Gander Hawk
Well-Known Member
Don't know why someone would be in such a hurry for a pay cut.
JuJU Watkins chasing CC
- Thread starter Zstatman
- Start date
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
JuJu does have a nice three
But when guarded closely, she fades away
She has too many teammates who are very good also
Out of utter boredom I watched USC at Connecticut
Really fun game to watch, Paige Bueckers is very good, but the comparisons with Caitlin
are ridiculous, she also suffers from having 4/5 star teammates
Caitlin's assists were a huge part of her game and nobody comes close, certainly not juJu or
paige
Perhaps a bit biased but I sees what I sees
But when guarded closely, she fades away
She has too many teammates who are very good also
Out of utter boredom I watched USC at Connecticut
Really fun game to watch, Paige Bueckers is very good, but the comparisons with Caitlin
are ridiculous, she also suffers from having 4/5 star teammates
Caitlin's assists were a huge part of her game and nobody comes close, certainly not juJu or
paige
Perhaps a bit biased but I sees what I sees
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
JuJu could very well break the scoring record (though I doubt it), but IMO it still wouldn't put her in the same league as Caitlin as a b-ball player.
Clark is not a generational player because she scores a lot of points - she's a generational player because of her all-around game, her vision, her IQ, and her ability to dominate even when she's the complete focus of the opponent.
Not taking anything away from Watkins, but I'll be interested when I see anyone come close to the combination of points, rebounds, assists and steals.
Clark is not a generational player because she scores a lot of points - she's a generational player because of her all-around game, her vision, her IQ, and her ability to dominate even when she's the complete focus of the opponent.
Not taking anything away from Watkins, but I'll be interested when I see anyone come close to the combination of points, rebounds, assists and steals.
JuJu is absolutely in the same league as Clark.
But it's the league Clark created.
People remember the first winner of Survivor or the guy who used his Phone a Friend to call his dad to tell him he was going to be the (first) to win a million on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
Only the first couple on The Batchelor got a TV special featuring their wedding and regularly were on the cover of People.
Only diehard fans remember anyone since.
Breaking a 2 year old record is nothing like breaking record that's older than the person breaking a record that's older than them.
Babe Ruth's 61 homers in a season has been broken 8 times. By 5 different people. We remember McGwire/Sosa. Which was a bigger deal than when Bonds topped them. We are vaguely aware of Maris(*). We forget Sosa topped 61 like 3 times. And that Judge had 62 just two years ago.
Caitlin has the star power. Reasonably attractive. So does Watkins. They both can score. They both are hard players and both are well spoken, well trained in PR/branding.
The difference?
With many new eyeballs on the women's college game, Clark is the underdog. Not because of race (although I don't discount that to a degree), but because she's from Iowa. Many of those new eyeballs aren't aware that Iowa women (much like Iowa football) have punched above their weight class for decades and has produced a number of outstanding players.
Those new eyeballs may have a certain understanding of Iowa and some part of their perception of her is that she came out of nowhere. Maybe even learned to shoot with an old beat up ball on a net attached to a barn on a farm. West Des Moines? Iowa? Where's that. As opposed to JuJu. L.A. USC. "I've heard of those."
We love our underdogs.
Also, Watkins will face what Clark has faced. Owners wanting the whole league to be on the cover of Time, not just the one who brought the eyeballs and money. While Nike/Gatorade can give them both money...State Farm et. al. are invested in Clark. And aren't going anywhere. The pool of attention and money is diluted. With the advantage going to the first person to break the tape at the finish line.
That being said Watkins should and will make bank. Because she...like Clark, Boston and others are good players, have some humility, and likeable personalities.
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
All possibly true, but that's not really my point.
I was referring to records and statistics, and pointing out that breaking the scoring record in and of itself will not be the bar when comparing any player to Clark.
If you combine points, assists, rebounds and steals, Caitlin's collegiate number is 6,295 total points. Another statistic to throw in there is 17 triple-doubles.
