Keion Brooks knows he has to rebound to help Oscar Tshiebwe and John Calipari continues to emphasize that to him. (Jeff Houchin/Nolan Media)
It’s no problem for Keion Brooks if Oscar Tshiebwe gets 20 rebounds every game.
“I wanted him to get 20 rebounds. That’s amazing the way that he does that. I feel like it’s a disservice to him if I don’t go in and rebound myself,” said Brooks after Kentucky’s win over Mount St. Mary’s Tuesday.
“I feel like I am a pretty good rebounder, but he is an exceptional rebounder. I feel like it would be hard for teams to rebound with us if Oscar is getting 20 and I am pitching in my eight or 10 where I can.”
Tshiebwe “only” had 16 rebounds Tuesday — his first game with less than 20 this season — and 24 points. Brooks had seven rebounds, including six in the first half, and 10 points.
“Keion rebounded today. Daimion (Collins) didn’t. I played Keion more,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “That position is going to have to rebound because they’re about to put two guys on him (Tshiebwe), which means you’re going to be free to go get balls. Both defensively and maybe even offensively, but you got to go.
“We’ve been working on it. I was so proud of Keion today. Second half he didn’t rebound as much, but Oscar got every one, but what he did was he played with an energy. He played. There is a sense of urgency every time you play, and I just told him, ‘We need to play like we started the second half.’
Every time we step on the court. Whatever you’re doing, you get yourself in that frame of mind. Like I said, when I put those other guys in and they miss a shot, or they take a bad shot, or they give up a basket, I took them all out. I said, ‘You all are together in this, and if one guy is breaking you down, say something to them. Tell them you are giving up baskets. He is going to take us all out.'”
Collins, a freshman, was impressive in UK’s previous game. He had two rebounds in 15 minutes against Mount St. Mary’s.
“I didn’t think Daimion was playing the way he had played the last game,” Calipari said.
Brooks, Collins, and Jacob Toppin, who missed his second game with a bruised shoulder, push each other daily in practice to get better and to earn playing time.
“It’s not really about the game, it’s about at practice. Every day at practice is like a war. Each and every day we are making each other better,” Brooks said.
“One night it might have been my night, another night Jacob’s, and another night it might be Daimion’s. We know that we are prepared because we balance each other every day.”
3 Responses
"There is a sense of urgency every time you play, and I just told him, ‘We need to play like we started the second half.’"
That is so obvious. Tuesday, UK played 8 strong minutes, and the other 32 minutes were weak.
Playing cupcakes like we are will produce erratic play. It seemed like we were playing more one on one against MSM. It was obvious we were going to win and everyone was playing for stats to hopefully get more playing time. We do need more rebounding from everyone who is not named Oscar. Its like we are saying, Oscar will get it, lets get down the court first so we can get the basket. We also need more assists from everyone who is not named Sahvir. In the limited minutes that Dontaie gets, he always seems to dish out a couple of dimes even though he needs to shoot. Good teams will figure out how to stop the Sahvir dime machine and Sahvir needs to understand that too. Sometimes he just need to make a pass that will result in someone else getting the dime if they are willing to make a pass instead of forcing a bad shot. We aren’t playing team ball consistently on either end, but that’s what the cupcake schedule is supposed to develop. We will find out how well that has happened when we go to South Bend. Can you say "hostile environment"? We need that before getting into SEC play. By then, we will know if Coach is more interested in developing a couple of pets or a winning team.
Let’s hope we don’t get the same whistle happy refs again who called 2 fouls on Oscar in the first minute of the game Friday night.