Everyone messed up.Here’s what Boozer sees:
There’s two UConn players coming to trap him. Up ahead he sees a wide open teammate - if the ball gets there, the game is 100% over.
At the end of the game against full court press, when you’re trapped, you need to pass the ball. What makes you think nothing will happen, they won’t try and pry the ball loose, and just award you a foul? A whole lot can go wrong in that situation as well.
In contrary, he sees a wide open teammate and if he hits him the game is over.
If we’re gonna play “you shouldn’t pass the ball,” then why did Sarr pass it to Boozer to begin with?
Boozer messed up with that pass. He just did. Yes, if he makes the pass you win the game. But the odds of making that pass are almost certainly less than the odds of winning a game up 2 with the ball and with 10 seconds left on the clock. Which means that pass is a net negative. Better off not doing it. If you feel you need to pass to avoid the trap, turn around and see if there's an easier pass in the backcourt (and there was - his brother is an easier pass in that situation).
Sarr messed up too. He never should have passed either. I think he got nervous because he's not a strong a FT shooter and didn't want to be on the line in that high pressure situation. But he didn't help things by throwing a live grenade to his teammate.
On that note, other Boozer probably shouldn't have passed it to Sarr. He's the team's leader, and an excellent FT shooter. There's a reason he's the guy they want the ball to go to on the inbounds. Just hold it and take the foul.
Scheyer probably owns most of the blame. Bad job prepping his players, terrible decision pocketing that timeout instead of calling it when things started to go south.