Here is the latest from the MASH 4077.
Ty Lawson
Status: Doubtful for Virginia Tech
According to Roy during his radio show last night, the decision to not play Lawson against Clemson was made on Saturday and it was also decided he would not play at UVa to give the ankle 4-5 days of rest to see if it markedly improves. They intend to evaluate it today to see how it is but Roy was not optimistic about him playing. Apparently the main issue is the pain and also the fact Lawson’s #1 weapon is his speed. And while some toughness questions are coming up on the message boards, I would give him the benefit of the doubt having had three sprained ankles in my life. Not allowing the proper time to heal makes it a chronic issue and Lawson’s effectiveness is somewhat tied to his being faster than everyone else on the court. If they can just get by with VT and get him back for the trip to RBC that leaves enough games to get the team gelled for the trip to Duke.
Marcus Ginyard
Status: Probable for Virginia Tech
Ginyard indicated in the UVa postgame that his toe was fine now but he is still dealing with the ankle injury. He also indicated the ankle was getting better so I expect this to be a non-issue by next week.
Deon Thompson
Status: Probable for Virginia Tech
Thompson apparently hyperextended his knee early in the UVa game. I did not see the play he was injured on and as of last night Roy was not entirely sure what the X-rays and test showed other than they did not seem concerned about it. Of course this makes sense since he played on it despite being gimpy and played quite well if I recall correctly. The issue is likely muscle related which is quicker to heal than some kind of structural issue with the knee.
Tyler Hansbrough
Status: Playing Unless He is Dead(and even then I would not count him out)
This I did not know. I received an email from someone Tuesday afternoon asking about a rumor that Hansbrough was not playing versus Virginia. I perused the normal information outlets and found no such information and passed that back to the reader. After the game I received a reply saying he had heard Hansbrough had an infected toe and would not play. Since he did play in the game I really did not know what to make of the rumor….until now. As it turns out the reader had heard something that apparently was not generally publicized and if it was I missed it in a huge way. According to Roy, Hansbrough is being treated for a issue with his toe that is apparently quite painful to the point he could barely walk on it Monday. On Tuesday, prior to the game, Roy asks him how the toe is and he said it “hurts like crazy, but coach, I am going to play.” I think we might be reaching a point where we have to question if Tyler Hansbrough is part human, part mythical creature. 😉
Tar Heel Fan 
In Adam Lucas’ post game article, he mentioned that Hansbrough had a chunk removed from his big toe after the game so they could properly drain it. Essentially blood and puss build up under the big toenail, and because the ability to expand is limited, the pressure increases, which directly correlates to an increase in pain.
Lawson’s toughness? Give me a break. Roy has made it clear that Lawson’s status is a coaching decision. It’s out of Ty’s hands (Hansbrough’s ridiculous behavior notwithstanding).
Well, you know how message boards are, it is always something.
Didn’t Roy say at some point that Lawson is young and hasn’t been hurt a lot before, so he thinks he needs to be perfect before he comes back? I don’t think that Roy was saying Lawson’s not tough enough, but I do think he was saying that he might eventually need a little push back onto the floor.
damn Michael–sounds like a rosanne rosanna danna sketch
There might be an element of Lawson being a skittish about getting back out there until it is 100% so yes, he might need some pushing but Roy seems content to let it ride for now.
Fuhgedaboutit… I don’t have a Brooklyn accent! 😉
toughness? the only people who would say have never played sports and dealt with a sprained ankle. my football coach use to tell us it was better to break a bone then to sprain one because once a break heals it is mended but a sprain is easy to sprain again. look at terrell owens (who is probably one of the best conditioned athletes in the world) how long it took him to come back and was not super effect when he did. tom brady even when he had time to throw throw the football in the super bowl did not look real comfertable and all he does is dropback and not cut like a point guard. unc is doing the right thing by taking their time with lawson.
From what I’ve heard, Tyler has a constant problem with an in-grown toenail that apparently worsened significantly this month. But it doesn’t matter because worst case, he’d probably just pull a Ronnie Lott and have them amputate his big toe if that’s what it would take to get him back out on the floor.
As for Ty, ankle sprains take a while to fully heal, esp. when it’s as severe as this one was. It’s even more important for a guy like Ty who not only needs speed, but also relies on shifting his weight quickly in order to cross defenders over and the like, as well as to properly play defense. It’s not that he lacks toughness, it’s just that he plays a position where ankle strength and health are very necessary. If Ty was a foot taller and played center, this probably wouldn’t be an issue, because they could just tape it until it was immobile with no risk of spraining it further. But Ty needs lots of ankle flexibility at the point.
I had a chronic ingrown toe nail when I was younger. After trying to cut the nail back twice it was decided the best court of actions was to remove the nail and destroy the nail bed to prevent regrowth.
And that is probably more information than you guys wanted. 🙂
According to IC, Lawson is out for VT. No real surprise there. Thompson is also questionable.
DANNY GREEN is also questionable. He has the flu. The hits keep coming.
http://northcarolina.scout.com/2/729387.html