Originally Posted on WRALsportsfan.com: Jan 9, 2008.
Ty Lawson had the ball with 5.4 seconds left in overtime. His North Carolina Tar Heels trailed the Clemson Tigers, 88-87. UNC’s unblemished record and No. 1 national ranking hung in the balance.
Lawson caught Marcus Ginyard’s in-bounds pass near the Carolina bench, took two power dribbles to the right and lassoed a pass to the left. It evaded three pairs of Tiger paws before reaching Wayne Ellington on the left wing.
Ellington’s 3-pointer found the bottom of the net with 0.4 seconds remaining as UNC won, 90-88.
Last season, Lawson said, the Tar Heels probably would have lost the game.
“Last year, we probably would have gotten a terrible shot up or something like that. I don’t think we would have even come close,” he said.
Moreover, the victory came at the end of an overtime period that UNC forced by erasing a seven-point lead in the final 2:37 of regulation.
“I don’t think we would have come back from that last year because we were real young. We probably would have started firing threes, not taking our time playing defense,” Lawson said.
The star point guard wears a Toronto Blue Jays hat because he likes the color. He still watches the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants because he picked up the habit in high school. Yet, he is maturing, and rapidly, on the court.
“I’m playing a lot better this year than last year. I think I’m scoring more, trying to look for my shot more, and just getting more people involved,” Lawson said. He has averaged 13.2 points, 5.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game this season, and he’s shooting 80 percent from the free throw line. Last year, he averaged 10.2 points, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 69 percent from the charity stripe.
Lawson’s elevated play certainly qualifies as one of the main forces behind North Carolina’s success this season. UNC is lucky just to have him playing. After all, Lawson, Ellington and Tyler Hansbrough all said, “Not yet,” after their 2006-2007 season ended at the hands of the Georgetown Hoyas.
Lawson, for one, stands by his choice. He returned to UNC for his sophomore year because he wanted to improve aspects of his game – namely, his shooting (from the field and the foul line), controlling the ball and limiting his turnovers.
“My shooting percentage is up, free throw percentage, running the team better, learning a lot of new things, so I think it was a good decision,” he said.
Last year, Lawson averaged 10.2 points while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 68.8 percent from the foul line.
This year, he is averaging 13.2 points while shooting 54.6 percent overall and 80.0 percent from the line.
Although the 2008 NBA Draft is a few calendar flips away, it’s never too early to wonder: What happens next year – NCAA or NBA?
“I haven’t thought about it too much,” Lawson said, “but probably if we win the national championship, because that’s the main thing I want. So if I get that, I’ll probably go. And if maybe I’m like top 10, top five (in NBA Draft projections), you can’t pass that up. But if I’m not playing well by the end of the year, and I still need to work on stuff, then I’ll stay for another year.”
To win it all, the Tar Heels must overcome the loss of back-up point guard Bobby Frasor, who is out for the season after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament against Nevada. Lawson said that he needs to raise his own level of play to compensate for the energy, defense, leadership and vocal on-court presence Frasor contributed.
“I have to do more conditioning and play a lot more minutes,” Lawson said. “Like last game, it was up-and-down paced, I was so tired … the main thing I need to work on is endurance.”
Already without its back-up point guard, UNC defeated Valparaiso, Kent State and Clemson with other cogs missing from the machine. Reserve point guard, Quentin Thomas played limited minutes against Clemson after missing the previous two contests because of a sprained ankle, while forward Alex Stepheson returned to the team this week after visiting his ailing father in Los Angeles and missing the Kent State and Clemson games.
“It was a big challenge, especially the last game when Alex wasn’t there, because that was a big man off the bench we needed,” Lawson said. Stepheson is now back with the team, much to Lawson’s liking. He said that if he were stranded on an island with one of his teammates, it would be Stepheson, “because there’s never a dull moment with him.”
But these are not last year’s Tar Heels, and they have so far risen to the occasion in games that they might have lost a season ago – such as their early season losses to Gonzaga and Virginia Tech.
Lawson said that the 2008 Tar Heels are more mature in general.
“Everyone’s gotten better,” he said. “I think we’re all playing with more confidence and swagger.”
Lawson desires a national title and believes that UNC possesses the talent to win one. He feels that Memphis, Kansas and Texas A&M pose the biggest threats at the moment, but said, “We’re playing well right now, playing together. If we keep doing that, I don’t think there’s anybody out there that can beat us.”
UNC’s success may hinge upon Lawson staying healthy and playing a ton of quality minutes. Another stat where his 2007-2008 numbers exceed his 2006-2007 ones: minutes per game. This year, he has played 26.4 minutes per game, and 30.8 over Carolina’s last five. Last season, he played 25.7 minutes per game.
If his minutes increase, rest assured the season will take its toll on Lawson’s body. He needs to weather the storm for Carolina to enjoy March.
And if the Tar Heels win the NCAA Championship, it might abbreviate Ty Lawson’s college career.
It’s a consequence Tar Heel fans will likely suffer with pleasure.
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