- 48 minutes ago
On the Rise: Juju Watkins - Season 2 Episode 3 -
Big Ten, Bigger Stakes
Big Ten, Bigger Stakes
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00:00I love breaking expectations.
00:09I'm always trying to push boundaries or limitations set on me.
00:13I look at basketball as art.
00:15Juju kind of just paints a picture.
00:17It's just a flow to her game.
00:20Watkins took an extra step, the crowd went into hush mode.
00:24If you watched her move up the court, she moved differently than everyone else.
00:28When you watch LeBron James move up the court, he moves differently than anyone else.
00:33Watkins, ball and scores!
00:36If there's any player that could lead their team all the way, Juju can do it.
00:53Yeah, we locked in like that?
00:55Dang, Juju!
00:57What's up?
00:58What you do on your day off, Juju?
00:59I said, what you do on your day off?
01:01Yeah.
01:02You get some sleep?
01:03Yeah.
01:04Let's go!
01:05Let's go!
01:07Juju and Ken and big guards can go on all four lines.
01:11Here we go.
01:12Let's go.
01:14Last game of the regular season against UCLA.
01:17This is the most important game of the season so far, so just trying to really lock in.
01:22It is harder to be the team the second time around, but we can't lose.
01:26We want to give it to them here because everything here is predicated on them being great passers, right?
01:35So, let her leg whip here and let her get to her spot.
01:38We just don't want to start here and get it to here.
01:40Okay.
01:41Pressure!
01:42Pressure!
01:43Pressure!
01:44Keep stretch!
01:45Keep stretch!
01:46Keep stretch!
01:47Keep stretch!
01:48Good!
01:49J, get off it!
01:50No, it's going in pressure.
01:51We need to be aggressive on defense.
01:52You gotta go, K-9!
01:53You gotta go!
01:54Just even pay more attention to the small details.
01:56Go, Ju!
01:57Yes, Ju!
01:58Yes, Ju!
01:59Yes, Ju!
02:00Yes, Ju!
02:01We knew that for UCLA to have success against us, they would have to beat us on the boards,
02:07beat us in transition, make all the hustle plays, and we just said we're just not going
02:11to allow that to happen.
02:12Is there any extra motivation knowing that this game is for the Big Ten season?
02:15For sure.
02:16Yeah, it's our most important game this year.
02:18Not only are these our crosstown rivals, but, you know, the only thing standing in the way
02:22from Big Ten regular season.
02:24Great.
02:25Thanks, everyone.
02:30Thank you out here at USC.
02:33Move bus.
02:34Juju Watkins.
02:35To see the excitement around the UCLA game.
02:39So many people came out.
02:42To see my face on the side of the bus, students coming to support the bus, it definitely got
02:48me hyped for the game.
02:50You got to make a bucket.
02:53There we go.
02:54There we go.
02:55Got her bus packed.
02:57Yeah.
02:58It's easy.
02:59Yeah, Chris.
03:00I know.
03:01The hoop bus was founded in Southern California.
03:05We go to schools all over L.A.
03:07And to have a local hero like Juju on the side of our bus is just so inspiring to so many girls.
03:17I want to come watch Juju plays.
03:18She doesn't give up.
03:19She works hard.
03:20And then they also gave us a note that she wrote something.
03:21We're going to pick y'all on the bus and then get ready to go.
03:22Is that cool?
03:23Yeah.
03:24All right.
03:25Can we cheer real quick?
03:26On three.
03:27One, two, three.
03:28Let's go Juju!
03:29When a superstar from your city stays in your city, you not only believe in that player,
03:35but you also start to believe in your city.
03:36And so I think Juju staying home did a lot for, you know, the young girls in L.A.
03:42One, two, three.
03:43Let's go Juju!
03:44Let's go Juju!
03:45Let's go Juju!
03:46Let's go Juju!
03:47Let's go Juju!
03:48Let's go Juju!
03:49Let's go Juju!
03:50Woo!
03:51Let's go Juju!
03:52Let's go Juju!
03:53Let's go Juju!
03:55When a superstar from your city stays in your city, you not only believe in that player,
03:56but you also start to believe in your city.
03:57And so I think Juju staying home did a lot for, you know, the young girls in L.A.
04:00Let's go Juju!
04:01Let's go Juju!
04:02Let's go Juju!
04:03Let's go Juju!
04:04Let's go Juju!
04:05Let's go Juju!
04:06To see the love and support, it motivates me to, you know, work even harder.
04:15We're here in Westwood at Pauley Pavilion.
04:18The Big Ten regular season title at stake.
04:21Number two UCLA.
04:23Number four USC.
04:25The Boone's a rain down for the Trojans here on the road.
04:30Just for, you know, me growing up in some kind of party,
04:34just to see UCLA the rivalry.
04:36I've seen two team members teams going at it.
04:39Let's go Juju!
04:42Juju!
04:44Juju!
04:45Juju!
04:46You get the conference and you get the city if you win tonight.
04:52USC and UCLA, here we go.
