Dug McDaniel gets sage advice from assistant Howard Eisley
Michigan point guard Dug McDaniel was expected to have his ups and downs in his freshman season, and there have been more highs and lows. One of the disappointments, though, came in the last game at Maryland, where he struggled. He notched 7 assists but only 4 points on 2-for-10 shooting, was a step slow defensively, and he turned it over 3 times.
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He felt the ire of the fickle twitter tough guys in the aftermath, and it stung.
McDaniel, of course, wasn’t expected to start this year, but sophomore Frankie Collins transferred and grad Jaelin Llewellyn went down with a season-ending one injury. He’s stepped up with some outstanding games and some not-so-good ones, but he’s shown great potential to be a long-term leader at the position.
Assistant coach Howard Eisley has taken McDaniel under his wing as what associate head coach Phil Martelli calls “the point guard whisperer,” and he offered some sage words of wisdom.
“The best advice we can give him is, obviously, after games are very emotional … so it’s probably not to respond,” Eisley said. “Definitely not [just] that, but not even read it. Give yourself some time to really take a deep breath, and get away and have an understanding of what just happened. Let your emotions come down back to where you’re even-keeled before you respond — if you respond.
“My advice to him would be … not to get into dialogue like that because nothing really positive can come from it, especially when you’re conversing with people you don’t even know who they are.”
Twitter, of course, can be the devil’s message board, where folks throw barbs without thinking, opposing fans pose as other team’s fans to try to sabotage players’ confidence, etc. …
In short, it can be a cesspool. He’d prefer McDaniel and his teammates avoid it.
“That’s the world we live in now,” Eisley continued. “So, the only way you can combat that is by not engaging and not reading it. That would be probably the best way to go about it.
“But I do understand. This day and age, people like the interaction, or the engagement as they call it. But I really believe the best way to really stay focused on the task at hand is not to read it, not to be involved on that platform.”
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Some players use the criticism to come back stronger, of course. It takes mental toughness, but McDaniel is that kind of player. He’s followed up some of his bad games with really good ones, and he isn’t afraid.
That confidence is part of the reason why Eisley believes he’ll bounce back strong today against Minnesota. The frosh torched the Golden Gophers in the first meeting, but they’ll likely be better prepared for him this time around.
“I think Dug is fine,” Eisley said. “Every game presents a different challenge for him. I think he’s up for the challenge. He has a very high basketball IQ and a great feel for the game, and I think what he’s learning is being consistent and being able to do it every every night we take the court.
“Before, maybe Minnesota didn’t even have him on the scouting report — who knows? But now, as the starter, he’s on the scouting report. And people are really zooming in on his strengths and weaknesses. So [it’s about] being more consistent and continue to grow and learn as much as he can.”
McDaniel has been “thrown into the fire,” Eisley noted, and it’s an opportunity for him to learn and to grow.
“My hope for him and for our team is the next six weeks, he’s better than what he was the first six weeks,” Eisley said. “So that’s that’s the goal, and that’s what we’re looking forward to.”
