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John Calipari marvels at Oscar Tshiebwe’s offensive production despite Kentucky star being below full strength
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
John Calipari has been impressed with what he’s seen from Oscar Tshiebwe so far in the 2022-23 season, despite the Kentucky big man being less than 100 percent while recovering from a knee injury.
Through 6 games, Tshiebwe is averaging a double-double: 14.1 points and 13.5 rebounds. He scored 13 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in 31 minutes against Michigan on Saturday in London. A few days before, in a win over Bellarmine, he notched 8 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
On his weekly radio show on Wednesday, Calipari noted that while the reigning player of the year still has a little way to go before being considered full strength, he’s still been able to produce and have a positive effect on games for the Wildcats.
Kentucky coach John Calipari says on his weekly radio show that Oscar is only 85% or so, thinks it's crazy he's putting up the numbers he has so far without much lift.
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) December 7, 2022
That should be considered bad news for the rest of the country once Tshiebwe is fully recovered. Wildcats fans, as a whole, will hope that their star can get there sooner rather than later and that their team can ride positive momentum into SEC play.
Tshiebwe and the Wildcats host Yale on Saturday before taking on UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 17.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
