Category: Sports News

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.

March Madness bracket tracker: Who's in, out on NCAA Tournament bubble

March Sadness: College basketball's 10 most disappointing teams

"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.

League Statement on Disciplinary Action#OurHorizon 🌇| #HLMBB 🏀 pic.twitter.com/JcQpbtsuyg

— Horizon League (@HorizonLeague) February 18, 2026

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."

pic.twitter.com/6yLtZ0KpFY

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) February 18, 2026

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!"

Following UWGB’s loss to UW-Milwaukee on Sunday, 75-72, Doug Gottlieb gave an intense postgame speech on the late second half technical foul. Full story in comments. pic.twitter.com/MsOxU8LNYz

— WFRV Local 5 (@WFRVLocal5) February 16, 2026

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."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Doug Gottlieb suspended by Horizon League after Green Bay coach's rant

It’s been a long season full of recurring injuries for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Soon, hopefully, they can put those concerns behind them and finish the final 27 games strong. That means getting multiple key players such as Evan Mobley, Dean Wade and Max Strus back on the court.

Head coach Kenny Atkinson says those guys are starting to ramp up towards a return.

“All are trending very positive,” said Atkinson. “Dean and Evan are trending toward playing tomorrow. They went through a full practice today and looked good.”

Support us and Let ‘Em Know with Homage!

Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can buy the Let ‘Em Know shirt HERE. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE.

Getting back Mobley and Wade would give this surging team another boost. They both bring tremendous value defensively and should pair well offensively with newcomer James Harden. There’s an entire pick-and-roll game to develop between Harden and Mobley, while Wade should benefit from catch-and-shoot attempts in the corner off Harden’s drive-and-kicks.

As for Strus, the timeline is still murky.

“Max is progressing,” said Atkinson. “Did a pretty high-level workout today, no contact still, but he’s starting to ramp up. Don’t get too excited, but he’s doing a lot more, so that’s good news.”

Strus has not played yet this season after suffering a foot injury in August. It was announced in January that Strus would miss at least another month with the injury.

The Cavs have missed Strus for his ability to space the floor and get hot in a hurry. He’s one of the streakiest three-point shooters in the league, and that’s led to some of the most entertaining games of the last few years for Cleveland. They’d love to have him back, not only for his volume shooting, but for the connective tissue he brings to both ends of the floor. Strus is a competitor that raises the floor for everyone.

For now, Cavs fans can at least look forward to Mobley and Wade returning soon. Cleveland is back from the All-Star break tomorrow as they host the Brooklyn Nets.

LONDON (AP) — Real Madrid set up a Clasico against three-time champion Barcelona in the women's Champions League quarterfinals by beating Paris FC 2-0 on Wednesday.

Striker Naomie Feller opened the scoring and Melween N’Dongala put through her own net as Madrid advanced 5-2 on aggregate, having won the first leg in Paris 3-2.

Later Wednesday, defending champion Arsenal protects a 4-0 lead when it hosts Belgian side OH Leuven. Qualification for the London club would set up a quarterfinal with rival Chelsea.

Early red card

Paris' cause was made harder when defender Théa Greboval was sent off in the fifth minute for pulling back Feller as she ran through on goal.

Still, the visitors came close to taking a 19th-minute lead at Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano when Océane Picard’s low shot from 20 meters was well saved by goalkeeper Misa Rodríguez.

Attacking midfielder Caroline Weir missed a chance to put Madrid ahead from the penalty spot in the 36th after Picard handled a cross. Goalkeeper Mylène Chavas, playing against her former club, pushed away the spot kick with both hands.

Feller broke Paris' resistance in the 54th when she volleyed in from close range following a fine cross from right back Eva Navarro, who also set up the second goal midway through the second half when her cross led to N’Dongala's own goal from near the penalty spot.

The revamped women’s Champions League format has followed the men’s competition, with an opening league phase of six rounds instead of eight.

The top four in the 18-team league phase — Barcelona, Lyon, Chelsea and Bayern Munich — advanced directly to the quarters and teams placed fifth to 12th went into the playoffs.

