At the start of every season, Kevin Ollie views his UConn basketball team as one big puzzle fresh out of the box.

All the pieces are scattered around. At first, hardly anything seems to fit right. It's impossible to tell what the finished product will ultimately look like without checking the cover of the box.

It's Ollie and his coaching staff's job to properly assemble the puzzle to form a beautiful picture.

Judging from UConn's recent run, the puzzle is complete.

UConn has evolved into a dangerous team just in time for the post-season. The ninth-seeded Huskies play their NCAA tournament opener Thursday against No. 8 Colorado at the Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines.

"It's a beautiful puzzle right now," Ollie said. "But everybody looked at that box when we got this team, and (said), 'Oh, this is the greatest team. We're going to the Final Eight.' No, it was just a box. You've got to put the pieces together.

"So, we put the pieces together right. I love us playing our best basketball now. Now we're about to write another chapter going to the NCAA tournament."

UConn's postseason history book is a terrific read. Just two years ago (it seems much longer than that, doesn't it?) the Huskies, a No. 7 seed, completed a stunning run to the program's fourth national championship.

As a No. 9 seed this postseason, the odds are considerably longer, especially with the potential roadblocks in the South Region.

That's fine with the Huskies, who are a confident, cohesive bunch. The players understand their roles now more than any time during the season.

But it didn't happen overnight. It was a long process.

Ollie patiently moved around his puzzle pieces. He juggled his rotation, taking into consideration individual performances and matchups. Nine different players started at various times.

The Huskies dealt with several rocky stretches, including an injury to center Amida Brimah, who missed 11 games.

"You've got to take it day by day," Ollie said. "You can't isolate bad times. You can't isolate bad shooting days, or (people saying) I'm the worst coach or our players are the worst players. You can't isolate those things. You've got to make sure you continue to perform, and through struggles and put that puzzle together."

Not all of Ollie's changes worked out, while others took time to be effective.

Sixteen games into the season, Ollie made a potentially risky decision and removed his leading scorer, Rodney Purvis, from the starting lineup and turned him into the sixth man. Purvis regressed at first before gradually becoming a spark, offensively and defensively. Purvis returned to the starting five for the AAC tournament and remained productive.

Players completely bought into the team-first mentality. They're sharing the scoring wealth with Shonn Miller (12.8), Purvis (12.5), Daniel Hamilton (12.4) and Sterling Gibbs (12.0) all averaging about the same amount of points.

No one cares who plays the spotlight role.

"Guys are sacrificing things," Purvis said. "Its' not one guy scoring 30 or 20, we're all satisfied with 10 or 15. Different guys are just spreading the wealth, that's what it's all about. We're a much better team when everybody is involved. Everybody is just keying into whatever they're good at and everybody is playing their role.

"We don't care who is getting the glam."

While Ollie's faith in his bench has appeared to waver at times, he needed to rely heavily on them during the three-games-in-three-days AAC tournament format. The reserves responded when foul trouble hit several starters in the championship game against Memphis, as Jalen Adams, Omar Calhoun, Kentan Facey, Brimah and Steven Enoch all responded.

The Huskies always believed the puzzle would eventually form a beautiful picture.

"Everybody bought in and wanted the same goals," Adams said. "We have a great team, a lot of different weapons. Once we all just bought in and jelled together, we formed something special."

g.keefe@theday.com