USC needs to make bigger adjustments as teams learn how to plan for JuJu Watkins

So it should have come as no surprise that Saturday’s top-10 matchup between No. 3 USC and No. 6 Notre Dame featured an Irish defense clued entirely around the sophomore. But for some reason, Notre Dame’s defense caught USC seemingly in the headlights. The 74-61 loss was punctuated by a whopping 21 USC turnovers, which may not even adequately describe the disruption the Trojans felt. 

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Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey noted after the game that the game plan was to put a long defender on Watkins, who faced matchups against both Sonia Citron and Cassandre Prosper, and then send a second defender (most often Hannah Hidalgo). Hidalgo, who led the country in steals last season with 4.6 per game, had five steals on Saturday alongside a multitude of deflections, tie-ups and other disruptions to USC’s offense. 

After the game, Ivey commended Watkins’ primary defenders, saying, “Sonia had the tall task of guarding one of the best players in women’s basketball in JuJu. [I] thought she did a great job early on just showing bodies, trying to deny her for the entire game.”  

Saturday’s offensive stagnancy begs the question: As USC faces a schedule that, as head coach Lindsay Gottlieb acknowledged, is not going to get much easier, what adjustments will it make to ensure that Watkins can not only get the ball, but be effective as a scorer, facilitator and overall playmaker? 

“They’re a great defensive team,” Watkins told reporters postgame about Notre Dame. “It was definitely an adjustment, and we just have to learn to take care of the ball better.” 

Gottlieb added, “They put length on JuJu with Citron and Prosper and sent Hannah running around like the disruptor that she is. But that doesn’t work if the initial defender doesn’t do their job. They tried to make JuJu’s life hard by putting length on her, and then it works together as a system. … They used [Citron] to be that glue, and then that lets Hannah do what Hannah does.” 

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It’s important to note that teams now have a full season of Watkins’ film to watch this season when preparing for her. They’ve seen her face all sorts of defenses, know what works best to slow her down and know what allowed her to drop 30-plus points 14 times last year.

While the addition of veteran transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen has reduced Watkins’ usage rate to 32.1% this season, USC still needs to make significant changes to its offensive rhythm to get Watkins clean looks. On Saturday, some possessions seemed to be on replay: Hidalgo jumping from the weak side or from behind the ball to trap and pressure Watkins, making it much more difficult for Watkins to be effective.

Gottlieb said that her team needed to balance speed with execution and “not play into a team’s hands that has a defensive identity like that.” She noted that the Trojans faced the same struggles in a 2-point win over Mississippi in the season opener — a game where they also turned the ball over more than 20 times.

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In the Mississippi and Notre Dame games, Watkins had her two highest usage rates of the season (both over 35%). She also played 40 and 39 minutes, respectively, which are her two highest totals through USC’s first five games. That’s admittedly a small sample size, but it’s fairly indicative that the ball needs to move more on offense for the Trojans to win games.

And while it’s certain that USC wants the ball in Watkins’ hands as much as possible, Saturday’s matchup made it clear that the quality of her looks will only get worse if her opponents have anything to say about it. She needs help to build an offense that centers around her but doesn’t live and die based on her double teams — because they aren’t going anywhere.