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CHAPEL HILL — Don't adjust the volume on your TV. Ty Lawson is getting louder these days.

The made-for-TV drama surrounding the star point guard's toe has dominated the airwaves lately, but his vocal cords have been an equally critical development for the championship-hungry Tar Heels, establishing him as Carolina's unquestioned emotional leader.

"Before a game or at halftime, you're like, 'Is this kid going to fall asleep?' " guard Bobby Frasor said. "Then he comes out and hits a 3 and pounds his chest and flexes and you're like, 'Where did that come from?' We definitely feed off that."

Lawson, who called himself a "lead-by-example" player his freshman year, said it was a conscious decision before the year to be more expressive.

"I decided to play my game," he said. "Before, I would try to cater to everyone else, try to be like everyone wanted me to be. I decided to just play my game this year."

Lawson, who graded his toe an 8 out of 10 Tuesday after calling it a 6 last week, is averaging 20.3 points and 6.7 assists a game in the tournament, having turned the ball over just twice and shooting 57 percent from the field, including 7-of-11 on 3-pointers. He said he has learned that kind of assertiveness both with the ball and his mouth is the best way for him to lead the team.

"If somebody makes a bad play, I pick them up," Lawson said. "I just say a lot of stuff and get people in the right areas. I got a long way to go to be more of a leader, so I'm trying to learn it as I go."

"I don't know that I buy him being more mature," Frasor said with a smile. "He definitely has his priorities more in order, but off the court he's still a kid."

ROAD ADVANTAGE: The Heels put up a stellar performance in their only other game at Final Four host site Ford Field, a 98-63 throttling of fellow semifinalist Michigan State back in December. If only there were some architectural quirk to explain it, UNC might claim some sort of home-away-from-homecourt advantage.

"I wish it did," Tyler Hansbrough said, "because we played really well."

Instead, the Tar Heels largely shrugged off the idea of any benefit to having played in this arena before, except the familiarity of playing on a floor several feet off the ground.

"There's nothing unusual about playing in a big arena," head coach Roy Williams said. "What's unusual is sitting there looking at people's shinbones. That was completely uncomfortable."

UNSEEN POWER: Senior Marcus Ginyard, who is seeking a medical redshirt after being limited to three games this year with an ankle injury, will still make his presence felt this weekend. Quite literally.

The 6-foot-5 forward has recovered to the point that he can participate fully in practice on the scout team, a responsibility he said he takes as seriously as playing. And if anybody thinks they're going to make it to the basket easily on him, they've got a rude awakening coming.

"That's the best way I can contribute," said Ginyard, who has covered all five positions in practice. "I give them a little push, foul a little harder -- nothing to kill them, but anything I can to get them ready."

GET BIG: Jonas Sahratian, the Tar Heels' strength and conditioning coordinator, is known for getting players to do some pretty tough things, including flipping truck tires in an open field.

But the Detroit native astonished Williams a few years ago when he convinced former UNC coach Dean Smith to get in on the grunt-worthy action. Williams said he and a few other members of the program work out with Sahratian three mornings a week, mostly at flexibility drills.

Smith occasionally joins the group, and while out of town one week, Williams found out by phone that Sahratian got Smith to pull a weighted sled, an astonishing feat, Williams said, since Smith "hadn't worked out since the day after he was born.

"And to get him up at 8 o'clock, the old-timers know that ain't easy, either. Nobody took a picture, but I wish I had one."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com