Here's my take on the first four days of the NCAA tournament:
Most Valuable Player: Ty Lawson, North Carolina
I have said this before and I will say it again. North Carolina is not a super-fast or super-athletic team. It is a team that runs hard and works hard, but the speed of the team is in one guy: Lawson. If you had any doubt about his importance to UNC's title chase, you got your answer in the second half against LSU. Lawson had 21 points in the final 20 minutes of the game and didn't have a single turnover. With Lawson at or near 100 percent, it will take a great effort to beat the Tar Heels. If I were Roy Williams, I would have him carried from place to place until Friday's game against Gonzaga.
I have said this before and I will say it again. North Carolina is not a super-fast or super-athletic team. It is a team that runs hard and works hard, but the speed of the team is in one guy: Lawson. If you had any doubt about his importance to UNC's title chase, you got your answer in the second half against LSU. Lawson had 21 points in the final 20 minutes of the game and didn't have a single turnover. With Lawson at or near 100 percent, it will take a great effort to beat the Tar Heels. If I were Roy Williams, I would have him carried from place to place until Friday's game against Gonzaga.
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Jay Bilas
College Basketball analyst- College basketball analyst for ESPN and ESPN Insider
- Played and coached at Duke
- Practicing attorney
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Jay Bilas
Jay Bilas provides expert color commentary from courtside on college basketball games and serves as a studio analyst and as the co-host of ESPN's popular studio shows "College GameDay" and "College Gamenight." He also writes for ESPN.com and contributes numerous reports for "SportsCenter." Since 2003, Bilas has provided in-depth player scouting and analysis for ESPN's coverage of the NBA draft.
