I'm curious about Ty Lawson

[yancem]

There is no way on earth they win the tournament without Lawson, or without him playing very well. The morons at ESPN will pronounce the Heels favorites, but they have matchup problems all over the board, namely with teams with multiple bigs who are physical to throw at Beaker. That is the template (KU last year, Wake and FSU this year). Pitt and UConn are the most obvious candidates who fit that profile, but there are others.

UNC needs Lawson as he is their trump card-when healthy he is the fastest player in America. They are a good team without him, but asking Frasor to fill that role is hilarious and unfair.

dukemsu

Agreed! UNC, even without Lawson is a formidable team and would have a chance any given game but to win 6 in a row? I doubt it. I know that they won a lot of games last year while Lawson was out but this team (mainly due to the loss of Ginyard) just seems more fragile.

[dukegirlinsc]

Lawson Schmawson. I hate when they lose games without him, it's such an excuse. Granted, he's a great player and brings a lot to that team...But dang it. The number one team in the nation should be able to adapt and overcome.

[dukelifer]

I really don't believe they can win it without Lawson. It's likely a moot point since I fully expect Lawson will not miss a game in the NCAA tourney, but I think they would be hard pressed to make the Final Four without him. Without him they lose two key components of their offense. First is his ability in the half court to drive the basketball and score. Second is the speed he brings to allow them to get easy transition baskets. I do not feel they could overcome that in the Big Dance.

But I don't care how or when they lose in the tourney as long as they lose!

Go Duke!

Yesterday I was thinking that Hansbrough could have one of those tourneys where he puts the team on his back and leads them to the NCAA finals. Yes they lost but they are not going to be blown out- so they are going to be in every game. If Ellington and Green play to their potential- UNC is not an easy out. I think they are a better defensive team when they slow things down- or at least they focus better on D when not racing up and down the court. UNC is good enough to win it all because Hansbrough is a load for most every team-and they have a lot of quality players remaining- but they are much more beatable with no or a hobbled Lawson.

[captmojo]

Use of an injured player harms the overall focus of any team. The game yesterday was not lost due to the absence of Lawson. It was one of a string of last possession determined outcomes between the holes and Noles. The same result could have happened with a healthy Lawson, playing the usual amount of minutes.

[roywhite]

Use of an injured player harms the overall focus of any team. The game yesterday was not lost due to the absence of Lawson. It was one of a string of last possession determined outcomes between the holes and Noles. The same result could have happened with a healthy Lawson, playing the usual amount of minutes.

The game yesterday also featured reasonably good game coaching by Leonard Hamilton, which certainly wasn't the case in Tallahassee, where the 'Noles somehow gave the game away in the last 2 minutes.

Let's hope Leonard's subpar "strategery" is in play today.

[blueprofessor]

The game yesterday also featured reasonably good game coaching by Leonard Hamilton, which certainly wasn't the case in Tallahassee, where the 'Noles somehow gave the game away in the last 2 minutes.

Let's hope Leonard's subpar "strategery" is in play today.

The FSU players had more to do than Hamilton in losing the game to UNC in Tallahassee.
A stolen inbound pass led to a 3-point play.The trailing FSU player fouled a lay-up shooter.
Douglas drew a bunch of contact (a foul, uncalled) from Hanstravel on his shot from the top of the key---it was an airball. UNC inbounded to Lawson who dribbled to the top of the key where he hit a shot to win at the buzzer.

While Hamilton is not the best coach in the last minutes, player(and a ref's no-call) errors cost FSU the game.
Now, Hamilton might have called for ball denial on Lawson the last few seconds and his players simply were not in place---if he did not attempt to deny Lawson the inbound pass, it was a huge coaching mistake.


Douglas was fouled by Hans on FSU's last shot. That would have put him on the line for 2 with the game tied.

If that last Douglas shot had hit the rim or board, there would not have been time for Lawson to get close to take the shot.OT.

What Hamilton is good at is coaching his team to play very hard.We need to be prepared for a war today, because FSU has gotten better and they are getting help from players in addition to Douglas. Alabi is a stud.They still dribble too much and try to beat 2 defenders off the dribble. Their bigs make weak passes leading to turnovers. UNC was denying Douglas late and he was getting frustrated,which was bothering his mates who are used to his taking over.Also, FSU has difficulty maintaining "their" pace and gets ensnared in the other team's pace.
FSU has better talent than VT and MD.They think they will win.

Best--Blueprofessor

[Hancock 4 Duke]

I don't see how one player can predict the out come of one game. To find out, you would have to subtract lawson's average from the final score of the Holes game, and add what points the person in Lawson's place got. Then you will have the answer. You can also do this with rebounds, assists, etc.

[rthomas]

I don't see how one player can predict the out come of one game. To find out, you would have to subtract lawson's average from the final score of the Holes game, and add what points the person in Lawson's place got. Then you will have the answer. You can also do this with rebounds, assists, etc.

Or if you have Battier on your team, you have to subtract the intangibles.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I don't see how one player can predict the out come of one game. To find out, you would have to subtract lawson's average from the final score of the Holes game, and add what points the person in Lawson's place got. Then you will have the answer. You can also do this with rebounds, assists, etc.

Somehow I prefer to see a game actually played to determine cause and effect, positive or negative, of any player rather than to rely primarily or solely on isolated statistics.

[Onlyduke]

I keep wondering if Carolina were able to roll the clock back if they would play Lawson versus Duke. Even tho' he took the shot and could play, I'm guessing he injured it even more by playing on it. Guess they wanted to beat Duke more than take their chances at the ACC Tournament without him.

[CTDukeFan]

I keep wondering if Carolina were able to roll the clock back if they would play Lawson versus Duke. Even tho' he took the shot and could play, I'm guessing he injured it even more by playing on it. Guess they wanted to beat Duke more than take their chances at the ACC Tournament without him.

Duke would get the last laugh if Lawson was out for the NCAAs because he played in the final regular season game.

I'm very surprised he's out for the tournament but played against Duke. I haven't read much about his injury (before I thought it was just a sympathy injury to make people think Carolina was hurt) but I think you have to assume he injured it more against Duke since he's out now.

[Surfsideron]

SIMILARITY: Both UNC and Duke played FSU without Lawson.

DIFFERENCE: Duke won!