Joe Gallo: How to Run & Defend the Best Zone Plays I've Seen

with Joe Gallo,
Merrimack College Head Coach;
2026 MAAC Regular Season Champions:
2026 MAAC Coach of the Year;
3x NEC Regular Season Champions (2020, 2023, 2024);
2023 NEC Tournament Champions;
2020 NEC Coach of the Year;
2020 ECAC Coach of the Year;
2020 John McLendon Award recipient;
2020 HoopDirt.com NCAA D1 Coach of the Year;
2019 Northeast-10 Tournament Champions;
NCAA record for most wins by a program in its first year post-reclassifying to Division I;
Has been top 5 in the country in turnover percentage and has led the nation in steal percentage;
Robert Morris University Assistant Coach from 2012 to 2016;
Dartmouth College Assistant Coach from 2010 to 2012;
Merrimack College Assistant Coach from 2005 to 2009;
played college basketball for Merrimack College

If you are looking to upgrade your zone offense playbook, who better to ask than the expert coaches that make a living on their zone defensive systems? Merrimack coach Joe Gallo has scouted and played against more zone offenses in the last few seasons than most coaches will encounter in a lifetime. In this clinic, you will learn nine zone plays that have given his 2-3 zone defense the biggest problems.

You will also gain counters, baseline inbound plays, ideas for odd-front zones, and an assortment of strategies for playing versus the 2-3 zone defense including how to extend your pressure with a 1-2-1-1 formation.

Coach Gallo shares the best zone sets that he’s faced - from opponents that his team has competed against, and zone offense sets that he’s used when facing a zone defense. Gallo talks about the offensive set up and spacing and how to utilize proper timing, cutting, and passing to gain advantages. Coach Gallo goes through several zone offense sets that can create easy baskets and scoring opportunities for the offense.

Gallo covers how to attack zone offenses and how to find weak spots in opposing team’s zone defense.

With nine different plays to choose from, there will certainly be more than enough solutions for any team that will help you quickly force your opponent to shift out of their zone defense.

Four plays feature cutting and ball movement to confuse your opponents through misdirection. These actions spread the zone defense out for gigantic gaps that can be flashed or driven into for easy scoring opportunities. These plays add in scoring cuts after the paint touch for layup opportunities that would be effective for anyone on your team.

Five additional plays use different types of screening actions to distort the zone. These sets will open up pockets for shooters or create space around the rim for easy finishes. ‘Stone Hill’ is a great trick play that can catch the defense by surprise for an uncontested layup. Two plays inspired from the UCONN Huskies will play off your best shooters to either create open 3-point opportunities or easy passes into the high post. Two more plays also show how you can attack the zone defense with inside and outside ball screens to create numerical advantages.

Coach Gallo extends his presentation into other topics that will help your team. Throwing on-time, on-target “strike” passes is an overlooked skill that gives his zone defenses the biggest trouble. Learn how you can improve your passing through a series of warm up exercises at the start of your practices.

Learn two baseline inbound plays and simple quick hitter reads that can be used against 2-3 zone defenses. He will also share his expertise on the defensive side of the ball with strategies on how to disrupt passing, dribbling, high post passes, ball screen attacks, baseline inbounds plays, and more.

This video is for teams of all levels looking to enhance and improve their zone offense. Gallo does an excellent job introducing the sets and communicating the importance of the timing and spacing of the actions and how to set up the play to create different advantages. Every coach, team and player can benefit from watching this video!

These quick hitters will give you a formidable playbook for producing easy points against zone defenses. Your opponents will regret ever attempting to run a 2-3 zone against you!

Customer Review: 5 Out of 5 Stars!,
“Coach Gallo did an excellent job with this video. Great, easy to learn plays, easy to implement sets and a healthy dose of excellent demonstrations make this one of my favorite videos!”

81 minutes. 2025.