By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
GREENSBORO ó Point guard Ty Lawson jogged lightly and shot jumpers during a 40-minute workout in front of frenzied North Carolina fans Wednesday.
It’s unlikely they’ll see him running up and down the Greensboro Coliseum court this afternoon.
UNC coach Roy Williams said he expects Lawson, who missed two ACC Tournament games with a jammed right big toe, to sit out an NCAA tournament opener between the top-seeded Tar Heels (28-4) and 16th-seeded Radford (21-11) scheduled to begin at approximately 2:50 p.m.
Lawson participated in parts of practice Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.
“There is a huge probability that Ty will not play,” Williams said. “We’re still trying to wait and see. He was not able to do the things that I wanted him to do in practice, so some things would have to change drastically before I would change my mind on that.”
Lawson, who was bothered by a sprained left ankle for the last two months of the 2008 season, said he would talk to his coaches and UNC’s doctors before a final decision is made about his status for today’s game.
Lawson’s ineffectiveness contributed to the Tar Heels falling behind 40-12 in a Final Four loss to Kansas.
“Last year I had the most famous ankle,” Lawson said. “This year I have the most famous toe. I wish it wasn’t like this. I wish I was healthy, 100 percent like I was the whole year, but I just gotta deal with it.”
Lawson sustained his latest injury leading up to the Tar Heels’ regular-season finale against Duke on March 8.
If UNC falls short in its bid to win an NCAA title, senior reserve Mike Copeland might deserve at least some of the blame. He was heavily involved in the practice sequence that shelved Lawson.
“It was a fastbreak play where I shot the ball and had to get back on defense,” Lawson said. “Mike Copeland cherry-picked at halfcourt, so I had to run back and catch him. He went for a layup, and I stripped it. He gave me a little nudge, and I ran into the basket support.”
Lawson’s status for the Duke game was uncertain, but he received a pain-killing shot approximately 20 minutes before tipoff and came close to recording a triple-double against the Blue Devils.
Williams checked out Lawson a day later and was surprised by the amount of swelling that had occurred.
Bobby Frasor, a senior, started at point guard in ACC Tournament games against Virginia Tech and Florida State as Lawson watched from the bench.
“It’s more stiffness than pain right now,” Lawson said. “I have to get comfortable running, cutting back and forth, because I’ve been limping around for a week and a half.”
Reporters crowded around Lawson in UNC’s locker room prior to the team’s public workout Wednesday, and his teammates fielded question after question about the health of their point guard.
The return of Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green made North Carolina the preseason favorite to win the national championship, and the Tar Heels are again at the mercy of a talented player who has developed the reputation as someone who deals poorly with pain.
“We’re a bunch of college kids, so there’s a lot of, ‘Oh, you have a jammed big toe, you should be able to play basketball already,’ ” Frasor said. “We do know he’s going to be a huge part of this team and a huge part of this run we want to have. We want him to be as healthy as possible and be healthy as soon as possible.”
Green, also a senior, was asked at what point team members would begin pressuring Lawson to play through the injury.
“At what point? Now,” Green said. “The most important part of the season is right now. It’s definitely the most exciting and fun part of the season, but it’s the most important. This is when it counts. I’m sure he’ll take care of it because he knows what’s at stake.”
The Tar Heels must win six games to capture a title, and Radford presents the first challenge.
The winner of today’s game will face either LSU or Butler on Saturday.
“Hopefully if I don’t play Thursday and they take care of me I’ll take care of them Saturday,” Lawson said. “Hopefully we can get through this first game.”