To come

In Thursday's second legs, Juventus hosts two-time champion Wolfsburg with the score 2-2 while Manchester United defends a 3-0 lead at home to Atletico Madrid.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Late in the 2024–25 campaign, the Bucks featured a three-guard look that was quite effective, even in the playoffs: Kevin Porter Jr., AJ Green, Gary Trent Jr., Giannis, and Bobby Portis. It was so intriguing that many fans thought the answer this year would be to replace Portis with newcomer Myles Turner and run with it. But while that lineup has been good, we’ve barely seen it thanks to injuries and ineffectiveness. Still, we’ll attempt to figure out how playing three guards is going this year.

Yesterday, we found that when the best lineups stayed together over the 2024 offseason, they remained pretty good, even with a drop-off from increased playing time. That generally held when these teams swapped or added significant talent to their rotations too, improving their holdover lineups on paper. It also held when said talent came in the form of a big man.

But that was only entering last season. To get a handle on how it’s gone in recent years, we’re going to increase the scope here. I looked at teams that made a significant frontcourt acquisition the previous offseason, particularly additions who regularly played the five, then I compared how they integrated with smaller or less-talented groups from one year to the next. This dates back to offseason big man additions since 2018:

These aren’t all elite teams by any means, but does the pattern above—the best lineups fell off but were still generally very good, and increased exposure lowered net ratings overall—hold? Well, lineups that shifted their biggest guy down the positional spectrum, then installed their shiny new big man in place of a guard or wing, sometimes saw a nice jump. Look at the Celtics replacing Malcom Brogdon with Kristaps Porzingis in 2023, then further down the list, Tristan Thompson with Al Horford in 2021. A post-ACL tear DeMarcus Cousins elevated some Warriors holdovers too.

On the other hand, newcomer Rudy Gobert plus lesser defender Karl-Anthony Towns lineups in Minnesota were a mixed bag, as were groups that added John Collins alongside one of Utah’s returning bigs, Kelly Olynyk or Walker Kessler. Even Lopez couldn’t elevate two of the Bucks’ better quintets in 2017–18, though they were still solid (the 20.7 net with Sterling Brown looks quite fluky).

Generally, though, new big men lineups did fit the pattern I mentioned: the four-returnees-plus-one-new-guy groups averaged a 1.5 points per 100 possessions decrease in their net rating. And when previous-year lineups saw an uptick in minutes, their net decreased 73% of the time. But the truly elite groups didn’t usually maintain a standard of excellence. Of all the fivesomes with net ratings above 12 (usually around 80th percentile), nearly all sank to league average or below in net, except for the Porzingis crews.

We now finally arrive to this year’s Bucks. Unfortunately, only two Milwaukee lineups with Turner replacing Lopez and the other four not changing have carried over from 2024–25 to 2025–26 thus far. The sample size is far too small to glean anything from:

Though Giannis may be returning soon, we may not get more data on last year’s three-guard trio since Trent seems to have been replaced by Cam Thomas in the rotation. But it’s really Rollins who has replaced him in the Bucks’ three-guard groups, which they have used a lot this year: they’ve played 373 minutes together, which CTG defines as 754 non-garbage time possessions. They have a very solid 119.9 offensive rating and 111.0 defensive rating; a +8.9 net rating, good for the 90th percentile. Their most successful and most used groups slot Giannis alongside Portis, Turner, or Kuzma, though using Portis and Turner together has also worked in small doses (only seen in four games):

Of the four lineups that are made up of returning players from 2024–25, only one saw any action last year: the one at the very bottom, with just five possessions. But the third lineup down, with its +30.2 net, is probably the best analogue for Porter/Green/Trent/Giannis/Portis, and the top lineup is the closest we’ll get to Porter/Green/Trent/Giannis/Lopez. If we use Rollins as our Trent equivalence (not too far off, given Trent’s excellent shooting last year and scratch defense), here’s how they compare across seasons:

In a sense, the Bucks’ small-ball “death lineup” didn’t go anywhere, if you just replace Rollins with Trent, and the three-guard “triumverate” still exists with him alongside Porter and Green. The sample sizes of Porter/Green/Trent/Giannis/Portis and Porter/Rollins/Green/Giannis/Portis are now about the same, and though it’s seen a net falloff of 24.4, it’s still 96th percentile. That’s in line with findings from other teams dating back several years: the best lineups fell off but remained generally very good, and increased exposure lowered net ratings overall.

