"I would take JuJu Watkins on tight ankle over anybody": ESPN analyst makes bold choice picking USC guard ahead of Stanford encounter

By MD Asif Ansari

Modified Mar 11, 2024 11:16 GMT

USC won the Pac-12 tournament, even though their star player, JuJu Watkins, could not perform well in the final against Stanford. Watkins only managed to score two out of 15 shots and gave away six turnovers.

However, ESPN analyst Andraya Carter had predicted that Watkins might struggle against Stanford's defense, which was focused on stopping her.

Carter believed that Watkins was a skilled player who could easily beat tall and lengthy players, but might struggle against smaller, quicker guards.

“I'm really interested to see if Stanford stays man-to-man because I was watching clips,” Carter said. “On the players that were 6'3", 6'1", 5'10", 6'2", 6'0", those taller, lengthy players, Juju left them in the dust. She blew right by them."

“But then you put a smaller guard on her that's maybe quick, someone that's 5'7 or 5'9, and she could score over the top of those players. So I'm really interested," Carter added.

Despite this, Carter still believes that Watkins is one of the best players in the country and could outscore two of Stanford's players on her own.

“I would take Juju on a tight ankle over almost anybody else in the country,” she said. “She is so talented. She's so skilled, and she never looks sped up.”

“The way she manipulates the defense with the ball in her hands, my biggest interest is how Stanford chooses to defend her because she lit it up," Carter added.

Earlier, JuJu Watkins was also interested to see how Stanford would attempt to defend her in the final, per Andraya Carter.