Mississippi State Survives
He came back, but he hasn't played yet. Mississippi State All-Everything forward Lawrence Roberts came back to school this year to play out his Senior season. If the first two games without Roberts are any indication, the team is going to be very glad that he did.
Roberts sat out the
team opener against Fairfield, serving a one-game suspension by the NCAA for an issue with a paid try-out when he was considering making the jump to the NBA. The team struggled to beat the Stags by 4. Fairfield is picked to be near the top of the MAAC, but this should be a team that Mississippi State should handle even without Roberts.
Flash forward to
game number two against Birmingham Southern, a team that two years ago was an Independent. Ignore the fact that they are picked by almost everyone to win the Big South this year. Roberts again sat out this game, nursing a broken nose. Again his team struggled without him, barely winning again, this time by 7. Birmingham Southern even led at one point during the second half in this game.
Roberts will return against Syracuse when the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament moves to Madison Square Garden. Let's hope he returns with the form that earned him SEC Player of the Year honors last season. If not, his team will definitely be overmatched against any decent opponent. Without him in the line-up, there will be no hope for the Bulldogs to repeat as SEC champs.
