UNC: No Respect? No Bodies

Everyone who follows college basketball knows North Carolina has been without starting point guard Tywon Lawson for the majority of the last four games.

Many fans are also probably aware that backup point guard Bobby Frasor is out for the season with a torn ACL.

There might even be a few who know of the turf toe and ankle problems hindering starting forward Marcus Ginyard.

Unfortunately for the fifth-ranked Tar Heels, the list does not stop there.

Most people might not even be able to point out injuries even if they were told which players to observe—except, of course, if they were in the trainer's room during practice, when there have been more walk-on players than scholarship athletes on the court during recent practices.

For example, who knew player-of-the-year candidate Tyler Hansbrough has been battling a toe injury for over a week—a problem that may require a minor procedure that could force the All-American to miss a game or two?

Did anybody know that starting big man Deon Thompson hyperextended his knee in the Tar Heels' latest victory—a one point win at Virginia? How about third-string senior point guard Quentin Thomas, who has played through numerous foot and leg problems the last two seasons?

I have not even mentioned the latest casualty—sixth man Danny Green is most likely out with the flu for Saturday afternoon's contest with Virginia Tech—a team which beat them twice last season. The reason you probably have not heard about these injuries is that, despite their severity, they have yet to keep these student-athletes off the court—until now, for some, that is.

Lawson will miss his fifth straight game Saturday. Bobby Frasor—obviously, still out. However, Marcus Ginyard, one of the best defenders in the country, will play, providing desperately needed leadership. Quentin Thomas, whose minutes increased by over 20 per game since Lawson got injured, will play, because the senior knows his team needs him to anchor the point.

Tyler Hansbrough will be on the court because—well, because he is "Psycho T," and every fan knows you cannot slow him down. Deon Thompson continues to practice on an extremely painful knee and is a game-time decision.

Why not just sit out? Because without him, Thompson realizes UNC has only two legitimate post players. For those of you not keeping count, that is four of five starters, the sixth man, and seven out of nine regular rotation players fighting through various ailments.

So, while the Tar Heels squeak out another victory or maybe even suffer another defeat on Saturday (it would only be their third), and while the ignorant media continues to bash the supposedly overrated Tar Heels, everyone should just remember how "bad" this group  of kids was in the first two months of 2008—remember when this same group is fully healthy and blazing by everybody in the middle of March, heading into April.