Read before Saturday

Opposition scouting file · Super League 2026-27

The
Dossier

What the bench across the floor knows about Niall McDermott. Every line below is lifted from his own files: his philosophy, his defence documents, his glossary, his film notes, his game-day sheets. Nothing is invented. Some of it we wish were not true.

23-6His 2025-26 record
71.5Points allowed per game, 2025-26
8 sHis "gold only" window
0Claims in this file, each sourced
01Who he is

Who we are dealing with

Three lines. That is all a head coach gets in this file.

A systems coach

He boiled his offence down to three lines at the top of his 2025 playbook. Nine pages follow, but these are the keys.

"Space - Advantage - Shot Selection / 14% Passing / Play with pace"

offensive-philosophy.md

A language coach

His players are corrected in four words, on the floor, so the argument about whether a shot was good never starts.

"That was a bronze shot — it should have been a silver."

shot-selection.md

A believer

He has ruled this in as a principle of his own, after hearing Walter De Raffaele say it. We do not get to shake his conviction from the sideline.

"Never teach a shape you don't believe in. Players believe what the coach believes."

philosophy/beliefs.md
02His system

What he runs

Transition first, man defence with a dancing big, and a zone he borrowed from Merrimack and made his own.

Offence

Five transition principles. Gold in the first eight seconds is the fourth. Flowing into an action is the fifth.

"Win the First Three Steps"

"Early attack for a Gold shot in the first 8 seconds"

"Flow into actions"

transition-offense.md

Once his team has an advantage, the bench goes quiet on purpose.

"When we have an advantage there is no need to call any 'sets' or run any 'actions' we try to exploit the advantage to create an even larger advantage."

offensive-philosophy.md

Call sheet when he does call: Double, Horns stagger, Spurs, Cross, Spain, the 23 family. Box and Zoom under the basket, Sideline on the side. Greece is written up as a Spain counter but sits off the sheet.

play-inventory.md

Defence

Man is called Help & Recover. The one shot he will live with is a contested two.

"Base man defence is Help & Recover."

"contested twos, no threes, no layups."

base-man-defence.md

On ball screens he refuses to send two to the ball. Inside shooting range his big "dances" with the screener. Outside it, the call is Plug.

"Always try to play 2v2. Do not let them force us to commit two defenders to the ball."

ball-screen-defense.md

His zone is Attack Zone, Merrimack's shape with his own fifth rule.

"Attack Zone is based on the Merrimack zone, and it is our primary zone defence."

"No 3s. No layups. TOUGH 2s."

attack-zone.md

Pace

He will run off makes, and his planner says so in his own words.

"We can run transition from a rebound, a steal, or even a made basket."

transition-offense.md

"One of the hardest things to guard in basketball is a team that has good shooting and plays with pace."

offensive-philosophy.md

His season planner for 2026-27 flags it High Interest in his own words.

"Push pace off makes, misses and turnovers. Primary → secondary break"

season-plan-2026-27.md

Five words you will hear from his bench

Gold"At rim finishes with an advantage. Catch and shoot uncontested threes (if three point shooter)."
terminology.md
The Dance"Used whenever the ball screen happens within shooting range. The screener's defender stays attached and matches whatever the screener does."
ball-screen-defense.md
Plug"Contain the ball in whatever third of the court it is in. Do not let him turn the corner."
ball-screen-defense.md
Dominoes"When we have an advantage and forced a team into help/rotations. We want to maintain the advantage and keep the Dominoes falling."
terminology.md
Blanket"Maximum pressure without jumping, for 2 to 4 seconds."
transition-defense.md
03Tendencies

What he always does

One claim per card. The evidence sits under it, in his words, with the file it came from.

In zone he is not contesting your threes. He wants them never taken.

"We are not letting them shoot threes, and we are aggressively going for steals."

attack-zone.md

Every drive goes sideline or baseline. The middle is closed.

"Plain drive force. Sideline and baseline. No middle drives."

base-man-defence.md

In range his big stays attached. Against a screener who holds, it is a hard show.

"Holds the screen: Hard show. Inside shoulder level with his outside shoulder. Stay as long as he stays."

ball-screen-defense.md

Nobody on his team rejects a screen. On or off the ball.

"Never refuse or reject a screen, on or off the ball."

"Default: go over and stay attached."

off-ball-screens.md

After a timeout or a new quarter, the trap is coming.

"Yes, after a timeout or a new quarter. It is a surprise. It is a trap out of the Attack Zone"

press.md

Last shot of the game, he switches everything.

"Last-shot defence. Real. Switch everything, no threes."

base-man-defence.md

Three to the glass, two back. He has binned the "guards always back" school.

"On a shot: three to the offensive glass, two get back."

transition-defense.md

Rejected, 30 Sep 2026: "Guards are always back. Close games are lost to transition, not won by an extra offensive board."

philosophy/beliefs.md

The kick-out pass is rarely driven. It is shot, or moved on.

