Doug Gottlieb returned home to Green Bay on Thursday after spending approximately 36 hours in New Orleans during the middle of a game week. His college basketball team proceeded to lose on Saturday just three days after its head coach ditched practice for a trip to the Super Bowl.
The Phoenix dropped to 2-23 with its 20th loss in a row and the optics really couldn’t be much worse.
To be fair to Doug Gottlieb, Green Bay probably was not going to win its third game of the year regardless of what he did during the week. Leading scorer Anthony Roy has been out with an injury since the middle of December. Star transfer Isaiah Miranda left the team shortly thereafter after he melted down on the sideline during a loss to a Division-II program.
Doug Gottlieb lost again on Saturday.
Purdue Fort Wayne closed as a 15.5-point favorite and did not cover the spread by one half of a point. The Phoenix narrowly squeaked out a vomit-inducing backdoor cover on a made jumper with 14 seconds remaining. The Mastodons won by 15.
Final from Fort Wayne. pic.twitter.com/C0XxfwrRxV
— Green Bay Men’s Basketball (@gbphoenixmbb) February 9, 2025
Even though Green Bay managed to beat the sportsbook, it did not beat its opponent. Doug Gottlieb flew down to the Big Easy on Wednesday and hosted his daily three-hour radio show from Radio Row at the Super Bowl that afternoon. He also missed practice on Thursday while flying back to Wisconsin.
Despite how it looks to most everybody on the outside, Gottlieb called his trip a “nothing burger” and vehemently denied that it would have an impact on his team’s performance. Athletic director Josh Moon also stood by the first-year head basketball coach.
Technically speaking, Gottlieb was correct. The Phoenix frequently got blown out before he skipped out on practice to host a radio show at the Super Bowl in a completely different state. The Phoenix still got blown out after he abandoned them during a game week. Nothing changed!