Nyadiew Puoch Needs To Be on Your WNBA Radar
Eyes and ears are laser-focused on college basketball, off to a raucous first week, with attention on the premier players of the game and the next wave of stars for the WNBA.
Approximately 8,200 miles away from Las Vegas, where the Hall of Fame Series tipped off, the Southside Flyers of the WNBL are amidst the early throes of their season.
For Southside, located in Melbourne, Australia, 19-year old Nyadiew Puoch enters her second season with the pro club, eager to build off of an extremely successful debut to the pro game last season. She steps into the starting lineup for the Flyers after finishing as a runner-up for Sixth Woman of the Year last season.
It's been a rollercoaster past 12 months for the 6'3 forward; Her first foray in the WNBL during the winter, Nike Hoop Summit in early spring, WNBL 1 shortly after (a semi-pro league just below WNBL in hierarchy), and then the U19 FIBA World Cup shortly after WNBL 1 ended. With another year of steady progression with the Flyers, Puoch projects as a likely first round pick, and a potential starter in the WNBA as she continues to develop.
"We ended up making the championship game, we lost, but it was a great experience. Coming up, being a rookie, you don't really get many experiences like that and I played quite a lot with the opportunity I got from Cheryl (Chambers, Southside's Head Coach), so I was very lucky," says Puoch.
This past year is symbolic of what makes Puoch such an exciting prospect: versatility.
With Southside, she's a stout defender that spaces the floor and makes her name as a slasher. For the U19 National team, she spent less time on the wing. With WNBL 1, she operated as a primary ball-handler, working on her individual scoring ability and playmaking off the bounce.
Timing and athleticism are different at all levels. Reads look different depending on position. Thriving and growing through all of the change stands out.
How did she handle that constant change?
"To be honest, I don't even know," laughs Puoch.
"I just love playing basketball so much that you can throw me out to whatever, and I will learn to love it."
Playing with the U19 team in Spain was a growth process for Puoch. She played primarily at the 4 due to an undersized roster. At first, when her coach let her know what the role would be, she was a bit unsure; she wasn't used to setting screens or having to jostle with larger forwards.
After sitting with it and reframing how she understood it, she saw how she could succeed,
"Why am I looking at this in the most negative way, when I could just be so positive about it? If I'm guarding someone that's a little bit slower at the four man, I could beat them off the dribble, go off of hand-offs, run down in trail and shoot the three... like thinking about it, no one else is going to be thrown out to do what I can do, because no one else can do it... it's not about being an actual four, it's about playing like I can play... it's just a number," says Puoch.
Perhaps the most difficult part of being a versatile player in today's game, predicated more and more on pace and spacing, is how difficult it is to be consistently versatile. Puoch's defensive tenacity and effectiveness sets the table to keep her on the court and impacting the game regardless of where she's thrown into the fire at any level. She's switchable and aggressive on the ball, often guarding the best perimeter player on opposing teams. She excels as a weakside shot blocker, affectionately known as the Block Doctor. Physicality can get the best of her at times, but that's part of playing alongside and against players who have been on pro contracts since before Nyadiew picked up a ball.
Last season and this season, she calls Lauren Jackson a teammate with Southside. For reference, Jackson was drafted 1st overall by the Seattle Storm three years before Nyadiew was born (June 23rd, 2004).
"She's always helping me on the court, telling me all these things, and everything she's saying to me, it's coming from the heart, she really wants me to get better, which I appreciate so much," says Puoch.
Her entire team has been nothing but encouraging. Confidence was not a struggle coming in for Puoch, but it's a sizable leap to jump into playing in the WNBL, arguably the second best pro league in the world. Kayla Thornton, currently playing for the Liberty, starred on the team last season.
Puoch credits both Thornton and Maddison Rocci for their encouragement and uplifting this past year.
"They believe in me so much, which helps me with my confidence when I play. That's kind of all I needed, from someone to be like, Nards, you're great, we know you're great, we need you to step up, and I think that really helped in my first season."
In many ways though, Puoch has been a pro already for the past few years prior to signing her contract with Southside.
