March 26, 2009

By Adam Lucas

MEMPHIS--Bad news: Ty's toe is back in the news again. Carolina went through an open practice at the FedExForum on Thursday afternoon, but their "real" practice took place earlier in the day.

"I asked him this morning (about the toe)," Roy Williams said. "I said, `On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being great, how was it yesterday?' He said it was a 6. I asked him how it was today. He said a 6. I asked how it was on Saturday before the LSU game. He said an 8. It has taken a long time to heal. When it happened, they told me it was going to be this way. Being more positive, I was hoping it'd be better by this time. This time it hasn't swollen, but it has been painful."

No matter what Lawson's health situation might be, Gonzaga coach Mark Few said he's still one of the key matchups for Friday night.

"That's the one that keeps you up at night," Few said. "But they've got about 77 entities that keep you up at night. The speed at which he plays, our guards will have to get help from our bigs. Many people have tried that. We have to try and bottle him up and keep him in front of us."

2005 comparison: Williams had some interesting thoughts on comparing the 2009 Tar Heels to the 2005 edition, especially at the point guard position. After saying he couldn't really compare Lawson to Raymond Felton because they had been asked to do different things, the head coach explained some of those differences.

"His first year with me, Raymond wasn't nearly as good defensively at stopping the basketball," Williams said. "I told Raymond that he really needed to do that for us and he accepted that challenge. The front line of our defense was so good because of what he did. Also, that first year his elbow was flying out on his shot, and he really worked hard to revamp his shot.

"With Ty, it's always been, `You've got to push it.' And don't ignore your outside shot, because he has always been a good outside shooter. Raymond was so tough mentally that he embarrassed people when they didn't work hard. Ty leads the team with his play and his toughness under pressure to make big plays.

"We were more of a set offense with Raymond. Rashad (McCants) could get his shot anytime. Sean May was as good a passing big man as maybe I've ever had. So the supporting casts were different and the responsibilities we gave them were a little different."

Same difference: The differences between Gonzaga and Carolina are obvious--West Coast vs. East Coast, BCS conference vs. non-BCS conferences, 100 years of hoops tradition vs. a couple decades of hoops tradition. But during his press conference, Few hit on one very important similarity. When discussing his team's run through the West Coast Conference, he said, "It's not easy when fans are poised to storm the floor against you every night." That's exactly the same situation Carolina faces in the ACC.

After a full season of that treatment, Gonzaga's Josh Heytvelt is enjoying a new role in the NCAA tournament. "It's nice to be the underdog," he said. "During most of the season we have a bullseye on our backs in conference games. But with Carolina, fans don't expect anything less than a championship from those guys. We have a little pressure off our backs and we can play a little bit looser."

Mutual admiration society: Even before they got together at Thursday's open practice/media session, Few and Williams had already spent some time together in Memphis on Wednesday night. Listening to them talk, two things are clear: first, they are very similar individuals. And second, they think a lot of each other.

"Coach Williams has been a phenomenal mentor and he probably doesn't even realize it," Few said. "When I took over as head coach, we emulated his transition basketball, his secondary break, and his approach offensive and defensively. His fingerprints are all over our program...He's as much of a class act as there is in college basketball. The greatest compliment I can pay him is we've dang near copied a large percentage of our program on what he's done at Kansas and Carolina."

One of the signature events of Williams's summer is his annual trip to Las Vegas, when a group of friends accompany him for 12-hour days watching prep basketball games. One of those friends is Williams's high school coach, Buddy Baldwin, who remains a close confidant. Few is also usually in Las Vegas for those recruiting events, and his respect for Baldwin has been part of what has earned him a fan in Williams.

"Mark has always been so nice and gracious to my high school coach, and that is really special to me," Williams said. "Mark is a guy I really do admire and respect a great deal."

Briefly: Williams served as the honorary duck master on Thursday morning at the Peabody Hotel, where he escorted in the famous Peabody ducks. "The ducks are very coachable," Williams reports. Jim Nantz of CBS is Thursday evening's honorary duck master...Williams is taking the team to eat at Rendezvous tonight, his favorite Memphis restaurant...Few had a great line during his press conference. When a media member identified himself as being from Yahoo Sports, Few responded with a raised eyebrow, "Uh-oh, Yahoo Sports!" He was referring, of course, to yesterday's report about the Connecticut program...Williams said Gonzaga's Matt Bouldin "might have as much innate savvy as any player I've seen in a long time."... Few spent some time at his press conference trolling for support from the neutral fans of Memphis. He twice voluntarily brought up how much he enjoys Memphis. "You can really sense the appreciation for college basketball here," he said. He's right, of course. The downtown area near the arena has been lively even a day before the games, and it definitely feels more like a college sports town than a pro sports town.

Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.