04:55Whenever we're in, like, hostile environments,
04:58like a UCLA being at that campus and playing at their gym,
05:02like, she definitely, you know, she feeds off the crowd.
05:06Right wing Juju, top of the key, steps into a three, perfect!
05:10Watkins catch and release on a three ball.
05:13Hits again!
05:14Top Watkins sets her feet again.
05:17Another three goals!
05:19Watkins third three of the first!
05:21This was the regular season champ.
05:23I honestly forgot that that was on the line.
05:26I was just playing like, okay, we're about to play our rivals and we have to win.
05:30Marker, they double the post again and rip it three!
05:35Watkins blow the gate now, starts her move.
05:40And scores!
05:42That is absolutely lethal from Juju Watkins,
05:46who wants this to be her city.
05:49Let's go Juju!
05:51Let's go Juju!
05:53Let's go Juju!
05:56Betts swirls it home.
05:59That one took UCLA down just five.
06:02In the second half, it felt like more of the pressure was on them,
06:05but we were in foul trouble.
06:06Rice on the refeed for Fence.
06:09The crowd against USC once again.
06:13That's three on Watkins.
06:15You look at your entire starting unit and at minimum all have three.
06:20We gotta get stuck here!
06:22To win a regular season championship in their building,
06:27we needed everybody and different people stepped up.
06:31And the way that it happened with everyone contributing was,
06:34was really, really memorable.
06:36I feel like a champion.
06:51Watkins!
06:52Swaps it away from behind!
06:55Put it all on the line, there's another time.
06:58Watkins another block!
07:00Back-to-back blocks for Juju!
07:03They talking stuff to me and Sarai and the, you know,
07:07just like, but we telling them like,
07:09what's going on guys?
07:10Y'all gonna take this L, what do you think?
07:12It is over!
07:14In this new Big Ten era,
07:16the Trojans are champions of the Big Ten!
07:20We beat them!
07:21We don't have no work!
07:22You know what we have to do?
07:23We have to beat them again!
07:28It was special, you know?
07:29It had been, since the 90s, since USC won a regular season…
07:35And Juju and USC, take down UCLA not once but twice.
07:48for twice we're always happy after a win but i think that one hit a little bit different
08:04we're excited you know the team is clicking at the right time we're all really comfortable
08:07with each other so i think we're just more so excited to get to indy and you know get
08:10this big 10 championship juju what do you have for us in march uh some wins
08:20that was really exciting that you know we were able to close out the season strong and
08:24you know we celebrated that for a bit and then we go on to the next
08:40team how's everything feeling for the most part uh it's okay just my legs mainly your neck okay
08:49because i saw you laying it kind of hard oh yeah okay and some shoulders still
08:57going into the big 10 tournament you want to go into each game feeling like you're at your best
09:04just making sure that you're doing the most to just prepare yourself when we was at the arena i did
09:12like this is the next step and then i'm just gonna hydrate and stuff season's so long so you really
09:20start to feel little knickknacks towards the end of the season it's just being more intentional about
09:27caring for your body my knee on this way where do you feel it here it's like right on top okay
09:34here and check it out she's been checking it out
09:41girl my knee hurts i have to keep reminding myself this is like the final stretch just maximize the
09:48amount of time that was left and taking every game as an opportunity to get better and prepare myself
09:57the conference tournaments are always interesting right because they come after a long regular
10:04season and they're before the ncaa tournament so we were able to say okay check you know regular
10:10season champs and we know what's on the horizon with the ncaa tournament but here's a chance to just
10:14play in a competitive one-and-done situation and that's how we approached it
10:20winning the tournament would give us a lot of momentum going into march madness
10:24you know we did it last year so to repeat you know it would be great
10:32quarter final day at the big 10 tournament usc in indiana a spot in the semi-finals on the line
10:39our first game of the tournament we played indiana indiana's a great team it was gonna be a grinder
10:45we knew indiana would be a tough game we were the one seed but they're a really good team
11:07we had to fight the clock to stay competitive
11:17listen to me post-season intensity good they're good we got to stay together all of us got to put
11:24great ground ball pressure but when your kid leaves it if it goes that way we gotta jump to the ball we're
11:28gonna get on flexes and shuffles yes we all got to back exactly we got exactly we got you back yeah
11:34and let's go so listen play help each other body on the body
11:42watkins windexes the rebound down the left side of the lane and euro to the club flips it up and in
11:49through traffic and over game zone to put usc back in front
11:52they're a hard team to play we did what we needed to do to move on to the next round
12:00here's juju watkins 27 points today
12:06juju watkins has 30 points for the seventh time this season
12:12and the one seed uracil is on to the semi-final every win in march is a big freaking win keeks you're
12:21going to lead us so i'll put this one in here ready
12:31three two one
12:35fans filing in a fantastic day ahead as the big 10 champion trojans look to march on and they take on
12:57the confident freshman led michigan wolverine we had already played michigan in the regular season
13:03great team a lot of potential very young stay together be the fastest team on on d be the fastest
13:10team let's go have each other's back we had an idea of what they were capable of but at the end of the
13:20day you know it's tournament play so really anybody can go off and here we go in the big 10 tournament
13:28semi-final winner to the title game tomorrow afternoon
