Oscar Tshiebwe got just seven points against Texas A&M but was just as happy as when he scored 37 against Georgia because UK won both games. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams says trying to prepare for the physical way Oscar Tshiebwe plays is not easy because you cannot simulate what he does in the paint.
Georgia certainly found out when it gave up a career-high 37 points and 24 rebounds to Tshiebwe when it tried to basically defend Tshiebwe one-on-one. Texas A&M went the other way and constantly tried to use extra defenders against Tshiebwe that limited him to five shots and seven points but he also got 17 rebounds. Kentucky won both games.
Tshiebwe was named the SEC player of the week for his performances — he was 15 of 25 from the field in the two games. He now has five of the seven games of 20 or more points and at least 18 rebounds by an SEC player in the last 10 seasons.
“How about Oscar? They doubled and triple-teamed him, so he didn’t get that many baskets, but he didn’t care. He ended up getting 17 rebounds and only seven points,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said after the Texas A&M win.
“His assists were hockey assists. In other words, he threw them out, that guy threw it to the next guy, and that guy made it.”
Tshiebwe had just one assist against the Aggies but he might have done his best job at Kentucky of quickly getting the ball out to open teammates when he was double- or triple-teamed.
“Oscar did an unbelievable job just making passes out of the post. Did not always lead to a score but he got the ball moving and popping,” UK assistant coach Chin Coleman said Monday.
Tshiebwe is a rebounding machine no matter what the defense does. He became just the third player in UK history to have multiple games of at least 24 rebounds, joining Dan Issel and Cotton Nash.
He had the fifth 35-20 game in UK history, joining Mike Phillips (35-20 vs. LSU on Feb. 2, 1976), Issel (36-29 vs. LSU on Feb. 22, 1969), Nash (34-20 vs. Tulane on Jan. 11, 1964) and Bill Spivey (40-34 vs. Xavier on Feb. 13, 1951).
Amazingly, Tshiebwe has six games of at least 20 rebounds in two seasons compared to just five other 20-rebound games by a UK player since the 1973-74 season.
Coleman said UK’s star is “all about winning” and was as happy as anyone after scoring only seven points against Texas A&M because UK won.
“He was the happiest dude on the floor when guys were getting open shots. He understands if they are doing that it is going to be hard to double team him and take away as much if guys are making shots,” Coleman said.
“Him rebounding is just what he does. He is still unstoppable. That is what he does. He has a nose for the ball and is going to rebound at a high level.”
Tshiebwe, last season’s national player of the year, is averaging 16.6 points and a nation best 14 rebounds per game going into Tuesday night’s game at Vanderbilt.
Tshiebwe is one of two players nationally averaging more than 16 points and 13 rebounds per game (Zach Edey of Purdue is the other one). He is the only player in the country averaging at least 15 points, at least 13 rebounds, at least 1.5 steals and at least 1.0 blocks per game.
He has also now had a double-double in 39 of 51 career games for the Wildcats, ranking fourth all-time in program history.
2 Responses
Oscar passed the ball with Levis velocity. He hasn’t shown that until the Texas A&M game. It was a surprise to A&M as they seemed stunned. It’s nice to see that Oscar is still developing his skills and has the vision to make this pass. Wonder if he can hit a double digit in assists this year?
I agree, and was pleased to see Oscar passing so fluidly, without really catching, stopping, and starting a new passing motion. He used a touch pass technique, simply redirecting the flight of the ball to an open shooter. That technique is special, and thereby rare. I remember vividly to this day that Jaracz, Kron, and Conley all used the touch pass in a way that propelled the Runts to greatness despite their lack of team size. The Runts were one of the best passing teams I have ever watched play. There have been many other great passers to wear the blue and white. For example, Erik Daniels and Kelenna Azubuike were particularly good passers on the 2003 team that accomplished much.
Oscar is such a special talent on so many levels.