Oscar Tshiebwe's impact on Kentucky is "unmeasurable," says Chin Coleman

On3 imageby:Tyler Thompson01/03/22

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Oscar Tshiebwe still leads the nation in rebounding, even after only pulling down eight boards in Friday’s 92-48 rout of High Point. Thanks to Oscar, Kentucky is also No. 1 in rebounding (44.9 per game) and rebounding margin (+16). The big man from the Congo is averaging 15.2 rebounds per game, well ahead of Utah Valley’s Fardaws Aimaq and Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn in the national ranks.

Today, Kentucky assistant coach Chin Coleman and guard Davion Mintz put into words the impact Oscar has on this team. Both said Oscar’s ownership of the boards has a direct correlation to the Cats’ success on offense. Kentucky ranks 11th nationally in scoring (83.9 points per game) and 9th in KenPom‘s adjusted efficiency (115.0), or the number of points a team would score per 100 possessions vs. an average Div. I opponent.

“Possessions,” Chin Coleman said when asked what Oscar gives Kentucky. “It’s a possession game, right? And for us, the more possessions we get the more opportunities we get to score. If we can be plus-10, plus-15 in possessions in those games, we give ourselves a better chance to win.

There’s not one player in the country that impacts a team more than he does in terms of getting 16 rebounds a game, 20 rebounds a game. Twenty-eight rebounds a game is unheard of. He tips the scale for us in terms of possessions.”

Mintz, who is in his sixth season of college basketball, agreed.

“Oscar is one of the most unique players in the country. I don’t think anyone provides what he does to their team like he does [to us]. It makes it kind of hard to compete without him because Oscar’s the type of guy you can already account for 15-20 rebounds on your team every game.”

Oscar “deflates” confidence, “gives teams nightmares”

The speed with which Kentucky is playing this season is also a reason they’re doing so well offensively. Mintz said it all starts with Oscar.

“For a guy like him, for us to get out and score in transition like we do, you can credit a lot of the things we do on the offensive end to Oscar, by his ability to rebound on the defensive end. It gives us a quicker break and it deflates the other team’s confidence. They know if they miss a shot, we’re probably going to get the rebound. His accountability for rebounding and inspiring other guys to go rebound kind of brings us up to the 90th, 100th percentile. Oscar, just keep doing what he’s doing and that’s going to keep us in the win column, honestly.”

Coleman also pointed to Kentucky’s pace of play, one major improvement over the past few seasons.

“Obviously, you see the way that we’re playing right now. We’re playing at a breakneck pace. And if we can continue to get more possessions to score, it gives us an advantage and he gives us that. It’s unmeasurable the impact that Oscar Tshiebwe has on our basketball team. It’s unmeasurable. It’s unspoken of. How do you — it’s hard to simulate that on any other team. He’s an enigma that I’m sure gives teams nightmares. And it’s just pure effort. It’s nothing to do with schemes, schematics. It’s just his will and his effort and his knack for the ball.”

As fun as it’s been to watch Oscar pull down 20+ boards per game against lesser competition, the road gets tougher tomorrow. LSU is ninth nationally in rebounding with an average of 41.7 boards per game. How many rebounds will Big O get in Baton Rouge?

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2024-03-28