GREENSBORO, N.C. (WDRB) – There’s not much fame in rebounds. Parents all over the country aren’t asking kids after basketball games, “How many boards did you get tonight?”
ESPN’s Top 10 plays? You’re not seeing many solid blockouts, or guys ranging out of their areas to grab long rebounds.
Rebounds are taking the trash to the curb. They’re matching the socks when they come out of the dryer. They’re replacing the furnace filter. Nobody’s going to thank you much for them, but they have to be done.
Even Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, whose 25 rebounds on Friday in a first-round NCAA win over Providence were the most ever in an NCAA game for a Kentucky player in its illustrious postseason history, and the most in an NCAA Tournament game since 1977, wasn’t immediately celebrated for his feat.
“It’s bad that it’s not anything new to us,” Kentucky guard CJ Fredrick said. “As I’m watching the game, I’m not thinking that he’s got 25 rebounds. Because that’s just what we’re used to. But it’s crazy. It’s remarkable. I mean, 25 rebounds, that’s absurd.”
Antonio Reeves looked at the stat sheet and thought it was a misprint.
“It’s ridiculous,” Reeves said. “I didn’t even know he had 25 rebounds. I looked at the paper (stat sheet) and was shocked. I thought it was a typo. I thought somebody just typed it. Me and Jacob (Toppin) both did.”
No, those rebounds were all too real. Providence coach Ed Cooley will tell you. A great many of them come because Tshiebwe just cannot be moved from his position. He anchors, watches the ball, gets to where he wants to be, and pursues.
But several rebounds per game, at least, are the result of a stretch, a subtle extension, a fingertip on the ball that keeps an opponent from grabbing it.
“He is very quick to the ball. He has a knack for the ball," Cooley said. "Sometimes you just have an 'it,' ala Dennis Rodman, Ben Wallace. Those guys just have an 'it' for it. Some guys have an 'it' to score. Some people have an 'it' to pass. He has an incredible 'it,' an elite 'it' to rebound. I think the players did a great job trying to prepare for it. You know, he is quick. He is long. He is athletic. You know, credit him. It's not like we were out there not trying, so I think it's double the credit to him."
Cooley put Tshiebwe in some impressive company. But let’s drop some more names. Tshiebwe broke an NCAA Tournament record set by Jerry Bird, who pulled down 24 rebounds in an Elite Eight win over Iowa in 1951. Bird died back in 2017, at the age of 83, in his hometown of Corbin, Ky. His jersey hangs in the Rupp Arena rafters. He was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1956 and played one season with the New York Knicks before returning to Corbin, where he worked most of his life at American Greeting Card.
There are more names to drop. If you go way back in basketball history, the rebounding numbers look silly. It’s like back in the Bible, when people were living to be hundreds of years old. Go look at Wes Unseld’s rebound numbers sometime, or Wilt Chamberlain’s. Tshiebwe’s numbers were good enough on Friday night that he nearly brushed up against some of those storied names.
They were the most in a non-overtime NCAA Tournament game since Elvin Hayes had 27 in a 1968 game. That’s a total also matched by Paul Silas and Bill Russell. And Tshiebwe’s performance against Providence also topped totals by names like Tim Duncan, Kent Benson and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Even Kentucky coach John Calipari seemed a bit thrown back by the total, and the last time someone had 25 in an NCAA Tournament game.
“That can't be right,” he said. “You know, that's how old? When I watched The Waltons, that's how old that is, so it's about that old. I would tell you that he did something that hadn't been done for 50 years. And he’s the greatest kid. . . . What's better than playing with a guy like that who will do all the dirty work, do everything, and all he wants is every once in a while, please throw me the ball. His impact obviously in the last two years has been enormous.”
The little things. The dirty work. Whatever you want to call it. It’s good to know that they can still bring a guy some deserved attention. And in this case, it’s good to know that the attention falls on a good guy.
“I did not make shots, but I knew today I was going to help my team some way,” Tsheibwe said. “So I tried to grab every rebound. . . . Do the best you can to help, that’s my mentality. You do not get a second chance.”
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