‘We’ve got to play with physicality.’ Is UK’s interior defense going to be a problem?
After Kentucky Wesleyan’s JoMel Boyd scored 29 points against Kentucky last week, John Calipari spoke of the need for better interior defense. So, no surprise what Oscar Tshiebwe said had been a focus in practices heading toward UK’s second exhibition game on Friday.
“We’ve been working on interior defense right now,” Tshiebwe said Wednesday. “It’s something we have not been working on like (the team is now).”
Tshiebwe sounded convinced that Kentucky will need a more physical defensive presence in the upcoming season. He acknowledged that UK’s other “bigs” — Lance Ware (6-foot-9, 225 pounds) and Daimion Collins (6-9, 202) — are not ideally built for physical play.
“They’re getting better,” Tshiebwe said. “I had a conversation with them. We have to be physical. The team we played (Kentucky Wesleyan), they were good, but not really strong.
“When we’re playing against someone strong, we’ve got to play with physicality. We can’t just play, like, soft.”
Tshiebwe, who is 6-9 and 255 pounds, spoke of being intent on laying muscle on Ware and Collins.
“I go hard on them every day,” he said. “If I get an easy basket, Coach is yelling, you cannot permit Oscar to get an easy bucket like that! You’ve got to stop him!
“Like, if they stop me, they’ll be able to stop somebody else because sometimes I might be in foul trouble. That’s why you need physicality. That’s why I don’t take it easy on anyone.”
When it was suggested Ware and Collins lacked bulk, Tshiebwe said, “That’s why they spend a lot of time in the weight room trying to add some muscle. They love this game. You can see they love this game.”
After the game against Kentucky Wesleyan, Calipari said he limited Tshiebwe’s minutes in the second half because the transfer from West Virginia had a sore hip.
Tshiebwe pronounced himself fully recovered. “I’m feeling great,” he said, citing rehabilitation work and stretching. “Everything is good. I’m ready to go.”
While interior defense was cited as needing improvement, UK’s offense against Kentucky Wesleyan posted a better than two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio (20-to-9). UK made 53.9 percent of its shots, which included 37.9 percent of three-point attempts.
“Our offense looked really good,” Tshiebwe said. “We didn’t really run our plays because we don’t want to show people what we’ve been working on.”
NIL
It was reported Wednesday that UK players had signed a Name, Image and Likeness deal with West Realm Shires, which owns FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange. The players will be ambassadors of the FTX brand, which is part of the FTX Champions program. Each player will be compensated individually.
“It’s something I’m pleased to do with all these guys,” Dontaie Allen said. “To do something with the team is really something that you really couldn’t ask more of in this process.”
The shared NIL experience is not unique, Davion Mintz said.
“We kind of share with one another, talk with each other (about) hey, this company is also interested in this . . . ,” Mintz said. “So, we help each other out. So, it’s pretty cool being with this group.”
Of course, as a foreign exchange student, Tshiebwe cannot be compensated because of visa rules that prohibit such pay.
Tshiebwe was philosophical.
“Like everything has a purpose,” he said. “Like, if I can’t get that, there might be a reason why.
“But I can’t let that affect me because I’m here for a different reason. . . . I’m here to do what I’ve got to do. I’m here to play basketball (and) go, like study, and get to wherever I want to go one day.
“The money will come one day. When God says it’s time to make the money, it will come.”
Looking ahead
When Kentucky opens the season against Duke on Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden, the setting will not be new for one UK player.
As a freshman for Creighton, Mintz played three games in MSG in the 2017 Big East Tournament. He made three of 10 shots (none of three three-point attempts) and totaled 10 points.
“I was super excited, just very anxious just to be out there . . . ,” Mintz said. “I just remember being a wide-eyed 18-year-old just out there on the court in the Garden. It was just crazy to me. Then playing ‘Nova in the championship game, it was the time of my life.”
Villanova beat Creighton, 74-60.
Friday
Miles College at No. 10 Kentucky
What: Preseason exhibition game
Where: Rupp Arena
When: 7 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 6:30 AM.
