Sunday, October 24, 1999
Healthy Tate wants ring
Without pain, Bearcat can focus on game
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When he was running to nowhere, Jermaine Tate would arrive and feel every step he had taken. His work in the Cincinnati Bearcats' preseason conditioning drills led him to wonder if he would ever play basketball without pain.
That changed at 12:05a.m., Oct.16. Tate trotted onto the floor at the Shoemaker Center for the first official workout of the 1999-2000 season and took part in layup drills, a dunk contest and a 20-minute scrimmage. Afterward, he waited for his legs to ache. Never happened.
“I was just like, shocked,” said Tate, a 6-foot-9 senior forward. “I was all right. I still felt it, but I just felt a lot better. My legs are feeling a lot better than I thought they would.'
Tate had two knee operations in the offseason. UC team surgeon Angelo Colosimo removed calcification from the patellar tendon in each knee. Tate also recovered from an injury to each wrist that he believes damaged his shooting ability.
“He's more comfortable than he was, especially his left knee,” Colosimo said. “He's worked hard, getting stronger. He's not going to play 30 minutes a night, but he'll get through.”
His physical problems are one explanation for Tate's dif ficulty scoring for UC after two seasons at Ohio State in which he averaged double figures. He averaged 4.3 points and 4.7 rebounds for the Bearcats after getting 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Buckeyes.
His legs lacked the spring that had made him an offensive force, and he reached a point when he preferred the ball not be directed his way.
“It was like, "I don't even want to shoot the ball now.' So I just tried to shade away from getting the ball,” Tate said. “Or I would just get it and pass, because I didn't want my wrist bothering me.”
Tate was not exactly what coach Bob Huggins figured he would be upon deciding, despite a 15-1 record in January, to change his starting lineup. Huggins put 6-10, 260-pound Ryan Fletcher on the bench and sent in Tate. The Bearcats went 12-5 after the change. Center Kenyon Martin averaged only 9.2 points with Tate starting beside him, compared to 11.1 before.
As a rebounder, Tate was superior to Fletcher. He grabbed 11 in games against UNC Charlotte and Louisville and averaged 6.6 rebounds when he played 20 or more minutes. Although Martin was Conference USA's defensive player of the year, UC's coaches awarded Tate and Martin the team's honor for best defensive player.
With Tate in the lineup, though, the opposition always knew there was at least one Bearcat who did not require significant defensive attention.
He is not a low-post type player who can catch the ball inside and make a defense pay. He needs to be explosive around the basket and confident in his short-range jump shots. At Ohio State, he shot better than .560 both seasons. He hit .433 for the Bearcats, with 16 of his 42 baskets coming on dunks.
“I think being healthy will make a big difference. In the past, I think it was my jumping ability that really helped me get my shots,” Tate said. “I think it affected my offense last year. Even though I've learned how to play better position defense without that — without being as athletic as I used to be — I can be better.”
In practice now, Tate is playing without pain but is not content to let anyone else do so. He delivers punishment with every screen, every box-out and every block attempt.
“He's not worried about his knees right now,” Martin said. “Last year, he was worried about it hurting him. Now, he's just going out and playing. Sometimes it hurts, and sometimes it doesn't. So no matter how he's feeling, he's just playing every day.”
Tate doesn't need to score to prove anything. He did enough of that at Ohio State. But he can't not score and be an effective part of a championship team.
“I can play defense now, and I scored at Ohio State,” Tate said. “Now, I just want a ring. That's it.”
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