Calipari Urges Oscar Tshiebwe to Improve Conditioning as UK Asks Him to Do More

Coaches love to say, ‘You’re either getting better, or getting worse.’ It’s difficult to get better than Oscar Tshiebwe was when he was the Unanimous National Player of the Year in 2021-22. To ensure he does not get complacent, John Calipari is utilizing the big man in different ways on offense, while urging him to spend more time in the gym.

Creating Space for Oscar Tshiebwe

John Calipari’s offense received plenty of criticism over the first half of the season. Slowly but surely, the Wildcats are figuring it out by creating more space on the floor for players to operate.

“The biggest thing we had to do, we have to create opportunities. I’ve had teams where you just create space and let the guy go. That’s not this team,” Kentucky’s head coach said on Monday Night’s John Calipari Show.

“So now, how do you do it? What’s the spacing for Oscar? You notice we had him stepping out on the floor a little bit to give him some space. And I said, ‘Do you understand if you made the one footers that you missed, you would have had 30 and 16 or whatever.’ But we have to do both with him. You’re feet into paint, go get it; you’re ducking in in the middle of the lane but also getting him those, seven to 10, 12-foot shots which he can make.”

Kentucky is moving in the right direction now that the shooters have woken from their slumber. Antonio Reeves and CJ Fredrick combined to hit five three-pointers against Tennessee, opening up more opportunities for others in the middle of the floor.

“(Spacing) was better, but we still shot 36% and Oscar missed four or five, like right there. But I thought we had good looks, and I thought we had good motion and I thought the ball moved,” said Calipari. “There was nobody holding the ball, bouncing. This thing flew around the court. We’re getting closer.”

More Time in the Gym is Imperative

Adou Thiero seemingly only gets his number called in the most dire of circumstances while Kentucky is on the road. The freshman guard averaged 16 minutes at Tennessee, Alabama and Missouri, but has played double digit minutes only twice in five appearances at Rupp Arena. The reason? Conditioning. His tank empties too quickly and that’s a problem Calipari addressed with Adou a few weeks ago. He had a similar conversation with Oscar Tshiebwe.

“I told Oscar, ‘You’re not spending as much time in the gym as you did a year ago. You got to get back in there and be committed.'”

Calipari quickly changed the subject. “I mean, there were there were points of the tape where he’s clapping against Tennessee. I mean he’s on defense and we’re down 8-0 and he’s not worried about it. It’s play basketball, don’t worry. I told them do not look at the score because I’m not looking at it. I know that we need a timeout here, they’re making a run on us.”

Opponents have been attacking Oscar Tshiebwe on defense to wear him down and make him ineffective offensively. Tomorrow night he’s going to have his hands full once again against Georgia. Hopefully he’s been getting that extra time in the gym.

“They’re going to trap. If you throw anything from a wing into the post, they trap. So you gotta go middle third of posting,” said Calipari. “But, you know, they’re good. I mean, they’re a good team and they’ve won a couple of league games.”