Watkins is a great player, and may prove me wrong, but I'll happily go on record saying that she will never even come close to that.
Glass1/2fullguy
Well-Known Member
This along w/ clark’s range. No one, absolutely no one comes close to having clark’s range. And it’s her range which opens up the floor by stretching the defense making it much easier to have/create more assists. I have yet to see anyone in the college game who sees the floor the way Clark does. Watkins is a great player. Beckers is also a great player but as of right now neither of them come close to being the all around player Clark is.
Zstatman
Well-Known Member
Well, with JuJu coming into CHA Sunday let's see where she stands in her chase of CC's scoring record.
Heading into the second half of her sophomore year, she has 1411 career points heading to IC, averaging 26.1 points per game for he career. She still has a long way to go.
As a freshman she scored 920 points, averaging 27.1 so multiply that by 4 and she could be right there knocking on the door.
But as a sophomore so far she is averaging just 24.6 ppg, scoring 491 points so far. She'll need to pick that up.
I believe most of us believe she won't catch CC. But we have a great chance to see her game this Sunday and we can form out own opinions thereafter.
Heading into the second half of her sophomore year, she has 1411 career points heading to IC, averaging 26.1 points per game for he career. She still has a long way to go.
As a freshman she scored 920 points, averaging 27.1 so multiply that by 4 and she could be right there knocking on the door.
But as a sophomore so far she is averaging just 24.6 ppg, scoring 491 points so far. She'll need to pick that up.
I believe most of us believe she won't catch CC. But we have a great chance to see her game this Sunday and we can form out own opinions thereafter.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
Really looking forward to this game
Don't anticipate a Win though
Gonna be a fun game to watch
Caitlin is going to be friendly when they meet, as she always is
Go Hawks
Zstatman
Well-Known Member
As much asI've heard about JuJu, I've never seen her play. Looking forward to that.
A W will be tough but would be great under the circumstance. I'm sure they'll give their all.
Looking forward to seeing who is in the crowd, the whole thing really.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
She is REALLY GOOD
Her floor game is not up to Caitlin's standards
But he can shoot, and get her shot every time
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
For those old enough to remember, she reminds me a bit of Bernard King of the Knicks. Talented scorer that knew how to use his body and get to the line when he wasn't spot-shooting.
That was pretty much the extent of his game, but he was VERY GOOD at that one extent...
That was pretty much the extent of his game, but he was VERY GOOD at that one extent...
What a great comparison. Especially with the drawing fouls part. She and the refs let her use that to the fullest extent against us. I thought Kylie did a bang up job guarding her. And if not for 2 of those terrible calls that went against her I'd say she did a perfect job. She made it hella hard on her.
The one thing I wish Jan hadn't done was put Guyton on JuJu for so long. I was good with it for a little bit here and there. But as we saw they took advantage of that matchup as it went on. All in all they did do a great job on her. If not for the refs giving her so many FTs she didn't play well. 8-22/1-7 from 3. You'll take that all day every day. I've been hard on Kylie this yr mostly due to her O but she deserves the lions share of the credit for how that game went with her effort on D. She really took it to JuJu.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
Ju Ju had 10 points on free throws
Kylie Did to an excellent job on her, she had help, Jan had an excellent game plan
The Hawks denied her the ball, especially in the first half, by putting another player on her
to deny her receiving a pass
It was frustrating in the third quarter to see the zebras calling a foul on the Hawks every time
down court when Ju Ju had the ball
The questionable fouls on Kylie had me ready to toss a beer bottle at the TV, but reason
prevailed
Didn't want to destroy the TV my daughter bought me last year on my birthday
An LG C3
Kylie Did to an excellent job on her, she had help, Jan had an excellent game plan
The Hawks denied her the ball, especially in the first half, by putting another player on her
to deny her receiving a pass
It was frustrating in the third quarter to see the zebras calling a foul on the Hawks every time
down court when Ju Ju had the ball
The questionable fouls on Kylie had me ready to toss a beer bottle at the TV, but reason
prevailed
Didn't want to destroy the TV my daughter bought me last year on my birthday
An LG C3
I was at Carver, so I did not have the benefit of replays. That said, it seemed like the refs were overall pretty solid. They had control of the game, they weren't getting bullied by the coaches or players, and it seemed pretty balanced. I still let the refs hear my opinion on a few missed calls, 'cause you gotta earn that home-court advantage!
