Green Bay men’s basketball coach Doug Gottlieb threw a chair as he walked off the court following what he called an “embarrassing” 80-78 loss Thursday night to Robert Morris at the Kress Events Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Green Bay was up by 11 with 3:54 left in the game before Robert Morris launched a late rally. With its lead cut to two with 35.7 seconds to go, Green Bay was called for a 10-second violation when it couldn’t advance the ball past midcourt. After Robert Morris hit a go-ahead 3 and Green Bay went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to tie the score, Nikolaos Chitikoudis scored the winning layup for Robert Morris with 2.4 seconds to play.
Gottlieb paced the sideline with his hands in the air after his team surrendered the final bucket. As he walked off the floor, Gottlieb grabbed a chair and appeared to toss it against a wall.
“I’m encouraged by our effort and our defense and how we executed,” Gottlieb said after the game. “That was just embarrassing how we lost the game.”
Green Bay hired Gottlieb, who has a nationally syndicated radio show, last year to resurrect its program. Gottlieb finished 4-28 in his first season, and Green Bay already has matched that win total, with a 4-6 record through 10 games.
Gottlieb took responsibility for the 10-second call in the closing minute, citing “a lack of communication.” But he also said his team has to show more discipline in those moments.
“We didn’t defend the 3-point line,” he said. “And we have guys that are not listening. So it happens. We lost the game.”
He added: “Yeah, we’re actually a good basketball team. I know it’s surprising to people. We’re actually pretty good, but we played like idiots at the end of the game.”
Asked Thursday if he had any comment about the chair-throwing incident, Gottlieb told ESPN, “Nope.”
