Green Bay men’s basketball coach Doug Gottlieb has been suspended by the Horizon League for his postgame comments about referees.
The Horizon League announced it was suspending Gottlieb for one game for his comments following a 75-72 loss to in-state rival Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday, Feb. 15. As a result, he will miss the Phoenix’s matchup against Oakland on Friday, Feb. 20.
‘The Horizon League is suspending Green Bay men’s basketball head coach Doug Gottlieb for violating the League’s Operating Regulations on Sunday, Feb. 15,’ the league wrote in a statement shared on X.
The post also added that it considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.
Shortly after the league announced the discipline, Gottlieb took to his own personal X (formerly Twitter) account to apologize for his actions.
‘I’d like to apologize to the Horizon League and the officials for my disparaging comments following Sunday’s game,’ Gottlieb wrote. ‘I understand and appreciate how difficult their job is, and respect what they do for the sport of basketball. I will be better moving forward.’
Gottlieb was upset about a foul call against his best player, CJ O’Hara, which was his fourth and came with 4:25 left in the game. The Phoenix led by four at the time, but the foul changed the direction of the game.
Later on, Gottlieb was further angered by a no-call for a foul when his player drove to the hoop for a potential game-winning shot with just a few seconds remaining.
‘You had the exact same play at both ends on the last play of the game,’ Gottlieb said to reporters, pausing momentarily to aggressively slam his fists onto the table.
‘The exact same [expletive] play!’ he yelled, ‘The exact same play!’
Gottlieb also took exception to a technical foul he was hit with, with just under seven minutes left in the game.
‘I need the new commissioner of the Horizon League to explain to me what a technical foul is when I don’t leave the box, I don’t curse, I’m not demonstrative,’ Gottlieb said. ‘There was nothing, nothing that should have been called a technical foul. I know when I earn one. I did not earn one.
‘The CJ play, we’re up [four] points, that dramatically changed the [trajectory] of the game.’
For the game, Milwaukee shot 37 free throws, while Green Bay shot 19, despite drawing only five more fouls.
‘All we ask is that there’s a fair game. That’s what we ask,’ Gottlieb said. ‘CJ O’Hara goes and gets an offensive rebound, their player dives at his legs and CJ gets called for a foul. I need [Jill Bodensteiner] at the league, our new commissioner, to explain to me the disparity in the officiating. That’s what I need explained to me.’
