In addition to improved shooting mechanics, Lawson said pro teams want him to develop a better floater in the lane.

Aug. 21, 2008

By Adam Lucas

Maybe it's the hat.

That has to be it. Because looking at Ty Lawson, for some reason, he looks old.

He's sitting in the Smith Center press room drinking apple juice, and he doesn't look like that same kid who's racked up 349 assists over the last two years for North Carolina. You know the one. Just a little bit goofy, shoes never tied, Sponge Bob on the television. Somehow, he looks different. Maybe it's that black Cincinnati Reds hat that is perched on his head.

It could be the socks, of course. You're used to seeing him in the latest in cartoon character attire, but today he's chosen simple black socks, the better to offset his Oak Hill Alumni t-shirt.

Or it could be something else. It could be the two months of NBA draft testing, the somewhat unexpected return to Chapel Hill, and the legal difficulties created by a lapse in judgment.

"It's been a lot of ups and downs," Lawson says. "I'm more mature. I think about things before I do them. It was a rough summer, with flying from city to city for NBA workouts, going to court, and hearing people talk about me."

Here is where you want to point out that you have to give them something to talk about before they'll talk. Lawson, who has always been young for his age, seems to be realizing that.

Partly, of course, you just want him to realize that. Consider North Carolina's NCAA championship point guards of the modern era: Jimmy Black, Derrick Phelps, and Raymond Felton. Only Felton was relied upon for scoring in that championship year, and Roy Williams would tell you that the Latta native's bigger contribution actually came on defense.

Lawson seems to understand the difference between playing point guard in the gyms back home near D.C. and running Williams's offense. He admits as much, saying friends like Michael Beasley and Kevin Durant notice a difference in the way Lawson plays for the Tar Heels. He's always had the physical abilities to rank with the best UNC point guards. He's still trying to figure out some of the non-physical traits.

Throughout his basketball career, he's been able to solve any hardwood problem by simply running faster. And why not? From the first time he picked up a ball until right now, it's been a very effective solution.

In hindsight, he admits, he should have handled Carolina's Final Four struggles against Kansas differently.

"We needed to slow down," he says. "We needed to get a good shot, because we were rushing everything."

When a player who has built his entire career on being faster than everyone on the floor recognizes there are times even the great Ty Lawson can't outrun everybody, that's progress.

During his flirtation with the NBA, in what areas did those teams say they wanted to see improvement?

"More leadership," he says immediately.

They also want to see improved mechanics on his shot, but the first thing that came to his mind was leadership. He's gotten a brief crash course on that topic in recent weeks, as he's worked out regularly with Shammond Williams.

In many ways, Williams is the anti-Lawson: no prep reputation, no freshman starting job, and a long climb to become a key part of Carolina Basketball. But he's still had valuable advice for the young protégé.

"He talks about the little things like putting in work," Lawson says. "Work ethic is a big thing he talks to me about."

He'll hear more of the same comments next week, when Felton comes back to Chapel Hill for several days and is sure to encounter Lawson during the daily Tar Heel pickup games. It was in Felton's junior year, after spitting the bit multiple times during his sophomore season, that he fully embraced what Roy Williams was asking him to do.

Could a similar transition be in the future for Lawson? Maybe. Watching him, looking at the more squared-off jaw--he finished seventh of 17 players in the annual 12-minute run on Tuesday, a slight improvement over last year--he just seems like a more mature player.

Heck, he's probably even left behind his cartoons in favor of PBS and the History Channel.

"Naw," he says. "I watched a lot of Sponge Bob this summer.

"But just because I wear crazy socks doesn't mean I'm immature. Just because I like Sponge Bob doesn't mean I'm immature."

He's right. No one remembers which cartoons Phelps or Black watched. Lawson has been described as many things: lightning-fast, silly, and Dennis the Menace being some of the most frequent adjectives.

When practice begins in less than two months, he'll be trying to add another: leader. Which would give him a much better chance of earning another one: champion.

Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.