ENOUGH: Tyler testy about Ty's toe

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Sometimes, Tyler Hansbrough looks irritable on the way to angry.

Some of those times are right about now.

The nostrils flare. The cheeks turn rash red. The wide eyes turn into blue saucers.

You know the stare. After four years of jarring fouls and bloody noses, four years of body shots given and body shots taken, everyone knows the stare. After the stare comes the snort, and after the snort comes an internal drama acted out on public stages.

Hansbrough wrestles with his flashing temper, lets a little frustration seep through and then somehow suppresses his emotions fast enough to dodge serious confrontations or referee repercussions.

As a flailing bull, his ferocity seems flammable. As a predetermined target, his self-restraint seems admirable -- especially to North Carolina's Roy Williams, who has never coached a player involved in so much contact.

Gonzaga can judge Hansbrough's reactions on the Memphis Grizzlies' court late tonight in the South Regional semifinals. Off the court, Hansbrough's disposition is easier to detect but harder to assess.

He was edgy during the Tar Heels' victory over Louisiana State in the second round last Saturday, the night point guard Ty Lawson returned from a two-week hiatus because of FTD (fat toe disease). The aftermath -- full of reporters' questions about Lawson's big toe and Lawson's 21-point second half and Lawson's impact -- prompted Hansbrough to squirm on a sofa.

Question: Are you a better team with Lawson back?

Hansbrough: "Yeah. Come on, man. That's obvious. Yeah, he's a great point guard and we're better with him. You see what he does and his speed and things like that."

A short time later, another angle pushed the button that sends blood to Hansbrough's cheekbone. Question: Lawson was sitting on the bench in the first half with his shoe off. Were you guys conscious of that?

Hansbrough: "What are we going to do, stop playing if he goes out? We've been playing a long time without him. We just wanted to play the way we wanted to. Obviously he made some big plays down the stretch for us, but when he goes out, we still know what to do. It's not like we're not North Carolina when Ty Lawson isn't playing."

Each time, Hansbrough gradually softened his tone and praised Lawson's orchestration. Back in Chapel Hill earlier this week, Hansbrough was asked if inquiries about Lawson's toe struck him as obsessive.

"I thought it was ridiculous, to be honest with you," he replied. "I got a lot of questions about how Ty's toe feels. ‘How's his toe feel?' I'm, like, it's not my toe. I don't ask him how his toe's feeling. I'm sure other people have. I understand everybody's curiosity, and they want to know if he's going to be able to go because of his impact on this team and what he's done this year. Either way, I thought we were a solid team with or without him."

As basketball producers, Hansbrough and Lawson have ridden different waves at times this season. Hansbrough missed early practices and three games with a stress reaction in his right shin that threatened to jeopardize his senior season. A bruised ankle knocked him out of another game.

Lawson carried the team through Christmas but was outplayed by Boston College's Tyrese Rice and Wake Forest's Jeff Teague in the first two ACC games, both of them losses. Lawson and Hansbrough kicked into higher gears as Carolina surged toward a first-place finish, but Lawson jammed the toe in practice as the second Duke game neared.

Although questionable until warmups, Lawson took a pain-killing shot, joined the lineup and delivered down the stretch. The toe puffed up again, about the time he was voted ACC player of the year over Hansbrough (the 2008 winner) and Florida State's Toney Douglas.

Lawson blamed excessive swelling on his father's flawed remedy of warm water and Epsom salts. He sat down. Bobby Frasor played point guard in the ACC Tournament and in the NCAA opener, when Hansbrough broke J.J. Redick's ACC career scoring record.

Yesterday, Hansbrough cited increased aggression as the major difference in Lawson's game this season. "There have been some times when Ty, you know, played, but he didn't always play as hard as he is right now," Hansbrough said. "I think he's playing a lot harder than he ever has. He's really stepping up. He feels like when he has the ball, he can lead the team and do pretty much whatever he wants to do at times."

Hansbrough didn't do everything he wanted against Gonzaga two years ago, shooting only five times and scoring nine points during an 82-74 loss. "I didn't really have my best game," he said.

Josh Heytvelt led the Bulldogs with 19 points. "Tyler's had a whole bunch of hype his entire career," Heytvelt said, recalling that he played with a chip on his shoulder for motivation.

Hansbrough, meanwhile, heads into possibly his final game with a chippy attitude. Maybe it's the churning anticipation of a Gonzaga rematch followed by a headliner match against Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, Hansbrough's successor as national player of the year.

Maybe it's the persistent stress. As Heytvelt noted: "The fans don't expect anything less than a championship from those guys."

Maybe it's the marathon, the convoluted year at the end of the long career.

Maybe it's cause for Carolina alarm, but more likely it's bad news for anyone who impedes the snorting bull on his last run through the college streets.

■ Lenox Rawlings can be reached at lrawlings@wsjournal.com.