Don Zierden

Donald Casper Zierden Jr. (born September 27, 1958) is an American basketball coach. From 2007 to 2009, Zierden served as the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Early life and education Zierden, a Minneapolis native, graduated from DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis and later from Mount Senario College in Ladysmith, Wisconsin in 1981.

Coaching career He returned to DeLaSalle High in 1984 to become head varsity basketball coach and led DeLaSalle to the Minnesota Class A title in his first season. In two seasons at DeLaSalle, Zierden had a 61–14 record as head coach. In the 1994–95 season, Zierden became an assistant coach of the Pittsburgh Piranhas of the CBA, again, alongside Flip Saunders. They lead the team to a 27–29 record and CBA Finals appearance.

Zierden became the Minnesota Lynx's fifth head coach on December 13, 2006, replacing Carolyn Jenkins, who remained on the staff as an assistant.

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, four days before the season began.

He accepted an assistant coaching job under Flip Saunders in Washington in 2009.

Head coaching record

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 “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 Augustus “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