Only two seasons into her college basketball career, USC Trojans star JuJu Watkins has already proven that she is a mean scoring machine to watch out for, with some people even predicting that she is on the trajectory to break the record of Caitlin Clark, who became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer back when she was playing with the Iowa Hawkeyes. However, some people believe that the young player should hit the brakes a little and take a breather.
As JuJu Watkins skyrocketed in popularity, and as her sophomore season started, a narrative emerged in discussions saying that the USC Trojans and Watkins are working double time to pad her stats, with the ultimate goal of outsourcing Caitlin Calrk and breaking her record.
This theory did not come out of thin air. This stemmed from the pattern that fans and critics noticed with the USC, where they would bring in Watkins late-game in a blowout win where the team wiped the floor with the opposing team with a two-digit lead.
For analyst Rachel DeMita, the Trojans may benefit more in keeping JuJu out of late-game blowout wins.
“The narrative around JuJu trying to break Caitlin Clark’s scoring record has honestly come because she has played at the end of some games where USC is blowing out another team by 30, 40, 50 points,” DeMita said. “The coach has been keeping her on the floor and even in this game last night where she needed to be on the floor, she did play the full 40 minutes of the game. That is something where in close games, JuJu is going to play all 40 minutes.”
“But when they’re blowing out another team, I think it’s in the best interest of JuJu and her coach should know this, she shouldn’t be on the floor during those garbage-time minutes. She should be resting up.”
For DeMita, the extra scores and padded stats are not worth the injury risk.
“The last thing that JuJu would want. The last thing that this USC team would want is for her to get injured playing during times when she does not need to be on the court.”
JuJu Watkins Struggled vs Iowa’s Lucy Olsen
During the Trojans’ loss from Iowa, JuJu Watkins remained a strong asset for the team. She scored 27 points, did 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. She played well, but struggled with her shooting. She only shot from the field at 36%, and 1-of-2 free throws.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
