T for Two: McDaniels, Coach Talk About Those Nagging Technicals

Punitive punishment doesn't appear forthcoming even if Huskies' talented player draws another technical foul.

Pressed about Jaden McDaniels and his propensity to draw technical fouls -- now at five, and likely more than any other Washington basketball player has drawn in school history -- Huskies coach Mike Hopkins shifts into a fatherly mode.

He told a story this week about how one of his sons acted up in class and he had to go to school to deal with the youngster, as heard in the accompanying video. They talked it out.

Hopkins indicated that a paternal approach is the best way to handle the often impulsive McDaniels, handling him gently over those repeated on-court transgressions, some of which have led directly to UW defeats. 

"We've had talks with J-Mac," Hopkins said. "He's such a good kid. He understands the impact of those (T's). Now it goes back to having a little self control, because he's so competitive."

While each coach is a little different, and should be, Hopkins' Dr. Feel Good style runs noticeably contrary to previous Huskies basketball coaches such as Marv Harshman and even Lorenzo Romar. 

Harshman was notorious for exerting his will on selfish players who didn't buy into the team concept, unafraid to treat them, well, harshly until things changed. 

Romar put his foot down with Doug Wrenn, asking the All-Pac-10 forward to leave the team after leading the Huskies in scoring as a junior. Wrenn's misstep: He wanted to do things his way.

Hopkins prefers to give McDaniels a lot of room to grow up. The coach stressed how his star-crossed forward is carrying a tremendous burden as this overly talented young athlete. He says this even as Isaiah Stewart, his other elite freshman, seems to be handling the pressure just fine.

McDaniels, who hails from Federal Way, Washington, still appears at the top half of most NBA mock drafts, ranking as high as fifth by nbadraft.net. -- and in each case higher than Stewart.

Add to that, people apparently close to McDaniels constantly call out to the player from the stands and remind him how good he is.

Then there are the Husky fans who have grown weary of the game-day antics and let it be known in not so polite terms on the message boards. 

"He's got a bad rep with everybody," Hopkins said of McDaniels. "They've already put him in a box that he does this and does that. He needs to relieve the pressure and have fun playing this game."

As Hopkins readies his team for Sunday's game at Washington State, he prefers to handle McDaniels with kid gloves. He's content to take that approach. He said the gifted player had a good week of practice and they're moving forward.

For that reason, another technical could be just around the corner. Asked if he would punish McDaniels should he be whistled again, Hopkins hedged on this. 

"I wouldn't go that far but I think at the end of the day we're teachers," he said. "If it was malicious and intentional, and he's doing that to do what, now we have a problem."