It was a history-making day when JuJu Watkins’ USC defeated Paige Bueckers’ UConn for the first time in program history. Some called it the birth of another great rivalry, others just said it was an entertaining basketball game. But whereas these two usually stand against each other in everything, it seems like fans have found a way to unite them after their recent injuries.

For Bueckers, this Sunday was supposed to be a memorable one as the 2021 national player of the year played in her 100th game for UConn when the Huskies faced Villanova. Things were going well for No. 8 UConn against the Wildcats with a 26-point lead late in the third quarter, but when Bueckers tried to grab a loose ball, Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe dove for it. Bueckers’ leg got caught under Bascoe and the Huskies guard awkwardly went down on the court.

Bueckers held onto her knee and was in visible pain before she limped to the locker room. Finneran Pavilion was silent; it was the same knee Bueckers had injured in her sophomore year and then torn an ACL in the next. After missing a significant amount of time in her sophomore season, she missed the entire 2022-23 season for the ACL tear. She later came back to the bench with ice on her knee but didn’t return in the 83-52 UConn victory. However, was head coach Geno Auriemma a little too dismissive about the gravity of the injury?

When Auriemma was asked about Bueckers after the game on the SNY broadcast, he said she was “pretty good” after getting into a “weird situation.” “She’ll be fine. She looks good. I’m optimistic, let’s put it that way. I feel good,” Auriemma said. He had even compared Bueckers’ injury to one teammate Azzi Fudd suffered, presumably in 2022 when she missed a month of action after a similar injury.

“Like when it was with Azzi, it’s not the worst thing that we could imagine. So that’s great news, considering how awkward it was,” Auriemma said. Later Bueckers was declared unfit for Wednesday’s game against Xavier. She did not practice with the team on Tuesday. “It is just a sprain,” Auriemma said on Tuesday. “There is nothing torn, there is nothing crazy about it. Her knee got twisted a certain way, her ankle got twisted a certain way. It is just an awkward thing. We are hoping we have her back in a week.” 

While Auriemma still sounded very much positive about Bueckers, fans are questioning why Bueckers was still in when the team already was having a healthy lead. Well, Auriemma had answered that back in 2021. Back then, Bueckers suffered a scary non-contact injury in a game against the Bueckers suffered a scary non-contact injury with 38.5 seconds remaining. At that point as well, the team had an 18-point lead. So fans had slammed Auriemma for keeping Bueckers in the court. Auriemma’s reply was not satisfactory for the fans.

“She never wants to come out,” Auriemma told reporters during the post-game press conference. “She’s a pain in the a** to have on the bench because all she does is complain about why she’s not playing. And we’ve made a concerted effort in the last three or four games to get her some rest during the game.” He was rather blunt when he said, “I don’t have an answer for why she was in the game” but insisted that a non-contact injury like the one Bueckers sustained “could happen at any time” and that he doesn’t “like the way our team looks when she’s not on the floor.”

This is exactly where fans seem to differ from him. Is keeping the team in a healthy shape of a greater importance than Bueckers’ well-being? Fans are clearly not on the same page with Auriemma on this as they have once again criticized him for his handling of Bueckers. But she is not alone for whom the fans are concerned.

Top Comment by Quigs68

So many experts with Zero Coaching experience and it shows. Players actually get hurt in practice as well so are...more

Share your take

Debate

Just weeks before that, Watkins had rolled her ankle in a game against Elon University when the team was 54-pont up. The USC sophomore had been fighting for a rebound in the fourth quarter, but she collided with an Elon player, eventually making her limp to the locker room. She didn’t return for that game. Fans were upset at Lindsay Gottlieb’s decision to leave her star player in an already-decided contest, evoking comparisons to former Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau leaving Derrick Rose in for too long during the 2012 NBA Playoffs.

Many theorized that Watkins was staying in the game in her inevitable quest to chase down Caitlin Clark’s all-time NCAA points record. The two had remarkably similar stats during their respective freshman campaigns. Watkins scored 920 points last year, averaging 27.1 a game while shooting 40.1% from the field and 31.9% from deep in 34 contests. Clark scored 799 points while averaging 26.6 a game on 47.2% shooting and 40.6% from three in 30 games.

The common thread in both? Their respective teams were well ahead of the opposite team to have made their coaches sub them out. But they didn’t, and fans are angry.

Hoops fans worry for Paige Bueckers as JuJu Watkins’ fate seems to follow her

Not to worry, JuJu Watkins has since returned to action. UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma has stated that he’s “positive” that Paige Bueckers will bounce back. But these reassurances have done nothing to quell fan fury, who took to social media to ask why Auriemma and USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb had not taken out their two star players with their teams leading with 20+ or 30+ points.

One said, “First Juju almost had a serious injury. This time Paige. In games up by 30+ These coaches/orgs should be ashamed. We all know what they’re doing. CC and her records have broken people’s brains and they’re putting these young women at risk, stat padding to chase her records. Smh.”

Another called out Auriemma, “The old man is just an idiot Paige with her injury history should never play in blowout games. He’s crazy it’s not like Paige is breaking any CC records”

Since Caitlin Clark left for the WNBA, both Bueckers and Watkins have been hailed as the careers on of her legacy in women’s college basketball. While the Trojans star has certainly touched one record set by CC – becoming the fastest player to reach 1000 points – both have also spoken about how such comparisons disrespect all those they involve.

Bueckers had also previously called out the media for only focusing on specific players, “I think it’s more important for the game to share the spotlight to grow the game and show all the stars of college basketball and not just focus on one particular player, whether it be me, Caitlin, JuJu [Watkins], Angel [Reese]. There’s so many names in college basketball now that are huge, that are stars that deserve credit.”

It was a littany of responses online but where well wishers came in, so did the critics against the coaches. One said, “Agree hopefully she isn’t hurt but what’s Geno thinking playing her still with that lead”

Another wrote, “Why is Paige still playing with a 30 point lead??? Same for JuJu playing against Rutgers with 50 point lead??? Just ridiculous to risk an injury for what, the games were won already! Shame on these coaches!”

One said, “NCAA WBB coaches need to start taking out their stars when theyre up big. there’s no reason to keep them in this early in the season First juju injured then paige. it’s common sense”

For now, this common sense seems to eluding the school staff, if fans are to be believed. Both players seem to be giving phenomenal performances against lesser-ranked opponents, but is that all it is? Or are they playing by the end to stat pad and set benchmarks for those to come and surpass those who have already played? Fans wonder, because with March still two months away, both UConn and USC need to take care of their star players lest they be unable to perform at crucial moments.