This was always going to be a season filled with adjustments for Jae’Sean Tate, and Ohio State’s sophomore forward hit a bit of a rough patch.
It was four games into the Big Ten season, and Tate was averaging just 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in league play and was shooting only 44.4 percent from the field. Up until that point, over the Buckeyes’ first 13 games of the season, Tate had per-game averages of 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds, while shooting over 51 percent from the floor. Something wasn't right.
Things hit a low point for Tate on Jan. 10 when he scored just two points on 1-of-6 shooting with three rebounds in Ohio State’s 85-60 blowout loss at Indiana.
“It’s just been — a couple teams have been doubling in the post a little more. That’s not an excuse; the shots just weren’t falling,” Tate said back then. “I have just got to concentrate more when I am in those positions and just get the ball in the hole. And if they don’t fall, I still have to find a better way to impact the game.”
While Tate struggled through that early part of the Big Ten season, the Buckeyes were winning so things were fine. But that first league loss at the hands of the Hoosiers changed something in the way the 6-foot-4 forward attacked the game.
And while Ohio State is just 2-2 over its last four games, Tate has upped his level of play quite a few notches. He is averaging 14.5 points and six rebounds per game and seems to have found himself again
“Just being in my comfort zone,” Tate said Monday after Ohio State defeated Penn State, 66-46, and he had 15 points, four rebounds and three assists. “More confidence and being more aggressive and that just comes with playing hard and not worrying about the mistakes.
“Just going out there and playing the game the way Coach [Thad Matta] recruited me to play.”
Standing just 6-foot-4, Tate is an undersized forward; that was always going to be the case. But he possesses a unique skill set with the ability to play and defend multiple positions. His jump shot has already improved, too, from Year 1 to Year 2 in college and the hope is that it continues to develop further as his career progresses.
Right now, though, Tate is at his best when playing off his teammates rather than creating his own offense. We saw it last year when he flourished playing alongside superstar guard D’Angelo Russell and we’ve seen it here over recent weeks in spurts.
“I think Jae’Sean is playing at a very high level,” Matta said Monday. “He’s coming into practice and he’s jovial, he’s excited, he’s happy, he’s smiling and he’s being a great teammate. That stuff carries over into games.”
The hope now, of course, is for Tate to continue his recent strong play. As one of the leaders of a young team, that's vital.
The rest of his teammates need to join him, too, as Ohio State has struggled with consistency this season. The Buckeyes haven’t put together too many games where everybody has played their best basketball.
And as Ohio State plays its ninth Big Ten game of the year Thursday at Illinois — the halfway point in the league season — the Buckeyes’ margin for error is getting smaller by the day.
“We know that we have got more work to do,” Tate said. “We are about to turn the halfway point in the Big Ten season so these next few games are going to be vital.”
