Oscar Tshiebwe put Walker Kessler on a poster during the NBA Rising Stars games
If you wanted a good omen for Kentucky’s game against Auburn, look no further than what Oscar Tshiebwe did to Walker Kessler on Friday night. Because, you know, omens are kind of Oscar’s thing.
In this year’s Rising Stars games, the NBA devised four teams of young talent and created a mini single-elimination bracket. Cason Wallace, who is having a nice rookie season for the win-happy Oklahoma City Thunder, suited up for Team Pau (led by NBA legend Pau Gasol), while Tshiebwe took the court for team Detlef (coached by former NBA All-Star Detlef Schrempf), a team comprised of all G-Leaguers and Two-Way players.
For what it is worth, Shaedon Sharpe was to play for Team Jalen (Rose) but sat out due to injury.
Cason Wallace versus Oscar Tshiebwe
Team Pau faced off against massive underdog Team Detlef in the first round. While some NBA regulars tried to treat the contest like the exhibition that it was, the young, scrappy, and hungry G-Leaguers saw this opportunity to make a name for themselves.
For example, on one play, No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama tried to dribble between the legs of Oscar Tshiebwe, thankfully to no avail. Meanwhile, the former Kentucky rebound machine did not mess around. While guarded by Wemby most of his time on the court, Big O gobbled up eight rebounds, the most of any player on the night, and flushed home a dunk, all in fewer than eight minutes on the court. In the end, Team Detlef shocked the world and upset Team Pau 41-35.
Though his team lost, Cason Wallace had the second-most points for Team Pau with eight, knocking down two 3-pointers along the way. He also threw down an impressive two-handed windmill off of a breakaway steal.
At the end of the night, Tsheibwe talked about what it was like going up against 7-foot-6-inch Wembanyama:
“When I was playing against him, [it reminded me of] when I played against middle school kids. I looked at them like [they are so short]. He was really tall. There were a couple of rebounds [I thought] I could get, and he was just standing and grabbing it. I was like, ‘That’s not fair, man.’ He was good. He is going to do great things in the NBA.”
Oscar Tshiebe | NBA
Never change, Oscar.
Oscar puts Kessler on a poster
Tshiebwe and Team Detlef moved on to face Team Jalen in the Finals. In this game, Oscar decided to put his stamp in the scoring column. Big O had eight of his team’s 13 points (the game was only played to 25), making four of five field goal attempts, but none better than the left-handed slam over former Auburn Tiger and shot block extraordinaire, Walker Kessler.
And here is an even better angle:
Oscar’s only miss of the night was a surprising 3-pointer. He had not attempted a shot from behind the arc his entire professional career, even in the G League. This one might be his last. Regardless, he and Team Detlef were playing with house money at that point, as their one upset was more than anyone expected.
In the two games combined, Oscar finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in just under 15 minutes of action. He was the only player on the night to record a double-double between all games.
Again, never change, Oscar.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard