Doug Gottlieb expects an apology from the haters when Green Bay starts winning college basketball games. He is not going to get one any time soon.
The Phoenix officially hold the worst record in the country at 2-22 after yet another embarrassing loss to a bad Detroit Mercy program over the weekend.
Gottlieb, 49, had never coached college basketball prior to this season. In fact, he had never coached basketball on any level prior to this season. Green Bay’s decision to hire him as the successor to Sundance Wicks did not make a lot of sense in the first place. It made even less sense when it was revealed that the university did not force him to give up his daily, three-hour radio show.
As pretty much everybody expected, the first year of the Gottlieb era has been a disaster. Only one other team has only two wins after the month of January. The Phoenix are getting out-scored by more than 11 points per game and out-muscled for more than eight rebounds per game. They also turn the ball over three more times than their opponents per game.
It’s not just the lopsided record that is the problem. Anyone who has watched Green Bay play can see that this team has trouble crashing the boards, finishing at the rim, and keeping its composure down the stretch. Second-half collapses are becoming the norm.
That obviously stems from coaching— or a lack thereof.
However, Doug Gottlieb refuses to accept reality. He continues to trash the reporters who trash him, and often reaches out to them directly to tell them why they are wrong. They don’t understand what is going on behind the scenes, he says. His team is actually getting better!
Maybe that is true during practice. Based on tangible on-court results during games, its not.
Doug Gottlieb still demands respect!
The Phoenix have been without leading scorer Anthony Roy since Dec. 14. Star transfer Isaiah Miranda suddenly left the program at the end of December after blowing up on the bench during a loss to a Division-II team.
Gottlieb wants people to understand that both players were going to be very important to success in during the 2024/25 season. He demanded an apology when if Green Bay starts to win during a heated rant on his podcast last week.
Again, this is what happens when you’re a writer. Honestly, this is what it exposes. It exposes that people who are writers, people who cover sports that haven’t been around a team, honestly, it’s embarrassing how little they know.
— Doug Gottlieb
Apparently, “two former head coaches who are now broadcasters” showed support for Gottlieb. They “get it.” You, the common man, do not.
I think it exposes how little people understand about one, this level of college basketball; how fragile it is when you lose your top two players […]
And so what my challenge to these people is, when we start winning, I want a mea culpa from every f—— one of you. That’s what I want.
— Doug Gottlieb
Gottlieb also pointed out that Bill Self went 6-21 at Oral Roberts in 1993/94. He is tired of the criticism.
I know there have been plenty of coaches who have had plenty of struggles in their first year. And I know that I’ve learned a lot. But, I guess I just wonder, like, at what point is somebody going to go, “Yeah, you know, I actually watched the game; I actually thought they were pretty well coached.” Or, listen, if you watch and you’re like, “They’re terribly coached because they don’t do X and Y,” that’s fine. I just don’t understand the piling on because the record without any sort of context.
— Doug Gottlieb
It is hard to win in Year 1. That is true! Maybe Green Bay will find success with head coach Doug Gottlieb next season. Maybe it will win a national championship as the greatest Cinderella of all-time.
Crazier things have happened but that would not change the current reality. The Phoenix is 2-22 in the middle of a 19-game losing streak. They are not good. It is a bad product on the court.
Gottlieb blamed the absence of Roy for some of his team’s offensive struggles but Green Bay went 2-9 with a loss to IU Indianapolis when he was in the lineup so… that one doesn’t work either.
Perhaps the head coach of a Division-I college basketball team should focus on winning a game before he calls for a mea culpa on a podcast he hosts in parallel to his job as head coach of a Division-I college basketball team and a daily radio show? Let’s start there!