JuJu Watkins stared blankly towards the court docket, the frustration evident on her face. It’s uncommon something penetrates the preternatural calm with which Watkins performs, nevertheless it was clear the famous person sophomore was urgent, within the throes of her worst droop but at USC.
Now, as a Fox digicam zoomed in on her and coach Lindsay Gottlieb, her gaze and frustration have been on full show.
Vanessa Nygaard acknowledged that uncommon little bit of frustration, bottled up inside. And he or she additionally knew, in Watkins’ case, there was nothing to fret about.
Nygaard was the coach at Windward Excessive when Watkins was a freshman, first discovering herself in highschool hoops. Even then, Nygaard says, Watkins was so naturally composed, so uncommonly put collectively for a young person, that the coach Nygaard really urged her to set free the frustration infrequently.
“However she all the time remained so coachable, so engaged,” Nygaard says. “JuJu was all the time so motivated to win that she by no means let stuff get to her. She’d bottle it up and preserve going. That was a part of the gas that made her actually particular.”
Watkins as soon as once more has been the engine of a rare season at USC, because the Trojans strategy March with their sights set on a Ultimate 4 run. As their famous person has sputtered over a irritating four-game stretch, the supporting forged has crammed in seamlessly round her — simply as Gottlieb envisioned — setting apart their very own irritating begins to seek out roles within the absence of Watkins’ traditional mastery.
That turning level, as level guard Talia von Oelhoffen termed it, couldn’t come at a extra crucial time for No. 6 USC, with top-ranked UCLA awaiting the Trojans on Thursday in one of many most-anticipated matchups of the school basketball calendar. Beating the undefeated Bruins, one of many deepest and most gifted groups within the sport, all the time was going to require greater than Watkins merely keen the Trojans to victory.
However make no mistake, USC goes to wish extra from its star sophomore if it has any hope of unseating UCLA atop the Huge Ten.
“We’re a very good staff however we want all people acting at their highest stage to get wherever we need to go,” Gottlieb mentioned. “That’s all the time the purpose. Individuals are going to have off days. We’re a staff. We’ve bought lots of people who’ve one another’s backs.”
That a lot was clear Saturday as USC rolled a top-10 Ohio State staff with out Watkins at her finest.
It took time for all of the Trojans’ puzzle items, regardless of how gifted, to suit. The method of placing them collectively hasn’t all the time been seamless.
“You may have lots of people which can be used to in all probability enjoying greater roles than all of us have performed this 12 months,” von Oelhoffen mentioned.
A standout switch from Oregon State, von Oelhoffen fought by her personal frustration as she adjusted to a brand new function. She nervous that she was disappearing into it and dropping herself.
“I don’t suppose it’s a secret that I’ve struggled,” she mentioned.
After USC misplaced to Iowa this month, von Oelhoffen went to Gottlieb to speak about it. She opened up in a staff assembly. She didn’t need to look again on her final season with any regrets.
“We’ve had some staff conversations and simply a variety of dialogue inside the staff over the past couple weeks,” von Oelhoffen mentioned. “I believe that’s helped us and introduced us nearer.”
Kiki Iriafen knew, like von Oelhoffen, that she must make sacrifices when she transferred from Stanford. However even for a blue-chip prospect within the upcoming WNBA draft like Iriafen, it nonetheless took some adjusting to seek out the place she match.
At one level final month, she too sat down with Gottlieb to hash out how she was feeling. Now, Iriafen says, she’s “extra settled in.”
“I’m enjoying far more carefree than I did earlier within the season,” she mentioned.
For Watkins, although, the stress appears to have ratcheted up in latest video games. She began 0 for 11 within the win over Ohio State and 0 for 10 in a win over Minnesota, one shot after one other refusing to fall. Over her final 4 video games, Watkins is taking pictures simply 31% from the ground and 16% from three-point vary.
Nobody at USC is doubting that Watkins will pull herself out of this droop quickly sufficient — “She’s all the time going to be prepared,” Gottlieb mentioned this week — because the star sophomore nonetheless is fifth in Division I in scoring at 23.9 factors per recreation.
However as Gottlieb factors out, the eye drawn by Watkins additionally has opened up extra alternatives for her teammates. Iriafen, for one, has two double-doubles over these 4 video games. And as March attracts nearer, those self same teammates need Watkins to know she’s not on this alone.
“She has us and never all of the strain is on her,” von Oelhoffen mentioned. “I’m positive it may well really feel like the load of the world.”
“She doesn’t have to return in each evening and attempt to carry a staff,” Iriafen added. “I need it to be like, ‘We wish you to dominate, and also you’re going to dominate. However if you happen to want any individual, I’m proper right here.’”