X-rays were negative on Ty Lawson’s high ankle sprain but Roy is not expecting him to play on Wednesday. Whether that is Roy hiding his cards or giving a straightforward assessment is anyone’s guess. He does not strike me as one to opt for the Bellicheckian methods of cloaking injury situations to try and gain some sort of tactical advantage because it is not like Duke is going to suddenly change their defense at the possibility Lawson is not playing. At this point this is very much looking like a possible repeat of the January 18, 1989 game with Duke where UNC faced the #1 ranked Blue Devils without starting PG Jeff Lebo who was injured in a 106-83 loss at UVa. UNC was ranked #13 and went to Cameron with sophomore King Rice running the point.
UNC 91 Duke 71
I am all for that happening again.
Tar Heel Fan 
THF, remember this is 1989. Officials had a propensity towards UNC during that time.
J/K. I don’t know if we can say that Q = King Rice, as I have not seen Quentin play as much as Rice did. Hopefully he can outdo King Rice. Have you noticed everyone is shot hesitant when Lawson is out? I have seen so many good shots passed up that eventually we turned-over the possession. Hey Quentin, if you get pass your man & you’re open, SHOOT! You can make it Quentin.
FWIW, I saw Ty on campus today sporting a boot and crutches. I heard Alex mention he was embarrassed to be walking with Ty because of all the sympathy he was getting.
THF, for a second I thought you were predicting the score of Wednesday’s game before I read the entire post…THAT would be bold.
Q can make Duke pay by making shots and being aggressive and in control. The Heels should have an advantage rebounding, so after Duke misses (particularly on 3-pointers) UNC should be able to run some. A big game from Ellington also would help.
Well crap. I know boot and crutches are probably there to facilitate faster healing but I think we might need to prepare ourselves for him being out for the Clemson game too.
BTW, I might just predict something like that…just to be bold…and stupid.
With Lawson not being able to facilitate the offense, you may see suggestions of an 81-69 type of game w/Duke winning.
Just as long as Lawson does not pull a Tom Brady and try to go shopping with the girlfriend and have to walk around carrying bag with the boot on.
Not likely but if Memphis continues living on the edge and loses to SMU on Wed, unc and dook could be playing for #1. Has that ever happened before?
It takes the pressure off us.
don’t know the situation w/Ginyard’s toe, but I am really stepping down my expectations for Wednesday. We’ve all seen situations where teams are missing key players and the others step up–even had it done to us a time or two, but it doesn’t bode well. ”
“Coach Smith-price check on front register”!!!
I thought Q played very well on Sunday. Didn’t even know he had a jump shot, either. I don’t think we have to run Duke out of the gym, but Q has to play a pretty spotless game. It will help that Paulus will be playing him, because, well, Paulus really isn’t that good.
On another note, I can’t wait to see the reception Henderson gets for the shot on Tyler last spring. Should be pretty interesting to say the least.
Not having Ty available will hurt and I hope everyone steps up, but the refs and how they call the game will decide this one. If they continue to buy the flopping by dook and allow the chop-chop defense, dook wins by 15 or more.
Exactly Joe, and if they don’t, WE win! Hell, Duke struggled with State at home. I am convinced we are a better team w/o Lawson than NC State is. Will Q push the ball like Javier? I don’t know. Our inside is as good as NC State’s is, and that is where they almost beat Duke@their place. Good pg production out of Thomas, and we win.
UNC will need to get a handle on TO in order to have a chance. Q is prone to TO in high pressure defense, but I agree if Q has an open shot he needs to take it. If Duke starts hot from 3 land and bodies up on Tyler we are in for a long night. Ginyard, Green, Wayne and Deon have to step up and play tough.