Doug Gottlieb will not be on the sidelines when Green Bay takes on Oakland on Friday in a game with major Horizon League standings implications. The Phoenix head coach received a one-game suspension for his criticism of officials following Sunday’s loss to Milwaukee, the league announced.
Around the seven-minute mark of the second half in Sunday’s game, Green Bay senior guard Preston Ruedinger was bumped on a drive. While there was contact to warrant a foul, the officials chose to play on, leading to strong reaction from Gottlieb. Without hesitation, the official on the baseline whistled Gottlieb for a technical.
In his media session following the loss, fans and national media were treated to a classic rant, where Gottlieb pleaded his innocence, stating “I did not curse. I was not demonstrative. I did not leave my box. All I said was, that’s the same play as the other end.”
From there, he went on to express his displeasure with the final two possessions, questioning why one resulted in a foul and one did not, despite being “the exact same f***ing play,” he proclaimed while pounding the table.
For a rivalry game in late-February, it certainly seemed like a quick whistle, although, there is plenty of irony in a coach dropping an f-bomb and slamming his hands on a table while claiming to have given officials no grounds for a technical.
Just over a week ago, Jill Bodensteiner was announced as the Horizon League’s next commissioner. It’s hard to imagine she expected to be called out by an enraged head coach this quickly.
The episode provided fans and national media with another opportunity to turn the narrative surrounding Gottlieb negative, despite having led one of the best turnaround stories in the country this season.
As the week progressed, Green Bay voiced its support for its head coach. The university advocated for Gottlieb in an official statement, arguing that his actions did not warrant a suspension and named Kerry Rupp as the acting head coach for Friday’s game.
Gottlieb also issued an apology via X, but more notably, was the beneficiary of leaked audio which surfaced on Wednesday. Albeit just a few seconds, it appears he was telling the truth when he claimed that he didn’t curse, nor was he demonstrative, at least in the moment he assessed a technical.
It’s likely that the technical wasn’t just because of one play, rather a series of comments directed towards officials, but thanks to the leaked audio, Gottlieb has received at least some support for his outrage.
After a week full of dialog surrounding the ejection and suspension, the Phoenix must turn the page and be prepared to take on second-place Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies dominated the first meeting, winning 88-63, but have lost three-consecutive games.
Green Bay rests just a half game back from the Golden Grizzlies and 2.5 games behind first-place Wright State. The Phoenix is also looking to stay ranked no lower than fifth in the league, as the top-five teams will play home games to open the league tournament.
As always, Gottlieb has been active on social media all week, even having some fun with fans imploring him to protest the suspension.
Perhaps staff at the O’rena should be on the lookout for a “Goug Dottlieb” as tickets are scanned, but regardless, the battle between Oakland and Rupp-led Green Bay has no shortage of significance and will play a key role in the Horizon League standings and tournament seeding, which will be finalized by next Saturday as the regular season concludes.