"We should very rarely drive this. The first pass out shoots it or clicks it."

offensive-philosophy.md

Half his defence is a blank that the scout fills in each week.

"Post defence in man. The scout decides: front, 3/4 or behind."

base-man-defence.md

"Trap or Stay: the scout decides each game. There is no default"

attack-zone.md

He hates the reach. Containment over the steal in man.

"Do NOT reach in"

"Once you reach you are unbalanced and easy to go past. Don't reach, priority is containing the drive and no matter what no outside drive."

2024-10-22-eagles-defensive-analysis.md

He clocks the two-for-one and the last shot to the second.

"Last Shot says "under 5 seconds on game clock". 2 for 1 says "35-45 seconds"."

terminology.md

Behind late, he fouls the worst free-throw shooter.

"Take: foul the worst free throw shooter."

transition-defense.md

"Take Fouls" covers "Fouling to stop a breakaway, and fouling late in the game when we are behind."

drills/take-fouls.md
04Our plan

How we attack him

Five things. Each one built on a rule he wrote down himself.

  1. Screen him in range, then slip and ghost

    His big is told to mirror the screener. So the screener never holds still. His own game-day sheet asks the same question about us every week.

    "Slips: Quick stunt at the ball, then go with the screener. Back to 1v1."

    ball-screen-defense.md

    "How are they guarding Actions? – Punish (Slips?)"

    Sligo Cheat Sheet.md

  2. Live in his high post and short corner

    He names the two spots his zone cannot afford to give up. We go there first, and we drive the lane line he admits he will concede.

    "We want to keep the ball out of the high post and short corner"

    "Lane line drive is the one we will most likely give up."

    attack-zone.md

  3. Shooters in the corners he wants to help off

    His help comes 60/100 off non-shooters and his closeout rule bluffs them. Put men there he cannot bluff, and his drive force feeds the baseline kick.

    "Run off shooters, bluff non-shooters. This is the default when the scout says nothing."

    "Helping off non-shooters. 60/100 is the name everywhere, on the ball and off it."

    base-man-defence.md

  4. Treat every timeout as a press-break rep

    The trap comes after a timeout or a new quarter. Beat it at halfway and we have numbers before the zone is set, because his own rule is to fall back into it.

    "If it is beaten and the ball crosses halfway: fall back into the Attack Zone."

    press.md

  5. On the last possession, hunt the switch he hands us

    He switches everything with the game on the line. His own glossary has a word for a slow big on a quick guard. We bring his Turtle to his door.

    "Switch everything, no threes."

    base-man-defence.md

    Turtle: "When we have a speed mismatch advantage (for example a slow big switches onto one of our quicker guards)"

    terminology.md
05Blind spots

Where the file goes quiet

His own documents mark these as open. We read them as doors.

Gap

No coverage decided for Spain pick and roll, empty-side screens or hand-offs.

"No stated coverage for Spain PnR, empty-side ball screens or handoffs. Niall is not sure yet (22 Sep 2026)."

ball-screen-defense.md
Gap

The press has no drawn shape.

"The 1-2-1-1: where the five stand and the trap spots (not given)."

press.md
Gap

Gold is player-specific, and the player list was never written.

"Which shots are "special" gold for which player? Niall says gold includes special shots depending on the player. None are recorded."

shot-selection.md
Gap

The flow offence he wants is still a draft.

"Adoption state is considering: Niall wants to run it, it is not installed."

flow-offense-install.md
Gap

Calls on his game-day sheet with no write-up: Pitch, Ghost, Gate, 4-Low.

Gate: "a live set, Niall to write it up (21 Sep 2026)"

play-inventory.md
Gap

He wrote the risk on his own primary action himself.

"Scoutable without counters"

season-plan-2026-27.md
07For Niall
For the subject's eyes only

What to steal from this file

Everything above was built from gaps you left open. Three of them close this week.

This week · about 20 minutes

Write the Gold list

One line per player: what counts as his special gold shot. Your own file says it is the part of the scale a new signing cannot guess.

"Worth one line per player, because it is the part of the scale a new signing cannot guess."

shot-selection.md
This week · about 30 minutes

Draw the 1-2-1-1 and add a "stay" call

The post-timeout trap is a surprise once. This file now expects it after every timeout and new quarter. Draw where the five stand, then give yourself a second look so the scout cannot bank on it.

"It is a surprise."

"where the five stand and the trap spots (not given)"

press.md
This week · one film session

Decide Spain

Pick a coverage for Spain pick and roll, empty-side screens and hand-offs before someone runs them at you for forty minutes. The Paris clip is already on disk.

"Niall is not sure yet (22 Sep 2026)."

ball-screen-defense.md