SuperCoach NBL: Schedule strategy and expert selection advice

The schedule is the key to getting off to a flying start in SuperCoach NBL, and there is more to it than meets the eye. The Basketball Blokes explain.

Tajhere McCall of the Taipans. Picture: Brendan Radke

In our Fantasy Basketball Fundamentals article we noted that what makes SuperCoach NBL different is that the way you navigate the varied schedule will play a big part in your success. This is the case if you are looking at obtaining the highest overall ranking, or if winning your league is your priority.

Very broadly, you want to select players who play more games in a round, which gives them the best chance to score the most fantasy points.

Your trading strategy will generally revolve around trading players who have a good schedule in, and trading out those who’s upcoming schedule is poor.

You will also want to ensure that you have as many players as possible from your starting five playing two games in each round. This is because 100 per cent of their SuperCoach points go towards your total in contrast to your bench players, who contribute 50 per cent of their SuperCoach points to your overall score each round.

Below is what we like to call the scheduliser. You can find the full scheduliser at basketballblokes.com/schedule and it is a resource that you will continually use throughout your NBL SuperCoach season.

How the schedule looks for SuperCoach NBL.

If you would like to listen to a full breakdown of the schedule from a fantasy basketball perspective in podcast format. Have a listen to the Basketball Blokes initial breakdown on its release.

EARLY ROUND SCHEDULE

There are a few important takeaways from the early round schedule.

Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and South East Melbourne play two games (a double) in the opening round. Only Adelaide and South East Melbourne follow round 1 up with another double game round in round 2. So, this means if you were considering a player from Adelaide or Illawarra, the 36ers player will have played four games after the first two rounds compared to only two games for your Hawk. While it’s important not to go chasing the schedule and selecting inferior players that decline in value, the above example demonstrates why the schedule is an important element to your recruiting strategy.

The early round schedule is often enough to completely eliminate players from certain clubs from consideration for your starting SuperCoach line-up. This scenario is again in play for the 2024 NBL season as New Zealand and Cairns will miss games for the NBLxNBA exhibition games. New Zealand takes a break in round 3 and the Taipans are on a plane missing rounds 3 and 4.

This poor early schedule is enough for us to suggest that you do not select any players from New Zealand in your initial line-up. The NZ players will not change price until after the conclusion of round 4 when they have played three games. Ideally, you will not have more than one Taipan in your starting squad as they will miss those early rounds resulting in a possible forced trade.

The big watch will be on the role and performance of Taran Armstrong. With a starting price of $69,000 it may be a viable option to hold Taran through rounds 3 and 4. This could save you two trades as we will all be getting on the Cairns players from round 5 onwards. Cairns has an unprecedented run from rounds 5-13 when they play a double game each round apart from round 7, in which every team only plays one game, so they do not lose out there either. Round 5 stands out clearly as the opportunity to use your trade boosts to select both Cairns and NZ players that we overlooked in our initial squad.

Taran Armstrong could be a bargain buy at the Taipans. Picture: CBU Athletics

PERFECT PAIRS

A great schedule-related SuperCoach strategy is to pair players up from different clubs that may have poor schedules in their own right; but when combined with another player in that position they provide you with perfect coverage of two-game rounds on your starting court.

A perfect example of this is players from the Illawarra Hawks. The Hawks have only four double game rounds in the first 14 weeks of the season. For comparison, Melbourne United have four double game rounds in the first five weeks. One way you can get access to these Hawks players is to pair them with a player from South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Let’s say that you really like the look of Gary Clark for the Hawks, who nearly averaged a double double in the G-League last season. If you were to partner him in your forward position with four-time champion Rhys Vague from the Phoenix it would give you perfect coverage of double games until round 7. You could then, in a single trade, say goodbye to Vague and bring in Taj McCall of the Taipans, who when paired with Clark would give you perfect coverage of double games for all but two rounds for the remainder of the season.

Taipan Tahjere McCall could play a key role in your schedule strategy. Picture: Brendan Radke

This example shows you how with only one trade spent at the position, one of your forward slots has given you almost perfect doubles coverage. This kind of strategy will also make you unique as many coaches could be deterred from selecting an Illawarra player because of the Hawks’ poor starting schedule.

SUPERCOACH FINALS

For a team with such a bad schedule I am writing an awful lot about Illawarra players, but there is no doubt of their value when it comes to SuperCoach NBL finals time. If your priority is to win your league, as soon as you are looking safely through to a preliminary final you should stock up on both Illawarra and New Zealand players. These are the only teams that play double games in both rounds of the SuperCoach finals series in rounds 19 and 20 for head-to-head leagues with a top-four finals format.

That’s an overview of some SuperCoach NBL schedule strategy and why it is an important consideration when selecting your starting team. With a heap of great prizes up for grabs in SuperCoach NBL this season, how many players from Melbourne, Adelaide, South East Melbourne and Perth are you going to have in your starting line-up come round 1?

Originally published as SuperCoach NBL: Schedule strategy and expert selection advice