than its pre-NCAA tournament reputation and capable of extending a remarkable late-season run beyond the Sweet 16. Every time you see that "No. 11" by Washington, doesn't it feel more like a national ranking now than a seed?

Two months ago, a game against West Virginia would've been a sure blowout loss for UW. Now, with Washington on a nine-game winning streak, it's an intriguing matchup.

The reformation started with a team learning its body. Since that talk, the Huskies have won 14 of 16 games, and not coincidentally, their talented individual pieces fit together.

They make sense now. Quincy Pondexter is the clear No. 1 option and team leader, and Isaiah Thomas, previously a quick-shooting volume scorer, is complementing him by turning into more of a complete guard. Justin Holiday, who became a starter in mid-January, is the defensive anchor. Matthew Bryan-Amaning is the post presence, Venoy Overton is the sparkplug, and Elston Turner is the designated sharpshooter.

To round out the 10-man rotation, Abdul Gaddy, Tyreese Breshers, Darnell Gant and Scott Suggs have accepted smaller roles. Early in the season, the Huskies were a mess of talent. Now, they are a streamlined group that, contrary to old criticisms, can't be accused of immaturity, misplaced cockiness or a lack of discipline anymore.

And this purple-and-gold Frankenstein has a favorite body part, too.

Its fists.

It's another Romar-ism.

"Coach uses the analogy of a fist," Bryan-Amaning said. "There's a lot of talent on our roster, but we have to play our roles. We have to stick together. We have to be tight, like a fist. If you have one loose finger, it's a weak fist."

The Huskies are full of sayings and motivational ploys, and they've all worked this season. They had to work. There was no other choice after this team fell into the hole early in conference games.

Three weeks before Romar's anatomy lecture, Thomas began the healing process. He called a players-only meeting after an embarrassing 90-79 home loss to Oregon on Jan. 2. Even though that loss was the start of the slide, it merely revealed problems the team kept hidden during a weak nonconference schedule.

After the Oregon game, an upset Pondexter was asked if the Huskies were too cocky for their own good. He admitted so and left himself out of the mix, which fueled speculation that there was discord between the team's lone senior and his brash young teammates. Pondexter later amended his remarks, but the team was already in disarray.

The meeting helped. Thomas did most of the talking and coined a team motto: "We all we got." What it lacked in grammar, it made up for in significance. A team that began the season with enormous hype had fallen, and with the scrutiny intensifying, the Huskies needed to unite.

It took three more weeks, but the Huskies did come together.

"We were never disjointed," Gant said. "We were never separated. But we had to figure out what we wanted to be and how we were going to win. Now, we're more of a fist."

Pondexter and his brash young teammates have met in the middle. The lone senior no longer feels like it's all on him to continue the budding Huskies tradition. The rest of the squad, which includes nine freshmen and sophomores, are mature enough now to know what it takes to win.

If you could be any body part, what would you be?

The body has been pieced back together. The team is whole.

"We kind of hit rock bottom," Romar said. "And we became a team."

They're a Frankenstein, mismatched but coalesced, with large hands that curl quickly into fists.

Land one more punch, and the Huskies are in the Elite Eight.

Two more, and, well, since we've been talking anatomy, what limb would you be willing to lose for that?

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com, Twitter: @Jerry_Brewer