Ty Lawson Is North Carolina's MVP

FanHouse was on site for Duke-Carolina. And we have Notes from Cameron Indoor.

Because Tyler Hansbrough is so dominant and because his will is so universally praised, it's fairly easy for other players on North Carolina's roster to get taken for granted. However, in seeing how dominant Ty Lawson was during UNC's 101-87 win over Duke on Wednesday, that line of thought may warrant rethinking.

Lawson guided UNC's offense to its most points against the Blue Devils since 1995 and scored 21 in the second half himself, helping the the Heels pull away from Duke. In doing so, he proved exactly why he is the most valuable player on UNC's roster this year.

Again, Hansbrough is outstanding. Wayne Ellington is a dynamic scorer who takes over games with his outside shooting. Danny Green is a freakish athlete and a perfect compliment to the other players already on the floor.

But Lawson, in a guard-driven game, enhances the Tar Heels' offense more than any other player on their roster. He's fast, he's smart, and as Mike Krzyzewski noted, strong as all get-out.

"He's going to play basketball for a long time," Krzyzewski said. "He's really strong and strong with the ball. He's in incredible shape. Even when you're trying to corral him, he keeps the ball so low ... he's strong low, and a lot of people aren't strong low.

"He played a great game tonight. It was almost impossible for us to defend him tonight on every exchange ... He's a great weapon for them, because he makes other weapons better."

Lawson has, so far in 2009, given the Tar Heels two wins all by his lonesome. Carolina's win over Florida State -- on a last-second Lawson 3-pointer -- is, without question, one of those, particularly when he was the team's leading rebounder.

And Wednesday against Duke, his second-half performance was the biggest factor in North Carolina winning their fourth straight game at Cameron Indoor. His post-intermission scoring outburst and ability to attack the basket repeatedly -- knowing he could too, as evidenced by his post-game statement that "We didn't think they could stay in front of us" -- absolutely changed the game.

It threw Duke out of rhythm, it forced them to try every conceivable defensive matchup (without answer, clearly) on the guard and, in the end, it let the Tar Heels pull away for a dominant victory against their biggest rival.

Hansbrough may get more (most?) of the credit for Carolina's success and that will likely be the case until he leaves, but it's almost impossible right now to justify pointing to anyone else other than Lawson for a No. 1 seed for North Carolina.