USC Women's Basketball: Is JuJu Watkins Her Own Worst Enemy?

Does the freshman phenom depend on free throws too much?

Through the first 29 games of USC freshman JuJu Watkins' career, she has scored a ridiculous 801 points.

However, it's what you don't see on the broadcast that stands out more than her magical playmaking skills.

After attending the first couple of USC games at the ongoing Pac-12 Tournament, held in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, it’s become clear to this reporter that Watkins has displayed her ability to work the referees like a true professional.

Against crosstown rival UCLA on Friday night, Watkins spent more time complaining to the referees after practically every personal foul that went against her or if she thought they missed one than any other player.

This made me dig further into the nooks and crannies of her stats to determine whether or not Watkins is her own worst enemy on the court. How much better could she be if she didn't worry so much about the referees — or would it make her numbers worse?

You'd be surprised.

With 801 points on the season, Watkins has scored 203 of those via free throws. She has attempted 240 from the charity stripe this year. If you do the math, that's 25.3 percent of her points coming from the line.

Nobody else on the Trojans' roster has attempted more than 86 free throws this year.

Compare Watkins to Stanford's Cameron Brink, who was also the Pac-12 Player of the Year. Watkins’ output has almost doubled Brink’s free throw attempts. Watkins is averaging 7.0-8.3 attempts per game and Brink averages 4.7-5.4.

Brink is a forward who is constantly getting hacked, while Watkins is a guard who has a flopping ability almost as great as former Los Angeles Lakers forward Vlade Divac.

Watkins has become somewhat dependent on her free throws. If she doesn't get them, her numbers are nowhere close to what they are now. But also, credit the referees who enable her to get there. 

In an earlier matchup against Arizona this season, Watkins had picked up four personal fouls with about a minute left to play. She got away with so many no-calls before it became too much and her initial reaction was to look at the referee with a shocked reaction.

Against the Bruins on Friday, Watkins played with four fouls and should have fouled out at the end of regulation when she swiped at Lauren Betts under the basket on a rebound, but no whistle was blown.

A fan sitting behind me thanked the referee for leaving Watkins in for the sake of the game. 

Compared to Iowa's Caitlin Clark, who is considered the best player in college basketball at the moment, Watkins' free throw points percentage is 2.1 percent higher than Clark's highest season, which was in 2021-22 when she scored 200 of her 863 points from the free-throw line.

Watkins and Clark rank No. 1 and No. 2 in Division I for free throws made, and sit at No. 1 and No. 4 in attempts.

Is Watkins being rewarded too much for being a great player?

It sure seems that way. She is also young and still has some maturing to do. Against Arizona on Thursday, she was benched after receiving her third personal foul. She was later spotted crying on the bench. Obviously out of frustration but still, crying because of that?

The true tests are ahead for the freshman who has to face Stanford on Sunday afternoon for the Pac-12 title game and wherever they end up for the NCAA Tournament.

There's no arguing that Watkins is a great person off the court. Head coach Lindsey Gottlieb told reporters that she bought the whole team, plus coaches, and support staff, new shoes and presented them on Friday during a team meal.

But when it comes to her on the court, when will enough be enough?

Perhaps playing on the Pac-12 Network has benefitted her a bit, because fans don't or can't watch the whole game, and instead see the highlights on social media or SportsCenter the next day. There is a dirty side to her game that will have to stop once she's nationally televised.