Jade Loville will be the first to tell you that her game is a work in progress.
She works on it every single day โ in and out of practice.
Thatโs part of what make her stand out besides her natural abilities, including that jump in her jump shot.
Itโs her desire to keep improving. And not just her shot, although she spends plenty of hours perfecting that. Itโs also her defense, something she has put a real emphasis on as a Wildcat.
The Star talked to Loville this week to learn more about one little thing she is doing better on defense that is making all the difference.
Itโs not something that shows up in the stat sheet, but itโs something to watch closely when No. 19 Arizona hosts Washington at 7 p.m. Friday at McKale Center. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks with former Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne โ Lovilleโs former coach โ on the call.
โItโs just taking my matchup personal,โ the fifth-year transfer wing said. โAnytime we have a matchup, itโs to shut them down and to give them a night of hell pretty much.โ
What does that look like?
A: โWhen my player has the ball, itโs more, โOK, youโre not getting by me. Youโre not going to shoot it in my face. Iโm going to try to contain you as well as I can. If you dribble into the paint and kick it out, for that moment, I did my job. Now, let me help my teammate and get into help side and do that.โ
Just taking it personal and going into it like, โOK, youโre not going to score on me and if you do, youโre not going to do it again.โ That helps with my defensive intensity. Obviously, on offense, the mentality is to get a bucket now. On defense, itโs to stop you and stop your teammates. ...
โ Iโm going to try to hold you under your average and do anything that I need to do. Part of that is just adjusting. Letโs say youโre more so a driver and not a shooter and youโre a short closeout. OK, Iโm going to short close out. But if you start getting hot and shooting in my face, now I need to full close out and knowing to adjust within the game is something that Iโm focusing on โ being more aware of who Iโm guarding and what their tendencies are.
โThat has helped me with not giving up straight-line drives, and thatโs something that really bugs me. If you can go from A to B, straight-line drive, and I couldnโt keep you in front of me, then Iโm not doing my job. Now itโs personal. Once that happens, OK, now it canโt happen again.โ
How did your mindset change?
A: โIโm a competitor, and I watch all the broadcasts from Pac-12 Network and ESPN โ wherever we play โ and I hear, โJade has the offense, time to get that defense up.โ I take that very personal, and now itโs competitive for me.
โ Iโm very aware of what I need to work on, and Iโm going to work on it because Iโm very driven. I work very hard, and when you tell me something that I canโt do or that I need to work on, Iโm going to do it. I have to prove it. I love that honesty thatโs on the broadcast, because I do need to work on it and thatโs totally fine. โฆ
โ(We) really focus on it in practice. Weโre playing one-on-one every day. Iโm in opportunities to really work on my defense with closeouts and all these other things. This is great for me, because itโs something that I need to show.
โSo Iโm just going into every day like, โOK, there are some growing pains. There are times where Iโm getting beat in practice and getting exposed. I need to work on these things.โ
โSometimes you need to be exposed to in order to learn and to grow. Growing pains are our thing, and thatโs OK. My coaches are great. Theyโre patient with me; theyโre teaching me every day. Thatโs the part of my game that Iโm very willing and open to accept and work on.
โAs long as youโre willing to work on the things that youโre not so great at, I think your growth is limitless.โ
Playing defense sometimes means taking an elbow to the face as happened to Arizonaโs Jade Loville, left, earlier this season vs. NAUโs Taylor Feldman.
What are some of the things that Adia Barnes and Salvo Coppa are teaching you in practice to help you improve?
โWe really break down our technique. (The coaches) explained to us, โOK, this isnโt going to be fun. It may seem a little elementary, but the technique is the foundation of everything.โ
โWhen I was struggling with my shot, it was back to the basics with my form shooting. With defense, itโs how am I chopping my feet? Where on my feet am I balancing? On my heels? Am I on my toes? I think that has definitely helped with just staying light on my feet. Being able to really get my first slides to be not short but long enough to stop people in this direction โ but also on balance to change direction if I need to.
โWorking on that technique and knowing where my hands are, because we tend to get in foul trouble. Having active hands without fouling and all those technique things are what helps with our defensive closeouts and positioning. That has been huge for me.
โThen, just watching my own film and seeing, if I got beat, where were my feet? How did I close out? Did I close out top side? What did I give the (opponent)r? Was I slow on my closeout?
โBeing aware of all those things. Really studying my own film has helped me to be aware of my tendencies and to learn from that.
โI watch my teammates because I am with them every day. I learn from Shana Pellington. I learn from Helena (Pueyo) โ just to see how theyโre able to pressure the ball full court. Thatโs something that I want to be able to do. I actually watch their technique, and I see how they move. That has helped me because those are the defenders that are hardest to score on in practice. โฆ For Shaina to apply her quickness or her lateral quickness to her defense is an art form.
โI do have that lateral quickness that I havenโt used to my advantage as much. Thereโs just something with my technique that I need to fix.
โThen the physical part is the bridge that Iโm connecting right now. With my size (5-11) and my athleticism, thereโs no reason that I shouldnโt be locking (opponents) down.
โIโm definitely getting after it within these next couple of games. I canโt wait to just continue to grow and continue to watch the games and (hear the broadcasters) say, โOh Jade really picked up her defense,โ because Iโm very cognitive about it. Iโm a competitor, like I said, and thatโs definitely something Iโm going to do.โ