Growing up in Melbourne, she came up through the Victoria Junior Basketball League (somewhat equivalent to AAU in the States). When she turned 16 and graduated from Juniors, she went to the Australian Institute of Sport located in Canberra, an hour and a half flight away from her home.
The prospect of leaving home was scary, but essential for her development, and at the AIS, she realized the heights she could reach as a player. She and her head coach, Kristen Veal, would have regular meetings talking about life and the game, and she instilled in Nyadiew that she could take further steps.
"She helped me on and off court and really opened my eyes that this could be a longtime career for me, that I can actually go down a path with this... she'd pick me up on things I didn't even know I was good at," says Puoch.
That led her to training and working on other aspects of her game, continually honing her craft. That consistent encouragement and meetings with Veal made her realize that she really has the potential to be great at the sport and ramped up her work ethic. Going to school, attending individual and team practices, and living away from family accustomed her to a sort of professional lifestyle very early on.
"I really invested in learning," says Puoch.
Earning her contract from Southside was a sort of full circle moment; not that long ago, a nine year old Nards was chasing after her two older brothers, begging them to play basketball with them (she's the 3rd eldest of her siblings). That led to trying out for the U12 Victorian Juniors team not long after when her brothers went for tryouts.
There are three teams for U12 all separated by ability to play, 1s being the most skilled of the age group.
"I was like, I want to do the same thing! So I went in and tried out, didn't know anything, went in with a turtleneck long sleeve. I just came in, started playing, I was just so aggressive and running around," laughs Puoch.
She wound up making the 3s team, and from there, she's worked her way up Australia's basketball hierarchy, reaching the top at 19.
Puoch is driven and motivated by her family, one of 7 siblings raised by her mother Nyakong, who moved to Australia from South Sudan. Watching her mother's work ethic growing up is a constant reinforcement of why Nyadiew wants to be great.
"It's just been my mom, and she works really hard all the time for us, working double shifts, picking up extra shifts...my family, and seeing them happy for me, it makes me feel like I need to keep going to make them proud, that's a really big thing for me... going places that I never thought I'd be doing at the age of 12 playing in my turtleneck shirt " says Puoch before laughing.
While her family is her biggest driver, they're also most key in keeping her grounded. She has a great perspective at maintaining an even keel, especially as a teenager. They'll talk basketball when she's home, but keep it light. If she's going through a rough patch, they remind her that it's just basketball, she's human, we all make mistakes, and that's huge in her staying in the moment and keeping a calmness to her.
"To them, what I'm doing is outrageous, they're just so proud of what I do. Of course, I've never seen this (her own progression) before, but like they've never seen it as well, so everything I do whether it's good or bad or whatever, they just love it," says Puoch.
Nyadiew is the oldest girl in the family, and her younger sisters play basketball as well. They're always asking her about things she did in a game or practice and telling their friends about their big sister and how cool she is. She has a long list of things she wants to accomplish as a professional, but she makes clear that being a role model for her sisters and other young girls is at the forefront for her.
She points out that being South Sudanese and Australian, there aren't many role models to look up to as a child.
"In my community, a lot of girls don't play or they struggle to keep playing. Even girls of any nationality stop playing at the age of 12...When I was growing up, I looked up to Ezi (Magbegor) and I was like, she's amazing... I want those girls to have the same from me. When my name is said, I want people to be like, she's a great person, and a great basketball player, and just have a good name for myself," says Puoch.
She wants to keep going down the path she's on; playing for the Opals, playing in different countries overseas, and playing in the WNBA. Because she'll turn 20 the same year as her draft year, she'll be eligible for the upcoming 2024 WNBA Draft. If you're a domestic (US Born) player, you must be 22 your draft year to be eligible, but international prospects only need to be 20.
While it will depend upon whether or not she and her camp decided to come over to the WNBA, she will be in the draft regardless. It's worth noting the pro readiness she's already shown during her time playing internationally and in the WNBL. While any young prospect has much to build upon and keep developing, her relative youth compared to American contemporaries along with her pro experience accumulated is extremely tantalizing.
She's not looking ahead to greener pastures; she wants to continue growing in the WNBL this season and is focused on being a better basketball player, building Southside's championship appearance into a championship victory.
