JuJu Watkins hasn’t figured everything out yet at USC … because she’s a freshman
JuJu Watkins of USC hit just 6 of 32 shots on Sunday at Oregon State. She had a tough game at the offensive end of the floor, even tougher than her 8-of-27 game against Washington. Some people will look at that performance from Watkins and call her overrated. What they will miss is that JuJu still played elite defense and helped USC limit Oregon State to just 50 points in a huge win which has the Trojans in second place in the cutthroat Pac-12 Conference.
Obviously, however, people like talking about offense more than defense. Sports fans are naturally drawn to scoring points more than doing no-glory gruntwork. JuJu’s defense is elite and is a huge part of why she is such a great player, but let’s have the more difficult conversation about JuJu’s offense and why it is a work in progress.
There is a lot to unpack here, so let’s begin:
JUST A FRESHMAN, PART 1
When you see JuJu Watkins drop 51 on Stanford, or when you see her score seven straight points late in the Penn State game to turn a likely defeat into a big win, you stop and realize that as a freshman, there is already so much talent and skill in JuJu Watkins. “She is just a freshman” is an expression of how good she already is at such a young age.” However, it’s only part of the story.
JUST A FRESHMAN, PART 2
“She is just a freshman” is an expression of JuJu Watkins’ immense potential. It is also, however, an expression that she has a lot to learn, as any college freshman will. When she misses 26 shots against Oregon State or 19 against Washington, we are reminded she is still learning how to play. What, did you think she would instantly figure out everything all at once? Only a select few athletes — one in a million — master their sport before turning 20 or 22 years old. If JuJu doesn’t quite meet that lofty standard, that’s not a knock on her. This is how it normally works. Freshmen have to learn on the job.
2023 USC AS A COMPARISON
Remember last season? USC’s main ballhandler and scorer was Destiny Littleton, a fine player who helped the Trojans return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nearly a decade. She hugely improved the program after transferring from national powerhouse South Carolina. Yet, Littleton was smaller than JuJu Watkins, and also not as quick. She couldn’t create shots nearly as well as JuJu does. JuJu has had some difficult offensive games this season, but she has the physical frame and a lot more ways of creating offense than Littleton does. JuJu has a lot to learn but still brings so much to the table for USC. This is why USC was an 8 seed last year and could be a No. 2 or No. 1 seed this year. There’s a reason USC’s ceiling is so much higher.
SHOT CREATION
Let’s not overcomplicate this discussion even as we continue it: JuJu Watkins should have the ball on most USC possessions. USC’s best chance to score is usually with JuJu creating something. It’s not as though she shouldn’t have the ball. It’s more a matter of creating the best shot more consistently. JuJu can obviously be better, much better, but let’s not pretend that USC should be taking the ball out of JuJu’s hands. That’s an unserious claim.
JUJU'S TEMPTATION
The temptation for JuJu Watkins is that because of her size, length and strength, she can — individually — create space for her shooting hand and shoot over the top of smaller, less physically imposing defenders. At times, this is something she needs to rely on, but the fact that she can create shots for herself doesn’t mean she should always take them. This is where the conversation on JuJu gets very interesting and complicated.
SETTLING VERSUS MAXIMIZING
One of the basic parts of any basketball player’s education is learning what a good shot is versus a bad shot. This discussion can be taken to a higher level when players learn the difference between a great shot and a good shot. JuJu Watkins takes and misses a number of good shots, but she can become more consistent at trying to create great shots. You don’t have to shoot that 15-foot fadeaway or turnaround jumper with eight seconds on the shot clock if you can create a five-footer for a teammate with four seconds on the clock. Lindsay Gottlieb is surely teaching JuJu how to gradually develop this part of her game, but it won’t happen all at once.
OREGON STATE'S SUCCESS AGAINST JUJU
Oregon State has one of the 10 best field-goal percentage defenses in the country. USC saw how good this defense was in two meetings this season. The Trojans failed to score 60 points in both meetings versus OSU. After Sunday’s game, Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck offered the “easy to say, hard to do” answer on how to contain JuJu Watkins: “Stay in front. That’s really the trick.” Not letting JuJu get into the lane and all the way to the rim, where she can draw fouls and score at the free throw line, is central to limiting JuJu’s effectiveness. JuJu has to learn from this.
JUJU'S ADJUSTMENT
JuJu should have the ball most of the time, but she doesn’t have to have the ball all the time. Where she gets the ball and how she handles the ball can improve her ability to get to the rim. Maybe she needs to set more screens. Maybe she should attack more from the wings and less from the top of the key. It’s less about using one specific tactic, more about doing things defenses might not fully expect. Lindsay Gottlieb will help with this.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Why isn’t JuJu doing this more? Why isn’t JuJu making that adjustment more? It’s easy to nitpick JuJu’s flaws, but remember this about coaching: Coaches have to make sure players have a clear understanding of how to play. Nuances will be added over the course of a season, but dumping too much information on an athlete all at once will create confusion.
ALEX GRINCH LESSON FOR JUJU
What was one of the central reasons Alex Grinch failed as USC’s defensive coordinator? His schemes were overly complex. Players got confused instead of naturally reading, reacting and attacking. Creating simplicity is part of good coaching. Lindsay Gottlieb has tried to give JuJu Watkins a simple plan while slowly adding details over the course of the season. Again, it’s not something which happens all at once. Guiding a player revolves a certain degree of patience.
GOTTLIEB'S TRUST
Lindsay Gottlieb has to walk a fine line for a coach in charge of a superstar-caliber player such as JuJu Watkins. She has to be able to coach the player without handcuffing her. Gottlieb has to help JuJu evolve and adjust while not suffocating her with details or reprimanding her for shooting too much. It’s a balance. It doesn’t get solved in one game or in one week. It’s a season-long process, especially with a freshman. You will see the evolution over longer periods of time.
KEY POINT: JUJU TRUSTS GOTTLIEB
When you see how hard JuJu competes for her teammates, and when you see how hard she plays on defense, it becomes clear that JuJu Watkins is a very coachable player who is buying what Lindsay Gottlieb is selling. Gottlieb’s management of JuJu as a player, as a person, as a superstar, is being calibrated really well — maybe not perfectly, but certainly in a very good and positive way. For all of JuJu’s flaws, let’s step back and realize how good she and USC both are in Year 1 of Watkins’ career as a Trojan. The coach and the player are both handling this relationship — and this season — quite well. There’s room to grow, but Gottlieb and Watkins are both earning high marks nonetheless.
BALLHANDLING AND TEAM ENERGY
Here’s a hugely underappreciated aspect of JuJu Watkins being the primary and dominant ball-handler on this USC team: JuJu handling the ball means that McKenzie Forbes and Kayla Padilla don’t have nearly as many ball-handling responsibilities. Giving Forbes and Padilla a lighter offensive workload helps them to do more at the defensive end of the court, where USC has been very strong this season. Merely handling the ball doesn’t show up in a box score, but the fact that JuJu takes on such a large workload frees up her teammates on defense, which pays huge dividends for USC. Don’t lose sight of that.
AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT
If there’s one area where JuJu, Gottlieb, and everyone else around USC women’s basketball can all agree on something, it’s this: Kayla Padilla needs to receive more shooting opportunities. When she shoots, good things often happen. However, she doesn’t shoot nearly as many times as JuJu or McKenzie Forbes. As USC moves along this season, creating shots specifically for Padilla in halfcourt sets should become more of a priority. JuJu Watkins could take 25 shots instead of 32, and USC might make a few more shots over the course of a game, developing the offensive efficiency it will need in March Madness.
