By simply posting a screenshot of the title for a zone defense plan, Joe Gallo ’04 can send the basketball coaching landscape into a frenzy.
On July 8, the Merrimack men’s basketball head coach shared on X (formerly Twitter) an image of a Word doc icon titled “Merrimack Summer 2024 Defense Install…” that has garnered more than 140,000 views, more than 300 likes and more than 340 responses that are just an endless scroll of email addresses from coaches and basketball programs around the world looking for a copy of the plan.
Here we Go! #FollowOurFormula pic.twitter.com/xg32QvxXSw
— Joey Gallo (@JoeyGall0) July 8, 2024
“I figured it would get a little rise out of people but I didn’t expect it to take on the life that it did,” said Gallo. “I’m a big believer in sharing. I think it’s a great idea for coaches to talk and share, but I always tell folks if they want to get an idea of how we do things, they need to come watch us in person.”
Such a fervent response provides a small glimpse into the rise of Merrimack Athletics’, and in particular men’s basketball’s, reputation on the national stage since the Division I transition.
“Over the years I’ve had coaches of sixth-grade teams to NBA teams to coaches in the Maldives reach out to me about how they can install our zone defense in their game plan,” said Gallo. “We haven’t played man-to-man in the eight years I have been here. It is (Merrimack men’s basketball’s) identity. Our guys enjoy playing it. They’ll get a stop on defense in practice and they’ll just erupt with joy.”
More and more in recent years, Merrimack’s zone defense, dubbed the “Make Chaos” zone, has become a go-to style of zone across the sport in part because of how successful Gallo and the program has been. The Merrimack style focuses on moving quickly, forcing turnovers and preventing long-range shots.
Last season, the Warriors finished as the fourth-best team in the nation in defense efficiency, eighth in steals per game and No. 17 in scoring defense. Former players Jordan Minor and Jordan Derkack won the Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2023 and 2024, respectively, and in 2023 Gallo’s devotion to the zone defense was compared to that of Jim Boheim, the hall-of-fame former head coach at Syracuse.
This year’s men’s basketball squad recently returned to campus to begin summer practices and workouts, and installing the defense is an obvious priority. Because of the many nuances and intricacies of the Merrimack style, Gallo says they exclusively focus on just practicing defense.
“We never shoot against the defense for a few days,” Gallo explained. “We want to make sure, especially for the new guys, they get it. And there’ll be times they get frustrated but I’ll explain to them that plenty of their teammates and former players were in the same situation.”
As men’s basketball and several other Merrimack programs gear up for the College’s first year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Gallo said he’s ready to see how the Warriors’ new conference foes match up against the zone.
“No one in the MAAC plays the way we play,” said Gallo.
