LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Even on an off night, Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe is one of the most fascinating players to watch in college basketball.
After his team's 83-56 loss to Kentucky, Missouri's acting coach, Cornell Mann, didn't seem all that impressed with the Wildcats' big man, who pulled down 20 rebounds in the win.
"I thought there were times that he was a little bit over-physical, both on the glass and offensively," Mann said. "But, hey, that's the game, especially on the road. ... I thought we did a pretty good job with him. He had 20 rebounds, and he had 28 in the last game. I am not sure he should have finished with 20, but I thought some of them were bangers and over the backs."
Heh. All right man. The old "at least he didn't get 28" line. If I had a nickel for every time I'd heard that one. Well, maybe not.
That's the kind of thing you say when you don't have a second game against a team. Still, Tshiebwe probably wouldn't have argued much with him. Asked by Wildcats coach John Calipari about his 2-10 shooting performance, the big man just said, "I know, it wasn't my game."
"That's what he said," Calipari said. "Wasn't my game. Well, the next one better be your game."
Right, because the 61.3% shooting from the field he has done this season better not dip any lower. The fact is, Mann was right. Missouri did a decent job on the 6-foot-9-inch, 255-pound sophomore. Missouri has some guys down low. But even they couldn't keep him off the boards.
Calipari couldn't even talk about Tshiebwe's offense without going back to his rebounding.
"We ran a couple plays for him where other guys shot the ball," Calipari said. "I said after the game if I were him, I would say, 'You know what, boys, you go get 20 rebounds and I'm going go out and be cute and dribble the ball around. You go in there and mix it up like I am.' When he's in there and it's his play. Throw him the ball. ... He missed a bunch today. But you're right. He had 20 rebounds. What in the world?"
What in the world is right.
Tshiebwe isn't worried about points. He's said it over and over. He doesn't want to go 2-10, but he can still control a game. Watch him over the course of 40 minutes, and most teams wear down. They start to back away from him leaning on them. They look like linebackers with Herschel Walker running toward them. He's relentless. His pursuit of the ball is greater than the will of opponents to oppose it.
He goes after rebounds like he's trying to save them from a fire.
Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe grabs one of his Rupp Arena-record 28 rebounds in a victory over WKU.
He's one of the few players in the current college game who, on any given night, can deliver something you've never seen in a college game.
I don't need to get into the statistics. Rick Bozich covered that nicely in this column.
Tshiebwe's numbers are downright biblical. He's a throwback to when the giants of college basketball roamed the lanes and grabbed numbers of rebounds that sound mythical today. Guys like Wilt Chamberlain or Wes Unseld, who averaged 19 rebounds per game.
Like Methuselah, that guy from the original Jewish rec league who averaged 77 points a game at age 250, Tshiebwe is a throwback.
He had 28 against Western Kentucky. He's averaging 15.8 rebounds per game (to go with 15.8 points per game). The last time an SEC averaged at least 15 rebounds a game over the course of a season was 1969.
Rebounding isn't cool. Modern coaches want their centers setting the high ball screen and rolling or better yet popping out to make a three. They want a center to run the court and rim-protect. With three-pointers flying, there's a premium on good-rebounding guards who can chase down the long kickers.
But I'm going to tell you: If you can single-handedly turn a team from a pedestrian defensive rebounding team into the top defensive rebounding team in the country all by yourself — like Tshiebwe has done with Kentucky this season — there's real value in that.
And if you watch him closely, there's entertainment value.
Kentucky is playing well. It has turned up its offensive tempo without overcooking it. Its outside shooting is starting to come around. The rotation has tightened and is developing a comfort level. With Tshiebwe inside and Savier Wheeler increasingly putting his thumbprint on the team, Kentucky has elite talent in key places.
Calipari kidded Wheeler after Wednesday's win, "'What did you do over Christmas? Eat? Did you get in the gym at all?' He laughed and said, 'I'll be honest with you. I really didn't. And I did eat.' But he got nine assists and one turnover, so I said, 'Keep eating, kid.'"
Right now, Kentucky is a team with a variety of appetites. And it appears set to keep eating.
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