Oscar Tshiebwe has played a ton of minutes for Kentucky. Is it taking a toll?
The final question of John Calipari’s postgame press conference Saturday — which came in the aftermath of UK’s worst loss to Alabama — wasn’t centered only around the disastrous on-court display the Wildcats had just produced, but also a larger narrative about this Kentucky season:
Has Kentucky pushed star big man Oscar Tshiebwe too hard?
He has been the face and focal point of Kentucky basketball over the last two seasons, a responsibility that has come with significant statistical success (36 double-doubles in 47 games with UK) but also with plenty of bodily wear and tear along the way.
Playing the most physical position in the sport — and often facing double- and triple-teams in the process — Tshiebwe has logged 1,491 total minutes for the Wildcats in the last two seasons: That’s an average of almost 32 minutes per game.
Tshiebwe had played 40, 36 and 40 minutes in UK’s last three contests before Saturday’s demoralizing loss at Alabama, in which Tshiebwe played just 22 minutes and was as ineffective at both ends of the court as he has been as a Wildcat.
So then came Calipari’s postgame press conference, and the direct question of whether or not the reigning national player of the year is showing signs of fatigue?
“What I’ve been saying to him is sub yourself, and he came to me and said, ‘You know what? Coach, I don’t know how to do that,’” Calipari explained. “’So I’m just going to count on you subbing me.’”
Calipari didn’t need any extra prodding to do that Saturday, with Alabama sophomore center Charles Bediako frequently slipping behind Tshiebwe for uncontested dunks in the game’s early stages.
Tshiebwe was pulled by Calipari less than four minutes into the game, and a total of three different times in the first half alone.
His inability to guard against ball screens and play pick-and-roll coverage — something called out by Alabama head coach Nate Oates postgame — were the biggest reasons for Tshiebwe’s limited playing time against the Crimson Tide.
“We have Oscar, how do we utilize him? He’s still player of the year, reigning player of the year,” Calipari said. “Didn’t play that way tonight, but none of us did. And I didn’t coach that way. We all got beat. I got beat.”
How much of this was a reflection of a bad individual game and matchup for Tshiebwe, versus potentially a sign of things to come for Kentucky’s centerpiece?
Tshiebwe details conditioning that helps him play so much
In UK’s home win over LSU last week, Tshiebwe played all 40 minutes.
No breaks. No breathers. He spent every second of the game on the floor, logging 19 points and 16 rebounds for his SEC-best eighth double-double of the season.
Postgame, Tshiebwe spoke about how he handles such a heavy on-court workload for Kentucky, and the conditioning that helps make it happen.
When asked by the Herald-Leader how he prepares his body to handle so many minutes, Tshiebwe detailed a consistent routine of time spent in a cold tub and hot tub, along with diligent stretching.
“The next morning I wake up and I feel like I didn’t even play a game,” Tshiebwe said. “I feel refreshed.”
When speaking to a larger point about whether he needs breaks during games — or if he’s able to continue playing nearly every possible minute — Tshiebwe essentially expressed the fear that if he leaves the court, opposing teams could take advantage.
“If we make a run (of) 10 or 15 (points), I get a quick break, but if the game is too tight like that, close game, I’ve got to just stay (in) and try to help,” Tshiebwe said. “I don’t want a team to make a run (on us) … I do need a break, but I just don’t need a team to make a run.”
It appears that with SEC play now underway, Calipari has concurred.
Over Kentucky’s last five games (Florida A&M, Missouri, Louisville, LSU and Alabama), Tshiebwe has appeared in nine of UK’s 10 most frequent lineups, according to KenPom.
Recent games have also seen Calipari significantly shorten the Kentucky rotation to only six or seven players. This wasn’t the case against Alabama, but that’s only because the Cats were so bad across the board.
It’s already impressive that Tshiebwe is in a spot to play so frequently this season — he has logged 31 or more minutes in eight of 13 games played — given that he underwent an offseason knee procedure that sidelined him for most of UK’s preseason and the first two games of the regular season.
“I think he’s in better condition than he was maybe a week or so ago. He wasn’t quite in shape. It’s been an emphasis on that, getting him in shape and I think he’s further along the way in terms of his conditioning,” UK assistant coach Chin Coleman said last week.
“We feel pretty good about him logging a lot of minutes.”
Next game
South Carolina at Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: South Carolina 7-7 (0-1 SEC), Kentucky 10-5 (1-2)
Series: Kentucky leads 54-13
Last meeting: Kentucky won 86-76 on Feb. 8, 2022, in Columbia, S.C.
This story was originally published January 9, 2023 at 12:54 PM.
