Is the hardcore SuperCoach NBL beating justified?

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• ‍Trez monsters Davis on 36ers 'treatment'

SuperCoach NBL's new "Beat the Coach" format has taken more heat than Kendric Davis in the past 72 hours after it replaced the "Classic" version of the game for NBL26.

The launch was met with a similar response Montrezl Harrell gave to Davis and his accusations of poor treatment by the Adelaide 36ers before signing with the Sydney Kings. Harrell is the coach SuperCoaches need to beat every week. Getting him on board is outstanding, in my opinion, much the same way Anthony Minichiello was the ambassador for SuperCoach NRL in the 20-teens.

Full disclosure: We're friends of Code Sports Basketball and I was responsible for SuperCoach, specifically NRL, in my previous life so I'm acutely aware of the passion SuperCoach players have for the game they love — and you are in the hundreds of thousands. Proudly, I was the executive producer of the SuperCoach NRL Live Show, streamed for free every Thursday night on Facebook before the NRL lockout. It was hosted by Tom Sangster, Trent Copeland and the winner of the previous year's grand prize. It had an amazing audience.

Unsurprisingly, during those halcyon days the feedback was at times equally brutal, often personal. I worked out quickly the best way to work through it was to talk to players about it, explain how and why. Initial reactions are just that, often emotionally-driven and always valid.

But nowadays I'm on the outside looking in. So I did the next best thing with SuperCoach NBL and read the rules of Beat the Coach to see how it works and to check in on the blow-up.

In my experience — and I'm sure you'll take it with a massive basketball sized grain of salt — it's pretty good, especially when paired with SuperCoach NBA's Classic and Draft games.

Yes it's different to Classic, yes it's asking you to play a different game but the outcome is the same: 10,000 in cash and prizes to the winner. But what it means is Supercoaches don't have to manage their team every week, risking a missed trade or captain selection that blows up rounds and rounds of effort. It's the friction in all SuperCoach season-long games.

So, I get it.

TL;DR

• Weekly reset: Pick a new starting six each round (2 forwards, 1 centre, 2 guards, 1 sixth man).
• Scoring: All six scores count. Captain = 3x points, Vice-Captain = 2x.
• Salary cap: $1.4m budget per round. No carry-over, no trading, no banked cash.
• Format: Most rounds run Wed–Sun with rolling lockouts. Early Wednesday games lock players for the round.
• Montrezl’s challenge: NBL star Montrezl Harrell selects a team each week – your job is to beat it.
• Leagues & rankings: Open leagues, plus club and state ladders for bragging rights.
• SuperCoach Plus: Premium insights and stats remain available.

Prizes

• Grand Prize: Each round you Beat the Coach = one entry into the $10,000 end-of-season draw (includes $5,000 cash + $5,000 Choice Hotels voucher).
• Weekly Prizes: Draw for 2 x $500 cash prizes + 1 x $500 Choice Hotels voucher.

Change is always a challenge with SuperCoach and its players. But much like disputing a foul call it's rare the referee will ever change their call. My advice, play on and basketball.com.au will cover it just as we do with all basketball that involves Australians anywhere in the world.

Personally, I was never able to win the $50K first prize in SuperCoach NRL because I worked on it ... I don't now, so $10K would come in handy around March next year and those hardcore fans who have walked away over the past week only make the odds better. 🙏

About the Author

Peter Brown is the head coach of the Sydney Comets Women’s Youth League team in the Waratah Basketball League in NSW. He is also the assistant coach for the Comets NBL1 women’s team in the NBL East Conference. Peter is a 30-year journalist, starting as a sports reporter at the NT News in the early 1990s. He played junior basketball for the Northern Territory at national championships from U16 to U20 and for the Territory’s senior men’s team at numerous international tournaments. Peter has been a basketball fan since the early 80s, especially the NBA. Basketball is his passion — and his opinions his own. Email peter.brown@basketball.com.au with feedback. Any email feedback on articles sent to Peter can be published on basketball.com.au for others to read.