JuJU Watkins chasing CC

[Zstatman]

I believe there is a much higher probability that W's CBA gets changed to allow women to go pro early and not have to wait four years to do so than there is of her breaking the record.

If I were JuJu I'd sue to get it done although would she have to take a pay cut?

 

[Fryowa]

Yeah and I know she's publicly said she's going for it. But surely nobody has looked at the numbers and crunched them more then her. She has to know at this point just how high of a mountain she's trying to climb.

To bottom line it Clark averaged 28.4 over 139 games.

Through 56 games JuJu is at 25.9 and is avging only 24.2 through 22 games this yr. She's trending down not up from her freshman yr. USC should go on a deep tourny run this yr but who knows unranked Iowa just beat em. So total games played could factor in too. If they get upset in sweet 16 the next 3 yrs that's potentially 5 or 6 more games she wouldn't get to even play in.

Clark averaged 31.6/g her sr yr and played 39 games (with the largest target on her back a players ever had) JuJu is going to have to do better then that significantly one of her last 2 yrs to have a shot at breaking it all because she's fallen off pace so far this yr. That seems impossible based off what we've seen so far....

If I'm a WNBA coach I'm definitely going to try a whole lot harder to draft a player who's doing everything she can to win games as a team than I am someone who I know has her own scoring stats in mind before everything else. Look how the me-first thing has worked out for Angel Reese. She's just a Tik Tok blooper reel distraction at this point.

But I'm not a WNBA coach

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

I've posted it before, but in my mind the only record that truly counts is the combination of points, rebounds, assists and steals.

In Caitlin's case, that totals a whopping 6,295. Oh, and she also had 17 triple-doubles.

JuJu, even if she plays all four years, won't even come close. My guess is we won't see that number exceeded by a woman NCAA player in our lifetimes.

 

[CP87]

So JuJu only had 14 pts against Wisky 4-11 only 1-4 from 3 playing 26 mins. With 2 rebounds and 0 assists... That's right zero assists...

Last time I checked Wisconsin was one of the bottom of the barrel teams in the league. USC won going away by 20 something. But JuJu didn't help very much. Safe to say I can't remember Clark having a total clunker of a game like that.

I feel bad for JuJu cause so many fans and media members have crowned her as being something she isn't. Was the Pac 12 last yr so bad that she could pad her stats to the extremes that she did? From the games I've watched it looks like she's trying to pad stats at the end of games but she just isn't able to effectively. So I don't know. My guess is she's gonna get some folks wondering what's up with her performances before long if she keeps this up. She's not catching CC no way no how numbers wise doing this. Her next 2 yrs she'd have to really pick it up from what she's been doing and I'll be impressed as hell if she could even come close frankly.

JuJu is the real deal, and if you asked all the WNBA GMS to pick a player to lead their team for the next decade, JuJu would be their 2nd pick. Last year she had to score a lot more...this year she has better talent around her.

Also, teams go into every game saying, "Make someone other than JuJu beat us." She scored 27 against Iowa, but she didn't get much of that from the offense...it was a lot of transition, offensive rebounds, and FT line. When our D was able to get set, it was tough for her to do much because no matter where she turned, there was a body waiting for her.

Teams obviously tried to do this with Clark, as well, but it was hard for 2 reasons. First, she was so relentless in transition that she did a ton of damage before opponents could even set their D.

Second, her ability to shoot from range, off the dribble, even with a step-back, is an unprecedented skill in the women's game. The only way to stop it is to try to blitz her with a double-team 40 feet from the basket, but she is such a good passer that she will slip it to the relief person, and now the Hawks are playing 4-on-3 downhill over and over again. If you try to junk her (box-and-1, etc.), she is smart enough that she finds the hole and exploits it. The only semi-effective defense was being super-physical off-ball and try to prevent her from even touching it in the first place (especially if you could get in her head by roughing her up). But by the time she was a junior and senior, she could combat this with improved strength and mental toughness.

I am not sure if there has ever been another player as compelling as Caitlin Clark, men or women. She is a force of nature, and I will never get sick of watching her play.

 

[CP87]

JuJu is the real deal, and if you asked all the WNBA GMS to pick a player to lead their team for the next decade, JuJu would be their 2nd pick. Last year she had to score a lot more...this year she has better talent around her.

Also, teams go into every game saying, "Make someone other than JuJu beat us." She scored 27 against Iowa, but she didn't get much of that from the offense...it was a lot of transition, offensive rebounds, and FT line. When our D was able to get set, it was tough for her to do much because no matter where she turned, there was a body waiting for her.

Teams obviously tried to do this with Clark, as well, but it was hard for 2 reasons. First, she was so relentless in transition that she did a ton of damage before opponents could even set their D.