***Nyadiew and I watched through some of her film together and broke down what she was doing and seeing. Below are some of the standout clips we talked through.
Film Study
Mark Schindler (MS): I want to start with this one, because you did a great job guarding Tiffany Mitchell in this game and she's a hell of a player...
Nyadiew Puoch (NP): She IS!
MS: One of the things that always stands out to me about you is your ability to blow things up at the rim, especially playing more at the three, that's not super common. Especially in this game, they started throwing a lot of away actions at you to try and get you away from being able to attack a play. What things are you looking for or maybe trying to see that lets you know, ok, I want to attack here?
NP: I feel like, I just want to get in people's heads and I love disturbing things. When I'm there and I can see the ball and be like, I'm gonna stop you from what you wanna do. When I'm opting in and I'm already in that position, then I'm like, I'm about to blow this up. And then when I do that, and I jump up to split, I find that my teammate gets blown by, and I'm gonna disturb this as well. So I just move to that as well.
Especially playing defense against someone like Tiff Mitch that's great, trying to get the ball out of her hands and making sure she doesn't get it, just stopping them from doing what they normally do.
MS: OK so what's your feel coming off of this play?
NP: Cayla George is a great shooter and Mia Murray is as well, so just making sure that she didn't really get the shots, I had to make sure my hands were up as well. And then on that switch as well, just to get out to Cayla George, because we didn't want her to shoot it as well. So rotating with my hands high, because I feel like when my hand is in someone's face, i feel like they second guess their shot, or they wish to shoot the shot, but it's disturbed. It's just knowing the scout basically, Cayla is just a flat out shooter, so rotate nice and high right into her pocket, I'd rather her pass that than shoot the three.
MS: I wanted to ask too, especially because you're so good on the ball, a lot of teams throw screens at you... I think a lot of fans watching top down could be like, how do you not see a screen coming... If you could put into perspective, like how often do you actually see a screen compared to the importance of your big or teammate calling out that screen?
NP: It's very hard, especially when you're on the ball, and things are setting up quickly. The only way I know the screen is coming is when someone's yelling it to me or I'm looking at someone coming up to screen. But again, if you turn before it's set, someone's gonna blow by you, like you just never know... but for me, like I'd say 40% of the time is when I know a screen is coming. Especially when you're in a loud stadium, it's rah rah rah, I'm screaming that I have ball, I get hit by the screen, and it's like, damn.
MS: Ok, so I wanted to bring this one up, because it's not super often that you see someone intentionally drive baseline like this. What made you feel that you were going to be able to get the spin off of this or what were you seeing that made you feel comfortable here?
NP: I feel like team's expect me to be driving past them baseline, so I like to go baseline knowing they might try to cut me off, and then they leave me an open gap to go middle. Like legit that's all, they cut me off baseline, so then I can just go middle again, it's just reads; if someone cuts me off, I'll go middle, if not, I'll keep driving.
MS: Like we talked about earlier with respect to feeling out speed, you really get into change of pace here, hit the hesi, which sets you up to get the foul drawn... what are you reading here?
NP: Here, I feel like a lot of bigs kind of stay and show for a second, so when I hesi, like when I pick up the ball and hesi, they think, oh I've stopped it, so then they jump away. So then that hesi kind of gets them and I change up my speed and go straight to the rim. A lot of bigs in the NBL 1, if you pick up the ball up, then they're done and return to their player, so then you hesi and you beat them.
MS: This might be my favorite clip... part of what I really like about this, yes you missed the shot, but it's smooth, you're comfortable, it's waning shot clock so there's not much to do but shoot the ball. The willingness and the confidence in the moment is important... and then even with the miss, you run like hell back, and of course the block is really huge, but the biggest thing is just showing that next play mentality to me, it feels like you never really take plays off even if there could be a reason to, and that matters a ton.
NP: I just feel like, I know on this team I was one of the quicker athletes, so I reinforced that next play mentality. Like if I'm gonna run out, I'm just gonna run and see what I can do, and I was like, oh I think I can get this... and I did! If the shot doesn't go in, just get back and do something better.