13:38they kind of came at us early and made a bunch of shots it wasn't you know something that was given
13:43to us in any way but what we learned over the course of the year is how to take someone's
13:56punch so to speak and adjust powell back to iria fan right corner pull up is perfect
14:02great marshall steadies herself with the power dribble
14:09block his right elbow pulls up and hits
14:14we had to be the aggressors we had to find a way to get to our sweet spots
14:17here we have been with the steel
14:26really walking
14:27euro steps to the club
14:28block cross around and down
14:30get another stop guys get another stop
14:34shot clock under 10. block is down the right side of the lane to the club opening in the extramation point
14:41watching juju and kiki iria fan both have double doubles was a bright spot for usc
14:52because that was what they were trying to figure out all season how do both of these superstars arrive
14:57on the court together
15:01the buzzer sounds it's over the one seed usc is on to the big 10 tournament title they will face
15:10ucla for the third time this season
15:23great job you guys we we know that we know them really well but i want us to lock in on a few areas
15:32that we can approve we're gonna start with the vets d we don't we can't we will not let her get
15:39two feet in the paint touches
15:42when she puts the sucker on the floor and goes down like this we can go get it and i think we can
15:47go get it more aggressively than last time it's really hard to play a team three times
15:52it's hard to beat a team three times now let's talk about our shares right good hit the shake
15:58good sharing is caring hello really good job sharing the basketball right listen these are
16:04probably going to be someone to look tomorrow they're probably going to put a lot of pressure
16:08on the ball screen the way that michigan did but it's okay because we have this right here duke the
16:13and one really good job putting them on their heels people remember first and they remember last and so
16:18your conference championship is your last shot at letting everyone know what you're bringing to the
16:25ncaa tournament and so a lot of times you like to think that if i can win this tournament on back to
16:31back to back to back days feeling as tired as we are it's just a mental edge that you have going
16:39into the ncaa tournament it's hard to have such a short amount of time to prepare for each team so when
16:45it comes to us versus ucla it's just a matter of who can last the longest
17:00play ucla for the third time it was insane
17:07eight days ago they played for the big 10 regular season title and eight days later they once again
17:14face off for the big 10 tournament title let's go juju it's just a matter of just trying to
17:22always kind of stay one step ahead the whole game and handle the runs because they're such a great team
17:33watkins has it left wing barker in her grill watkins finds kiki on the left block
17:39ucla does not want to let watkins beat them but she did there
17:47i felt like the first half was almost a continuation of kind of how the other games had gone
17:52juju came out and was like okay you still don't have an answer for me
17:55i think we were more in control it was a good game they pushed us to be our best
18:01one of the best players
18:04get it wow 10 seconds to go in the first half go go go beat smash left block right corner howell
18:10afraid of fire he's the triple and that's how half number one in the big 10 tournament title
18:18comes to an end heading into the second half we saw they made some really good adjustments to make
18:23things harder on us
18:30they turned it up a notch and we couldn't quite match it
18:35parker up with the right hand from the left block for till
18:38the field goalless quarter for the trojans might just ultimately be their downfall
18:45i was so impressed because ucla changed their game plan
18:48but i knew that it would be really difficult to beat usc top of the key watkins launches a three
18:55and rattles it home with 10.7 seconds left switch all the screens out of bounds other than with vets
19:01other than with vets see if we can get a pick we had a rough second half i will say and they capitalized
19:07it's going to be a rough second half of the game i was not disappointed with our effort we gave it
19:22everything we had and we went down fighting with three a half court heaves off the backboard and it's
19:29over ucla wins the big 10 tournament title
19:36we've done a lot of winning and we've done a lot of celebrating right and that it is it is our
19:42responsibility and we are to handle the not celebrating and the pain of it as well as we
19:46ends that is part that that is life we've had two bosses this year both of them have been shooting
19:53but both of them we have bounced forward and so that is our only option here because the
19:59the most important chapter is a problem it was just like okay it's the end of the season so it's
20:05like you can't dwell on it this is going to motivate us more going into the tournament
20:11we always talked about a national championship so when it finally came close to march madness like okay
20:18we have to win march madness is the best test of skill in resilience she's a superstar coupled with her
20:26talent of course usc is going to win it all it's hard to not wish things were different
20:35you feel like you're running we will all wait very patiently for juju this is what i roll on the
20:41board today the only thing we want is for her to come back feeling like herself again i'm juju i
20:47won everything it's just a part of the tsunami that's happening with women's basketball and just
20:51add the juju factor on top of that it's unstoppable
20:57one two three
21:04go juju fight on
21:06i hope for that autograph
21:10she's really good at basketball and i hope i'll be like her sometime beautiful so never forget that
21:28i appreciate that thank you
21:36so
21:38i
21:40i
21:42i
21:44i
21:46i
21:48i
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