Second, her ability to shoot from range, off the dribble, even with a step-back, is an unprecedented skill in the women's game. The only way to stop it is to try to blitz her with a double-team 40 feet from the basket, but she is such a good passer that she will slip it to the relief person, and now the Hawks are playing 4-on-3 downhill over and over again. If you try to junk her (box-and-1, etc.), she is smart enough that she finds the hole and exploits it. The only semi-effective defense was being super-physical off-ball and try to prevent her from even touching it in the first place (especially if you could get in her head by roughing her up). But by the time she was a junior and senior, she could combat this with improved strength and mental toughness.

I am not sure if there has ever been another player as compelling as Caitlin Clark, men or women. She is a force of nature, and I will never get sick of watching her play.

To provide some stats from the Iowa v. USC game...

JuJu made 8 FGs, and 6 of them were either in transition or from offensive-rebounds. She only made 2 FGs against a set D.

She was 10/11 from the FT line, and at least half of the free-throws were from off-ball fouls, transition shot attempts, or offensive rebound putback attempts.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

If I'm a WNBA coach I'm definitely going to try a whole lot harder to draft a player who's doing everything she can to win games as a team than I am someone who I know has her own scoring stats in mind before everything else. Look how the me-first thing has worked out for Angel Reese. She's just a Tik Tok blooper reel distraction at this point.

But I'm not a WNBA coach

She's just a different type of player I'd compare her to a Carmelo Anthony type. She's not creating for others very much. She's kind of a black hole once she gets the ball she's shooting it. That's the biggest difference between her and Clark as far as their games. As much as Clark scored she never seemed to not pass the ball if someone else had an open look. She usually always made the right basketball play or at least tried to.

JuJu is a shot chucking volume scorer. Who because of her size and handle she can usually get decent looks but she often settles for outside shots too much..

 

[CP87]

She's just a different type of player I'd compare her to a Carmelo Anthony type. She's not creating for others very much. She's kind of a black hole once she gets the ball she's shooting it. That's the biggest difference between her and Clark as far as their games. As much as Clark scored she never seemed to not pass the ball if someone else had an open look. She usually always made the right basketball play or at least tried to.

JuJu is a shot chucking volume scorer. Who because of her size and handle she can usually get decent looks but she often settles for outside shots too much..

Good comp, except JuJu is also an excellent defender (Carmelo was a bit of a sieve). JuJu is averaging 4.0 stocks (steals + blocks) per game.

Scoring is the hardest thing to do in BB, so if someone can do it at an elite level, you want that person on your team. I don't think JuJu is unwilling as a passer (3.4 asst/game), she just doesn't have the preternatural feel for it that Clark has. Just like we shouldn't try to tear Clark down because she was an undisciplined defender and whined to the refs too much, we should not be overly critical of Watkins because of some of her weaker areas. She is definitely a volume scorer, but that is how she can best help her team win, so that is what she does.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

JuJu is the real deal, and if you asked all the WNBA GMS to pick a player to lead their team for the next decade, JuJu would be their 2nd pick. Last year she had to score a lot more...this year she has better talent around her.

Also, teams go into every game saying, "Make someone other than JuJu beat us." She scored 27 against Iowa, but she didn't get much of that from the offense...it was a lot of transition, offensive rebounds, and FT line. When our D was able to get set, it was tough for her to do much because no matter where she turned, there was a body waiting for her.

Teams obviously tried to do this with Clark, as well, but it was hard for 2 reasons. First, she was so relentless in transition that she did a ton of damage before opponents could even set their D.

Second, her ability to shoot from range, off the dribble, even with a step-back, is an unprecedented skill in the women's game. The only way to stop it is to try to blitz her with a double-team 40 feet from the basket, but she is such a good passer that she will slip it to the relief person, and now the Hawks are playing 4-on-3 downhill over and over again. If you try to junk her (box-and-1, etc.), she is smart enough that she finds the hole and exploits it. The only semi-effective defense was being super-physical off-ball and try to prevent her from even touching it in the first place (especially if you could get in her head by roughing her up). But by the time she was a junior and senior, she could combat this with improved strength and mental toughness.

I am not sure if there has ever been another player as compelling as Caitlin Clark, men or women. She is a force of nature, and I will never get sick of watching her play.

Her size handle and shooting ability is no joke. Her shot selection at times and feel for the game can be a little problematic though. She's only a soph so she outta get better at some of the nuances of the game. If she would create and pass some more I think that would open things up for her scoring even more. I thought when they get her the ball at the high post so she can pivot and make decisions from there makes her deadly but they didn't do that much

 

[CP87]

Watkins' shots per game have gone from 22.4 as a freshman, to 17.8 as a soph. USC's pts/poss has risen from 25th in the nation to 14th over that time. Her efficiency has gone up quite a bit, which has offset some of her decreased volume.

In case you were wondering, Iowa went from #1 in the nation in pts/poss last year to #47 this year.

 

[Hay Man]

The thing I like most about JuJu other than her game is her character. When reporters or announcers talk to her about how she compares to Clark or Paige or anyone else for that matter, she deflects and has nothing but praise for those that came before her. Just like Caitlin has always done.