How Jade Melbourne got her groove back

Now on the other side of the most brutal shooting slump of her career, the superstar guard candidly reveals how she rediscovered her mojo - and why it’s bad news for the rest of the league.

Photo credit: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Jade Melbourne looked pissed. Why wouldn’t she be?

It’s a scorching night in Adelaide, and the ice-cold Caps aren’t just facing a ninth straight loss, but their star point guard is marred in the worst shooting slump of her young career. As the clock ticks towards half time, she has just three points to her name.

So understandably, she seems frustrated. Her team is trailing, her shot isn’t falling, and of more immediate concern, she’d just been sent sprawling across the floor thanks to some heavy contact on a tough lay-up attempt. None of the three referees opted to blow their whistles. As the Lightning lined up for free throws on the next possession, she was pleading for some kind of explanation, not just from the referee, but seemingly the universe at large. Why wasn’t anything working?

It looked like it might be another frustrating night for the 22-year-old, until it didn’t. After the main break, Melbourne gradually imposed her will on the game. She got herself to the line, crashed the boards, and kept her team-mates involved.

Slowly, she’d worked her way into the game. Then suddenly, she controlled it.

With 6:28 left in what had become a one-point contest, Melbourne turned an Adelaide turnover into transition, whipping a neat pass to an open Indiah Bowyer. As Bowyer drained the triple, Melbourne let rip with a giant “YES” that echoed throughout the entire arena. Canberra by four, timeout Adelaide.

Two minutes later, Melbourne was under siege outside the three-point line with the shotclock winding down. She put her head down and pounded two hard dribbles to her right-hand side, before quickly switching left with a nifty crossover that split Izzy Borlase and Brianna Turner. Threading the needle, she stretched into the paint, converting a tough lefty finish at the rim. Canberra by six.

One minute after that, Melbourne caught the ball at the halfway line with nine seconds to shoot. As she went to work, a single dribble to her right gave her enough daylight to switch back to her left and get at the rim. She kissed the ball off glass, and in the same motion, circled back up the court, galloping towards to her bench with both arms tensed up in unbridled euphoria, and the unmistakeable expression of someone who was fired all the way up. Canberra by 7, timeout Adelaide. Again.

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For Melbourne, there was good reason to celebrate.

The Caps were now on the verge of snapping an eight-game losing streak, during which their 22-year-old star had just battled through the most brutal month of her fledgling career. Across her past six games, her scoring average had dropped by ten whole points (19ppg down to 9ppg), with her field goal percentage dipping from 40.9% to 21.9%. She’d finish the night in Adelaide with 20 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and perhaps most importantly, a massive win.

Two days after her heroic efforts against the Lightning, she’d help the Caps make it two in a row, spearheading a 20-point win over Geelong with an impressive 17-5-5 statline, all while shooting a hyper-efficient 83.3% from the field.

Something seemed to shift that night in Adelaide, which begs the question: After the toughest month of her career, how did Jade Melbourne get her groove back?