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GREENSBORO Though North Carolina's basketball team can take relief in knowing Ty Lawson will likely be back for Saturday's second-round NCAA Tournament game against Louisiana State, there's still this nagging matter of Danny Green's shooting touch.
In Thursday's 101-58 victory over ridiculously overmatched Radford in the Greensboro Coliseum, the Green glass was either half full or half broken, depending upon your perspective.
On one hand, the senior forward scored 15 points and looked more comfortable with his shot. On the other hand, he was playing against a team that ran out of juice about 10 minutes into the game. Not only that, he missed eight of 14 shots, including a couple from short range and two of his three attempts on 3-pointers.
Green, who had missed 35 of his previous 45 field-goal attempts, looked first to the positive.
"It's an improvement. That's important," he said. "I felt good on my shots, and it gave me some confidence when I got off to a decent start."
But ...
"I'm still not hitting shots the way I should be," he said. "I do think it's coming around, though."
Green led the Tar Heels in rebounding with 10 in 29 minutes, and he was effective on defense with three steals and several disruptions.
"Danny's going to be fine," Lawson said. "He's gone through a tough couple of games, but he's fighting through it. He's going to make big shots when we need 'em from him."
Which likely will be Saturday against an LSU team awash in quickness and versatility.
En route to a 75-71 elimination of Butler in Thursday's opening game, the Tigers (27-7) made 11 steals, blocked eight shots and hounded the Bulldogs (26-6) into 42 percent shooting performance. Although seeded only eighth in the South Regional, the Southeastern Conference regular-season champions are eager to measure themselves against the top-seeded Heels (29-4).
"It's going to be a great challenge, but it's going to be fun to see what we can do," Chris Johnson, LSU's senior center, said. "We're excited because we knew when the field was announced that we would probably be playing Carolina in Carolina if we could get by Butler. A chance like this is what you play the game for."
If LSU's defensive tendencies against Butler carry over, Green and fellow wingman Wayne Ellington should have ample opportunities to strike. With much defensive emphasis on the inside, LSU was willing to give Butler 23 shots from beyond the arc. The ninth-seeded Bulldogs converted eight for an acceptable 35 percent effort but couldn't sink enough to get the upset.
Ellington, who missed only five of 16 shots and went 3-for-5 on 3-point attempts Thursday, of late has been as accurate as Green has been wayward. But if we know that fact, Tigers coach Trent Johnson knows it even better and will go to great lengths to shut down Ellington and gamble on Green.
"We'll see what happens," Green said. "Like I said, I think I'm getting back in a groove. But if I'm wrong, I'm just going to work harder on defense and rebounding. There's more to playing than just shooting."
Saturday's X factor, of course, is Lawson.
The junior playmaker has not played in a game since March 8, and his injury has virtually changed the team's identity from the Tar Heels to the Toe Heels. But how much rust has Lawson accumulated during the long layoff? Will it take him several minutes, maybe a full half, to adjust to the speed of a game against an opponent with as much quickness as any in the ACC?
"I don't think it'll be that much of a big problem," Lawson said. "Once a game gets going, you just react to what's happening around you. It all comes back to you pretty fast."
For Lawson, it may. For Green's stroke, the jury's still out.
