Saturday, December 25, 1999

Tate shows glimpse of old form

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Outing against No. 21 Oklahoma is positive

BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jermaine Tate puts the body to Oklahoma star Eduardo Najera. | ZOOM |

        The line in the box score does not look much different from so many that preceded it: six points, three rebounds, five fouls. This is what UC Bearcats fans have come to expect from Jermaine Tate, right?

        In No.4-ranked UC's overpowering 72-57 victory at No.21 Oklahoma Wednesday night, the numbers did not define Tate's performance.

        He scored only six points, but how many did he take away from Sooners star Eduardo Najera with his intimidating defense?

        He committed five fouls, but how many times before has he encountered such trouble and been unable to squeeze out 28 minutes?

        He was credited with one blocked shot, but how many others did he affect?

        “I thought he was the Jermaine we saw at the end of last year,” coach Bob Huggins said. “He was very active in rebounding the ball. He was more assertive in the post offensively.

        “Defensively, he hasn't been very good, and potentially, he's outstanding. I thought he was very good in this game.”

        Tate did not endear himself to UC followers with his play in the first third of the season, during which he averaged 3.8 points and 3.3 rebounds. When he plays as he did against Oklahoma, though, UC's interior defense lives up to its reputation.

        “I think I'm a step behind, compared to how I was last year,” Tate

        said. “I know I can't be satisfied with what I've been doing. There are times I think I'm in the right spot, but I'm not. ”

        The Oklahoma win sent UC into the holidays with a 9-1 record and three wins in three tries against ranked opponents. The Bearcats next play 7 p.m. Monday at the Shoemaker Center against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (6-3).

        Tate's effort against Oklahoma followed a disastrous night against Xavier in which he didn't score, lasted only 18 minutes because of foul trouble and grabbed just two rebounds. That prompted Huggins to have a conversation with Tate.

        “There's times when you have to sit down and have a heart-to-heart,” Huggins said. “When you have good people, and they listen, they take things to heart and make things happen. I think he really responded. He knows what he's got to do to play better.”

        The Najera matchup figured to be tricky for the Bearcats. It was a choice between having Kenyon Martin handle him, which would have put him on the ball more often than the Bearcats prefer, or using Tate to guard on the perimeter more often than he is accustomed to doing.

        Najera's perimeter play was no problem for Tate. With relief from power forward Ryan Fletcher and occasional help from Martin, Tate held Najera to 0-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.

        “He's a matchup problem for anybody that plays him, because he's real good,” Huggins said. “If anybody has somebody to guard him, we do. Jermaine's very mobile. And even Fletch did a good job on him.”

        Tate has been bothered by lingering effects from offseason surgery on both knees, but instead of focusing on getting back to the player he was at the close of last season, he fretted about not being a factor in the offense at the start of this year.

        In the Big Island Invitational semifinals against Santa Clara, he twice forced top-of-the-key jumpers that were outside the UC game plan.

        Missing shots like that cost him the confidence to make shots within his range. In the loss to Xavier, he had an early, unguarded opportunity from in front of the goal. As he rose for the shot, he pushed harder on his release and banged it off the rim.

        UC does not need Tate to be a double-figure scorer, but it cannot afford for him to be a liability each time he handles the ball. He helped out in the first half against Oklahoma, while Martin was in foul trouble, by scoring six points. Included was a remarkable scoop shot he used to follow a missed 3-point attempt by guard DerMarr Johnson.

        “I've been trying to focus on that a little more,” Tate said. “It's all concentration. I'm frustrated right now, and I'm just trying to play through it. I tried to concentrate more, focus on trying to score it instead of just getting it up there, on the rim.”

       

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