Shabazz Napier: "I try my best to be a leader even though guys don't give me a chance"

UConn may never want to go back to the state of New Jersey.

This past week, the Huskies played at Seton Hall and at Rutgers and came away with a pair of losses. Throw in the lackadaisical performances against overmatched opponents and the loss to Central Florida out in the Bahamas, and all of a sudden UConn looks like a team on the brink.

And now they are popping off in the media.

Dave Borges is the UConn beat writer for the New Haven Register, and on his blog this morning he published an extended quote from UConn point guard Shabazz Napier. I'm going to pull a couple of the more interesting quotes, but I strongly urge you to go read through everything that he said:

I try to tell the guys, I feel as if I'm their best leader. Sometimes they give me a chance, sometimes they don't.

I'm not saying (some players) have their own agenda, I just feel they don't understand what's going on. I feel as though I'm the closest to Coach. I feel as though I understand what Coach is thinking about.

I try my best to be a leader, even though guys don't give me a chance to be that person. It shows in the game, I can't lie.

Every single publication that previewed this UConn team asked the exact same question: who is going to fill the leadership role left by Kemba Walker's departure?

Right now, the answer appears to be no one. And until that answer changes, UConn will continue to lose games they should win.