USC Women's Basketball: Where JuJu Watkins Believes She Still Needs To Grow

What's even scarier for opponents than facing JuJu Watkins? Facing an improved JuJu Watkins.

The USC women's basketball star is coming off one of the best freshman seasons in NCAA basketball history, so it's hard to imagine how great she'll be if she gets even better. Watkins transformed this USC team, taking them from a team ranked toward the bottom of the top 25 to the fifth-ranked team in the country. The Trojans went on to win the Pac-12 tournament and advanced all the way to the Elite Eight, where they fell to UConn.

Along with her success leading a team, Watkins is an incredible player individually. She was one of the best shooters in the nation, ranking second in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 27.1 points per game. She recorded 14 30-point games, including an astounding 51-point game, and broke the NCAA freshman scoring record with 920 points.

Despite these accomplishments, Watkins is aware of the areas she can make her game even better heading into her sophomore season. Watkins broke down these areas during an appearance on Podcast P with Paul George.

“Just knowing I’m a high volume shooter, efficiency is definitely the next step in my game. That’s definitely something I’m working on, enhancing my efficiency, being more precise about where I shoot the ball," Watkins said. "Range is a constant process I’m working on … I’ve been working on a pace a lot, more shiftiness. 

As great of a volume shooter and high-scorer as Watkins is, she definitely has some room to improve that efficiency and accuracy with shooting. During her freshman year, Watkins shot 40.1% from the field, 31.9% from beyond the three-point line, and 85.2% from the free-throw line.

While none of these percentages are bad, especially for a player producing like Watkins, they rank far from the top of college basketball. If she can improve these numbers and her overall shooting efficiency, she'll be even more dangerous on the court. Opponents, beware.