Don Zierden
Encyclopedia
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach for the Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
. From 2007 to 2009, Zierden served as the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are a professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded prior to the 1999 season...
in the WNBA
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...
.
Zierden, a Minneapolis native, became the Minnesota Lynx's fifth head coach on December 13, 2006, replacing Carolyn Jenkins
Carolyn Jenkins
Carolyn Charise Jenkins was an American women's basketball coach in the WNBA, formerly serving as an assistant coach on the Minnesota Lynx. Currently Director of Player Personnel of the WNBA....
, who will remain on the staff as an assistant. Before taking the Lynx job, Zierden served as an assistant with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Founded in 1989, the team is currently owned by Glen Taylor...
and Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
. Zierden was also the head coach for the CBA
CBA
- Terminology :* Collective bargaining agreement** NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement** NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement* Consensus based assessment* Cost-benefit analysis* Cytometric Bead Array, a bead-based immunoassay- Institutions :...
's Pittsburgh Piranhas
Pittsburgh Piranhas
The Pittsburgh Piranhas, were a semi-pro basketball team, that began play in 1994 as part of the Continental Basketball Association. The team played all of its home games at the A.J. Palumbo Center located on the campus of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh...
in 1994.
In 2007, Zierden's Lynx began the season 0–7, lost 10 straight in July and failed to get into the playoff race. They finished tied with a league worst 10–24 record.
On June 2, 2009, Zierden resigned as head coach of the Lynx. He accepted an assistant coaching job under Flip Saunders
Flip Saunders
Phillip "Flip" Saunders is an American basketball head coach of the Washington Wizards. He previously coached the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves.-High school and college player:Saunders was born in Cincinnati, Ohio....
in Washington.
Quotes
- “With our team, I thought we would shoot the basketball a little better. I thought we would defend a little better at times. Those have been the biggest surprises and disappointments." — Zierden on the 2007 Lynx http://www.nbc5.com/sports/13952463/detail.html
- “She has been utterly fantastic. She has taken fewer shots this year and her numbers are up across the board. We told her coming in that we needed her to take fewer shots because we needed more balance to be a successful team, and she's been great about that. Any success this team is going to have down the road, she is going to be a big part of it." — Zierden on Seimone AugustusSeimone AugustusSeimone Augustus is an American professional basketball player in the WNBA, currently playing for the Minnesota Lynx, WBC Spartak Moscow Region and the US national team...
http://www.nbc5.com/sports/13952463/detail.html
- “I miss the charter flights, the huge per diem and the huge salary. That's what I miss (laughs). I don't miss the 82-game schedule, where you are flying all over the place and really missing out on your family." — Zierden on the NBA vs. WNBA http://www.nbc5.com/sports/13952463/detail.html