Washington's Isaiah Thomas dishes on Huskies, dream team, more

The latest subject of our Hoops Q&A series is Washington's Isaiah Thomas, who was the Pac-10's Freshman of the Year in 2008-09 after averaging 15.5 points per game. Thomas, a pint-sized (5-foot-8) guard who got his first name after his father, a Lakers fan, lost a bet on the 1989 Lakers-Pistons NBA Finals, is the leader of a Huskies team that's considered a co-favorite (along with Cal) to finish atop the Pac-10 this season. The following is an edited transcript of our conversation:

Luke Winn: [Your freshman backcourt mate] Abdul Gaddy Twittered yesterday that you need a haircut. Agree or disagree?

Isaiah Thomas: Disagree. That guy needs one more than I do. He needs a fresh cut ASAP.

LW: He specifically referenced your fro-hawk.

IT: I have small fro-hawk going right now. Coach [Lorenzo Romar] won't let us grow it out too big.

LW: What, are there measurement restrictions on fro-hawks at Washington?

IT: Up until this year, [Romar] didn't let us do anything like that. I had one over the summer, and it got long before I got it cut. Then we had picture day a couple weeks ago, and I was thinking to myself, "I'm going to cut it again before [Romar] can even say anything." But he came up to me and said, "I've been thinking long and hard about it, and it's a new look for young guys, so if you keep it short and clean-cut, you can have it."

LW: That's nice of him. Speaking of you and Abdul Gaddy, who was a big-time recruit -- people are excited about the prospect of seeing you two alongside each other in the backcourt. How do you envision that tandem working?

IT: I just envision a lot of, I guess, highlights. With a guy like [Gaddy] handling the ball, you don't know what can happen, and with a guy like me having the ball too, it's going to be fun to watch. Abdul is as good as advertised, with what he does with assists and creating [opportunities] for people, and I'm probably more of a scorer, so we're both going to be able to do what we do.

LW: Specifically, how is the ballhandling going to be divided? You were the point last year, with Justin [Dentmon] playing off the ball, but Abdul is more of a true point. I'm curious about how that's going to work.