Puckett embraces Flames' happiness for teammates

Featured image: Tyson Lumbaca | @ty.visuales

Sara Puckett's confidence was just about shot after senior year at Tennessee but a positive experience in Finland got her back on track and she couldn't be happier with the home she found in NBL1 West at Rockingham Flames where she's starring.

Having grown up in Alabama and then attending the University of Tennessee, everything was tracking nicely for the supremely talented scoring forward until her minutes plummeted as a senior as a Volunteer.

That meant that as she was looking to embark on a professional career overseas 12 months ago, her confidence was at a low but what she found in Finland turned out the best possible thing for her to find herself again off the court and then also get her confidence back on the court.

She just finished that season playing her last game with ViVe back on March 27 before making her NBL1 West debut with Rockingham on April 18, and she couldn’t be feeling better about where she's at.

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Now after seven games, Puckett is putting up 21.0 points and 6.9 rebounds a game but that's up to 24.4 points and 7.8 boards over the past five matches with Rockingham that have all been wins.

The 23-year-old couldn’t be happier with the second stop she's found in her professional career with the Flames.

"It is a bunch of fun and it's not just because we are winning and I'm doing well which is great, but that's all because of my teammates," Puckett said.

"We have really good chemistry and we have a really great group of girls, and they've just been so welcoming of me and my personality and everything that I bring on and off the court.

"So it's just been a lot of truly because of that and then of course the plus is that we're winning together."

Summing up this Flames team

It's quite the impressive Flames team that Puckett has joined too under coach David Morrell and including two-time MVP Teige Morrell along with WNBA, WNBL and Australian Opals and Gangurrus star Amy Atwell.

Then there's also veterans Shani Amos and Paris Duffield, fellow internationals Stef Berberabe and Lesila Finau, and local talent Ariana Wheki, Tiana Wilson-Palmer, Ngaire Parish, Ava O'Neill and Ava Davies all playing handy roles.

All in all, it's a team with championship aspirations who are currently 8-2 on the season and 8-0 if you take out games against any team barring the Mandurah Magic, and it's a team that Puckett couldn’t be happier to be part of.

"We're very energetic all the time, I feel like we have huge personalities that play into that and I think the main thing and even my mum was telling me when they were here watching last week, you could really tell how much we truly are genuinely happy whenever each other does well and we want each other to do well," Puckett said.

"It's not a façade or fake, we all truly enjoy playing together and want each other to do well, and to be the best that each of us can be. I feel like that's our foundation really of just who we are as a team and knowing that every single person is confident in you.

"That's a game changer for me of course as an import so it's definitely our chemistry that leads to wanting each other to do great and then having each other's back on the court and off the court. It's just a lot of fun to be a part of honestly."

Perfect start to professional career

Things were going well enough for Puckett in her first three years playing at Tennessee including having 27.1 minutes for 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds as junior, but for whatever reason that all went down to 14.6 minutes, 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds as a senior.

So by the time Puckett graduated and was looking at what to do with her basketball, she was unsure and not feeling great about her game, but then she found the perfect first stop for her in Finland.

She played the season with Vimpelin Veto in a small town of less than 3000 people which led to plenty of alone time, but that turned out to be just what she needed.

Her basketball thrived on the back of that too with Puckett playing almost 36 minutes a game and delivering 27.2 points and 10.9 rebounds to get her confidence back which was the perfect lead in to joining Rockingham and playing NBL1 for the first time.

"It's gone extremely great and I've been thankful for it all," Puckett said.

"Finland was definitely the place that God placed me just to gain my confidence back after the senior year that I had at Tennessee and to find myself off the court as well.

"Of course I feel like that leads to my confidence on the court and knowing who I am just as a person first and foremost rather than just a basketball player.

"So I've just really enjoyed being able to enjoy my first year in Europe in a place like Finland and do as well as I did there. Then coming here was definitely a challenge and I've enjoyed every bit of it.

"I had to get used to having teammates that can put up just as many points as me and I love that because there's no pressure on me so I just get to go out there and have fun.

"I feel like you can see it on my face and on the court and everything, but it's been an adjustment and I've enjoyed every bit of it.

"I feel like over the past couple of games I've really settled in to my style of play within what coach Morrell has us doing and just playing off of Amy Atwell, Teige Morrell and all my teammates. It's been really fun to be able to play with such great players."

Finding self again in Finland

Landing in such a small town in Finland and being there through the cold of winter meant that there wasn’t a whole lot for Puckett to do aside from focus on her basketball and just finding herself again.

When she looks back on it now, after that tough senior year at Tennessee, it was just what the doctor ordered. Then there was the added bonus of living in what is regularly voted the happiest country in the world and getting to visit the real home of Santa Claus when her family came for a visit.

"I was actually in a very small town of about 3000 people so I did not have very much to do at all and even the nearest McDonald's was like 35 minutes away," Puckett said.

"I spent a lot of time with myself and with my American teammates so I had to get comfortable being alone with myself, which I was not previously.

"I just found my identity in God and built my relationship with Him and honestly that's led to everything. I'm very founded in my faith and am very proud of that and where God has led me, and how much he's done in and through me.

"Even though I didn’t get to see much of Finland, I was able to find myself and my parents did visit and we got to go up to Santa Claus Village in Lapland so I would definitely suggest that for anybody.

"It is great and I enjoyed every bit of it, it was a lot of fun to see reindeer and I kinda saw the Northern Lights but not really. So that was really cool and my Finnish teammates were great as well."

How NBL1 has measured up to expectations

Puckett wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from playing in the NBL1 before she arrived, but she did think it would be a bit of a jump up from what she was playing in Finland.

That has proved to be the case but she is enjoying everything about being part of the league and how highly competitive it is.

"I knew it was going to be very competitive and probably a little bit faster than how I played in Finland, but that's really the only thing really," Puckett said.

"I didn’t know too much else about what to expect, but I love how competitive it is and I love being able to be in a new system and style of play, and just going up against teams that are coming after all of us.

"So it's a lot of fun and I feel like our league, the West, is really competitive and I'm not sure about what the other states are like because it's my first time here.

"I've really enjoyed getting to play in the league and play against new players that not only are really great, but also challenge me on the floor as well. It's been really nice so far."

Big challenge against the Senators

Rockingham have now won their past five matches including against Warwick back on May 2 and now it's a rematch with the Senators at Mike Barnett Sports Complex this Saturday night.

The Senators will arrive fresh off handing the Cockburn Cougars a first loss since the 2024 Grand Final last Saturday night so Puckett is fully aware of how tough they'll be as she plays a second game against the same opponent for the first time in her time in the league.

"I feel like the first game against them was a really good challenge and it was a good game with good basketball all around in my opinion on both sides of the floor for each team," Puckett said.

"It's definitely going to be another fun one this weekend and luckily we're playing at home so hopefully we'll be able to have a big crowd and get them going in it too, and just play how we have been and continue to build on what we've been doing. I feel like it's going to be a really great game."