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Lawson Playing Through Pain

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 27, 2009

Updated: 03/27/2009 12:33 am

Ty Lawson's toe is still a concern for top-seeded North Carolina. At least now the nimble point guard is used to playing through the pain.
Lawson said Thursday his right big toe is feeling about how it did last week. That didn't make Coach Roy Williams too happy, but Lawson expects to be ready when the Tar Heels face Gonzaga tonight in Memphis, Tenn.

"I played with it last week. I know what pain's coming. I'm already used to it, so I'll just play through it like I did last week," Lawson said. "It still hurts. I can't do what I normally do, but I realize what I can't do with it and I just play to my strengths."
Lawson missed three straight games before helping the Tar Heels rally past LSU in Saturday's second-round game in the South Region. He experienced some minor swelling in the toe afterward, but nothing like what followed the regular-season finale against Duke that forced him to the sideline.

"The first time in the Duke game he played, it was very swollen," Williams said. "This time it's not swollen, but it's been painful."

Injured or not, Lawson certainly was a factor against LSU, scoring 21 of his 23 points in the second half of an 84-70 win.

Still, Williams had hoped the toe would improve a little more before his team's next game.

"On a scale of one to 10 - 10 being the greatest - how was it? Yesterday, he said, 'A six,'" Williams said. "How was it Saturday before the LSU game? He said about an eight, so that's not encouraging to me."

Syracuse Faces Big Challenge

The Syracuse Orange have battled Big East behemoths like Louisville, Connecticut and Pittsburgh - all No. 1 seeds and still playing in the NCAA Tournament. They have dealt with big men like Pitt's DeJuan Blair and UConn's 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet. Now comes Oklahoma's powerful Blake Griffin.

Let the flattery begin.

"Probably going to be the No. 1 pick in this upcoming year's draft," Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn said Thursday. "There's nothing really to say about him that everybody in this world doesn't know. He's just so tenacious on the offensive end and the defensive end. He controls the game. ... He just really plays the game at his own speed. That's what makes him good."

Griffin stands in the way of the hardworking, third-seeded Orange and a piece of history for Coach Jim Boeheim tonight - Boeheim could win his 800th game.

Pennell Focuses On Job At Hand

Arizona coach Russ Pennell will play this weekend by the book - Rick Pitino's book.

He's savoring every moment in Indianapolis, from the open shootaround to the usually dreaded news conferences, fully understanding tonight's game against top-seeded Louisville could be his first and only chance to lead a team into the region finals.

So the man with the interim title spent Thursday blunting questions about his uncertain future by focusing on the present. Or what Pitino once described as the precious present.

"Just the opportunity to walk through this journey this year is incredible. It's stretched me, it's forced me to think outside the box. It's very unconventional what we've gone through," Pennell said. "If this is the only opportunity, so be it. Life goes on."

Kansas Gets Second Chance

The Kansas Jayhawks say they've grown as a team since a double-digit loss in January at Michigan State. They'll find out how far they've come when they face the Spartans again in the Midwest Region semifinals tonight.

Michigan State defeated Kansas 75-62 on Jan. 10 in East Lansing, Mich., after the young Jayhawks fell behind 37-18 at halftime. Kansas center Cole Aldrich said things should be different now.

"We've matured a lot," he said. "It was our second road game, so we didn't quite understand everything about being on the road. We've learned so many different things from Coach Bill Self and really understood the game a little more."

The Associated Press

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