United States National Basketball Team by John Zall

Written by Coach Peterman

I have coached at the NCAA Division 2 (Southwestern Oklahoma State University), NAIA (USAO), and JUCO Levels (Blinn College and Carl Albert State College) as well as high school. I just felt that fellow coaches especially young coaches need to constantly work on their “game”. Just like the basketball players that we coach. We as coaches need to improve ourselves. That is my story and why I do this blog.

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August 19, 2014

United States National Basketball Team by John Zall

After the United States finished in 3rd and won a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympic Games they were in desperate need of a change. The United States Men’s National Team was in search of new leadership, and judging from the past 8 plus years they made the right decision. In 2006 USA Basketball named Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University the Head Coach of their National Team. Things got off to a rocky start the World Championships that year with a loss to Greece in the semi-finals. However, since that game the USA has not lost a single game, won 2 Gold Medals, a World Championship and is ready to embark on another World Championship that begins in a couple of weeks in Spain.

As Head Coach of Team USA Coach K boasts an almost unthinkable record of 62-1 in international competition. The likes of Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, LeBron James and Kevin Durant have all played under Coach K during this stretch and he effortlessly has blended their talents together to form an almost unbeatable team.

Coach K is known at Duke at not running a ton of set plays but instead his teams are in constant motion that thrives on floor spacing, three point shooting and ball movement. Obviously with the talent on these USA teams the offensive principles are the same and let their talent take over.

In their first international competition with the current version of Team USA they hosted Brazil in Chicago for a tune-up before the World Championships. Most of the offense was primarily transition and simple ball screens and floor spacing. Coach K did install a few “quick hitters” or initial actions just to try and jump start a particular offensive position.

The play diagrams below are some of those initial actions, quick hitters on side-out-of-bounds plays and some ball screens.

John Zall BIO

Coach John Zall just completed his first season as an Assistant Coach at Division II Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH. This past season Franklin Pierce University won 20 games and advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. Zall arrived at Franklin Pierce after spending the past 3 seasons as the Associate Head Coach/Head JV Coach at O’Bryant High school in Roxbury, MA. During his tenure at O’Bryant the program improved from 4 wins to 12 wins and qualified for the MIAA State Tournament twice.

Coach Zall also has experience as an AAU Head Coach for the Boston Warriors. As Head Coach for the Warriors his team won the 2011 16U State Title and twice competed in AAU Nationals down in Orlando, FL. On top of being a student at Northeastern University, Zall was named Head Coach of the Men’s Club Basketball team for the 2012-13 season. During his lone season as Head Coach, Northeastern finished second in the Northeast Regional Tournament featuring colleges from throughout the East Coast. Coach Zall has also spent time as a Head Coach in the Bay State Games where his team won the Bronze Medal in 2012 and at various camps including: Five Star, Boston Celtics, NIKE, Franklin Pierce University, Hoop Group and The Elite 75.