While his offense hasn’t come together due to injuries, his defense has been sensational. And it will only be a matter of time before fans see the real Lamont Roland.
by Joey Papania
LSUsports.net
The LSU Tiger basketball team is off and running to its best start in years and is conjuring up thoughts of a winning season and even the possibility of some form of postseason play.
However successful the Tigers will ultimately be will depend upon the emergence of a consistent backcourt to join an already blossoming frontcourt.
Torris Bright has made strides at the point guard position and will only continue to get better. At the same time Lamont Roland has been asked to step in at the No. 2-guard position and fill the void left by the departure of last year’s leading scorer, Maurice Carter.
Because of injuries, Tiger fans have yet to see the kind of offensive exploits that made him one of the most sought after junior college transfers in the nation. But they will soon.
Roland is in his first season at LSU after attending Barton Community College in Kansas where he led the Cougars to a 35-3 record and to the championship game of the National Junior College Athletic Association championship tournament.
There, he averaged over 24 points per game and shot nearly 43 percent from the field and over 35 percent from behind the three-point line. Roland earned first-team All-American honors and was named the NJCAA Coaches Association Division I Player of the Year.
When time came to select a Division I university to attend, Roland selected LSU over defending national champion Connecticut. The 6’4″ junior suffered an ankle injury in the Tigers’ first preseason game. It was uncertain whether he would be healthy for the start of the season.
However, Roland has played in all of the Tigers’ games so far this year and has started in five of those games. To this point, Roland is fifth in scoring for the Tigers averaging 9.3 points per game but has yet to find his touch from the field. He is shooting just 33 percent from the floor and just under 27 percent from three-point range.
“The injury has slowed me down, people really haven’t seen my game,” said Roland. ” I feel I’m back to 100 percent physically, it’s just a matter of finding the groove that I had when I first arrived at LSU. The coaches brought me here to score. I know I still haven’t shown people that I can, but I’m going to come around sooner or later.”
Many wonder if Roland will be able to adjust to the Division I style of the Southeastern Conference, but he has played in Division I before. The junior signed a national letter-of-intent with Ball State after attending New Albany High School in Indiana where he was fourth in voting for the prestigious “Mr. Basketball” award.
At Ball State, he averaged 12.1 points in 19 games and was named the Newcomer of the Year in the Mid-American Conference.
If Roland’s offense hasn’t quite come together yet, his defense has been nothing short of spectacular. He is currently tied for second on the team with 14 steals. Roland feels comfortable that his offensive game will return to full form, but is more concerned with helping his team continue to win.
“It’s taking me a little while to get back on track,” Roland said. “Whatever the coaches ask me to do I’ll do it just to help the team win.”
The guard play is a major factor in Coach Brady’s system. This year is the first time in his three seasons that he has had a true point guard and depth in the backcourt. However, with three freshmen and Roland in his first season at LSU, a lack of experience is a concern.
The return of Jabari Smith, Stromile Swift, and Brian Beshara have helped to ease the transition for the young guards. The presence of a dominant frontcourt relieves pressure from Roland to carry the scoring load and frees up the backcourt for open looks.
“It helps to be playing with dominant big guys,” said Roland. “Our man is usually helping on them, so it frees us up for open shots.”
With the SEC season right around the corner, the Tigers’ December 30th match-up with the 15th ranked Oklahoma Sooners will be a good test to see if LSU is ready for league play.
Hopefully Lamont Roland will be able to find his touch and fill the scoring role he was meant to play.