John Calipari Provides Oscar Tshiebwe Injury Update
As you all know, Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe is still sidelined from his knee surgery he had just a few weeks ago. He has missed both of the exhibitions and Kentucky is approaching their first game of the season in just four days.
On Monday, Kentucky opens the season with a home game versus Howard University. When asked for an update on Oscar Tshiebwe's injury rehab, cause fans are very concerned on how he's recovering, John Calipari said this.
"I would be stunned if he played Monday. I would be somewhat surprised if he played Friday." The head coach then doubled-down and said if for some reason Oscar felt like he was able to go for the first game, he would probably not allow him to. "He needs a few more days." He continued with, "If he wants to play Friday I'm going to have to work him out myself and see, and if I did he would probably only play 10 or 15 minutes just to get his legs under him."
Thankfully the first two games of the regular season are essentially already chalked up as wins, but in that third game the Cats will travel to Indianapolis for the Champions Classic to face Michigan State. While the team would desperately like to have him in that matchup, I'm not sure how his status will be with that game just being less than two weeks from now, and if you ask me, I think he sits that one out, continues for the fourth game of the season in SC State that Thursday, then goes all-in with a return against Gonzaga on November 20th. I'd rather have him for that game than Michigan State, one because I believe we can still win without him in that one, and two, that Gonzaga game will be televised all across the country, be up for bragging rights, and our chance to finally stop the chatter from the crazies of Spokane thinking that they belong with the "Blue Bloods" of the world. We need Oscar to do so, and of course the coaching staff already has that date circled, highlighted, and posted all over the wall.
Each day moving forward critically matters in terms of Oscar Tshiebwe's rehab, and lets hope each day is very valuable in terms of his healing. I know he wants to play every game but he'll come back when his knee is back to full strength and be everything he was just last winter.