NBA Draft expert says Kentucky’s problems started with Oscar Tshiebwe

Mar 25, 2023 - 12:33 AM

The Kentucky Wildcats’ 2022-23 season came to an end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament after what was a frustrating season, to say the least.

There can be plenty of debate about what was the problem this season. However, one NBA Draft expert believes the problem was the return of the reigning National Player of the Year, Oscar Tshiebwe.

The Athletic’s Same Vecenie made an appearance on the Game Theory Podcast and talked about what he believes went wrong this season.

“The problem for Kentucky is that this roster is flawed to win a national title. This is a roster that can be successful in the regular season. This is not an NCAA Tournament title roster, and the reason for that is kinda Oscar Tshiebwe, in my opinion,” Vecenie stated.

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Tshiebwe is a historically great rebounder and had moments where he absolutely dominated teams on offense with his strength. However, he struggled mightily on the defensive end, and teams found ways to exploit those issues.

“I don’t think you can win a six-game NCAA Tournament, six games in a row, with Oscar Tshiebwe as your center. I respect everything that he has done. I don’t think you can win six-straight games against coaching staffs that are trying to exploit every single thing that you do poorly on a night-to-night basis.”

Near the end of his rant about Kentucky, Vecenie notes that Kentucky’s problem is also about the roster pieces not fitting well together.

“It’s not gonna hate on a lot of these individual players. It’s just the fit together does not work in a manner that helps you win basketball games at the highest level. And Cal needs someone to get in his ear and explain that to him.”

Tshiebwe was not the only problem that this team faced this season as there were a lot of areas that the team needed to improve in order to have a real shot at a run.

You can listen to Vecenie’s appearance on the Game Theory Podcast below.

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