Oscar Tshiebwe's body control impresses Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Maybe he’s not been as dominating this season as he was most of last year, but Kentucky All-American center Oscar Tshiebwe has done a lot to impress Tennessee coach Rick Barnes going into Saturday’s game with UK in Knoxville.
“Effort. Got a great second, third lift off the ground. Great angle player. Terrific hands. Really quick with the ball. Quick with hands from his shoulders over his head. Extends, plays with extension. Willing to leave his area to go get rebounds,” Barnes said.
However, he was just getting started talking about Tshiebwe, who averages 15.8 points and 13.2 rebounds per game this season.
“He’s got really good body control. He doesn’t have to be so much technically correct in terms of footwork, he just has a knack. And when he rebounds, he has a great touch around the rim,” Barnes said.
“Rebounding, as we know, it’s effort. It’s also in some DNA. He’s definitely got it in his DNA.”
How important is it for the Vols to contain Tshiebwe, who had only nine points and 12 rebounds last season in UK’s rout of the Vols in Rupp Arena?
“You say contain him, when you have a guy that’s averaging a double-double like he has for so many years, I don’t know if you can contain him,” Barnes said. “You just have to hope you can make him work for everything that he gets, because he’s going to get it.
“If you don’t make him work for it, he’s going to get a lot more than his numbers show.”