JuJu is like Clark in that opponents pull out all the stops to disrupt her, making things pretty hard on the refs (they could call a lot more fouls than are actually called, especially off-ball). We were very physical in the 1st half, and they allowed it. In the 2nd half, they started giving JuJu the super-star treatment on those 50/50 calls. Which is fine, as long as that works both ways. They did let USC get away with a couple really egregious hand-checks while calling what seemed like slight contact on us on the other end, but I think that was just a couple of misses by the refs (no one's perfect), not any effort to give JuJu or USC preferential treatment.
In both the 3rd and 4th quarters, we got in the bonus early, and that really helped us out when USC was ratcheting up their D. They were called for 24 fouls to our 19, and we shot 28 FTs to their 18.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
Caitlin Clark returned to Iowa for jersey retirement and the Hawkeyes put on a show
From The AthleteWith No. 4 USC and superstar JuJu Watkins in town, hundreds of fans stood outside of Carver-Hawkeye Arena nearly three hours before tipoff. The cheapest ticket on the resale market was $153 but it was located nearly on top of the arena. Fans of every age group dug out their No. 22 shirts, and the festive vibe permeated the pregame environment.
“We’ve been put in a lot of good atmospheres,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “This is the first time like everyone was in their seat with 10 minutes to go before the game. I was really impressed.”
And it was loud. Consistently loud. In pregame introductions, fans applauded Watkins, and a decibel reader reached 103. The sound grew for Iowa’s turn and reached a point where hearing the public address announcer was difficult.
“The tipoff, it was like, ‘Ooo, my ears,’” Iowa guard Lucy Olsen said with a laugh. “I was like, ‘I hope it’s a little quieter.’”
Instead, it became deafening. On Iowa guard Taylor McCabe’s first 3-pointer, the sound hit 117 decibels. When Sydney Affolter’s 3-pointer put Iowa ahead 6-1, it was 118 decibels. It never reached the 119 from when Clark drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat Indiana two years ago, but the outbursts consistently exceeded 115 from the first quarter to the final seconds.
The appreciation was reciprocated. As Clark stood with her family at midcourt, USC players and coaches sat on their bench minutes after their loss and watched highlights of Clark’s greatest moments at Iowa.
After her jersey was brought alongside Iowa’s two runner-up banners, Clark also tossed flowers toward both Watkins and USC, saying, “I’m a big fan,” which was met with applause.
“Obviously, the magnitude of this day isn’t lost on us,” Gottlieb said. “From the non-basketball game piece of it, I’m really impressed with the atmosphere here, the love for women’s basketball, the appreciation for what Caitlin has done and coach Bluder. So, we had decided prior to the outcome of the game that we were going to stay out there and be part of that to honor her and where women’s basketball is.”
I thought Kylie set the tone right out of the gate. USC wasn't going to be able to do what they wanted to cause she wasn't going to let them. Zero intimidation none of that. Her D and O'Gradys play in the 2nd half/4th q especially were the two things I thought were really key and had to happen. Obviously Lucy played like everyone kinda hoped she would all yr and she was phenomenal too. But you take out what O'Grady did and I don't think we win. She played the final 13 mins of the game I'd almost guarantee you that's the longest stretch she's played. Jan rode her to the finish line and it worked.
For much of the 4th q I kept wondering when are they putting Stuelke back in but they never did. That took some serious you know what from Jan cause I could see a decision like that having the staff with mixed opinions on. That offensive reb put back Addie got was just so huge.
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thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
Yeah, it was balanced for certain