And as much as we’ve bemoaned the Bucks’ lack of size on the wing, playing AJG as an undersized three has actually worked pretty well as long as he has the right frontcourt: CTG gives lineups with Green playing alongside two smaller guards (not just Rollins and KPJ, but also small doses of Cole Anthony and Cam Thomas) a +7.8 net. What you don’t want, though, is him plus another non-ballhandling guard (-28.6 in 35 possessions). Or worse yet, one of Trent or Gary Harris moving up a spot to the three (-9.4 in 1228 possessions).

Rollins’ emergence has been so critical to the Bucks this year, as roster construction and an injury to Taurean Prince have dictated that they play three guards very often. Though they can now play bigger on the wing when necessary, thanks to Ousmane Dieng, it’s still a good weapon. One question moving forward is how it will work with Thomas: playing next to any of Rollins, KPJ, or Porter, will he bring enough offense to keep three-guard lineups above water? If so, how high above even, and who do they need in the frontcourt? We’ll check on this down the road, provided Doc doesn’t abandon the three-guard look, which he shouldn’t, even if playing that small is usually a necessity.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb was suspended one game by the Horizon League on Wednesday for comments he made while criticizing officials after a 75-72 loss to Milwaukee last Sunday.

Gottlieb slammed his hands on the table at one point and used an expletive in his postgame news conference while complaining about what he perceived as inconsistency in the officiating. Video of his news conference garnered attention on social media.

“Gottlieb’s postgame comments do not reflect the League’s values or sportsmanship expectations,” the Horizon League said in a statement announcing the suspension. “The Horizon League considers this matter closed and will have no further comment.”

The suspension will take effect for Friday when Green Bay (15-13, 10-7) visits Oakland (14-13, 10-6).

“I’d like to apologize to the Horizon League and the officials for my disparaging comments following Sunday’s game,” Gottlieb said Wednesday in a statement. “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.”

Kerry Rupp, an assistant on Gottlieb's staff, will be Green Bay's acting head coach on Friday.

“We have talked to Coach Gottlieb about the comments he made following Sunday’s game," Green Bay chancellor Michael Alexander athletic director Josh Moon said in a statement. “We appreciate his apology and respect the commissioner’s decision, however, we do not believe his actions warrant a suspension. We feel a reprimand or public censure would have been appropriate.”

Green Bay was trailing 73-72 in the closing seconds when Milwaukee’s Stevie Elam stole the ball from Preston Ruedinger, who was driving to the basket. Elam then made two free throws with 1 second left.

On Milwaukee’s previous possession, Amar Augillard had driven to the basket, got a foul call and made two free throws to put the Panthers ahead. Green Bay believed a foul should have been called on Ruedinger’s drive as well.

“It’s the exact same play as the other end — could not be more similar,” Gottlieb said after the game. “And yet, every time they drove, it was a foul. And every time we did, it was mixed.”

Milwaukee went 30 of 37 on free-throw attempts, while Green Bay was 14 of 18. There were 23 fouls called on Green Bay and 18 on Milwaukee.

Gottlieb also wondered why he received a technical foul at one point in the game. Gottlieb said he didn’t curse, wasn’t demonstrative and hadn’t left his box before the technical was called.

“There was nothing, nothing that should have been called a technical foul,” Gottlieb said. “I know when I’ve earned one. I did not earn one.”

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

UCLA basketball coach Mick Cronin did it again Tuesday night — he keeps doing this — and someone needs to get him under control. I’d suggest Cronin needs to control himself, stop bullying his players and others, but these aren’t isolated incidents. This keeps happening. It’s who he is:

A bully. A vicious one.

Yeah, I hear some of you: Wah, wah, you’re so soft…

Maybe so. But maybe being soft, being vulnerable, is more of what this world needs. Everywhere you look, on the streets and on social media and even in our seats of government, we’re being hard, being invulnerable, being downright mean. Look around. You like what you see? Not me.

College basketball hot seat: 13 coaches who may be in trouble

March Sadness: College basketball's 10 most disappointing teams

And what we’re seeing from Bruins coach Mick Cronin is appalling. Here’s what we saw Tuesday night, and please, see the whole picture. Don’t focus on one thing — the foul by one of his players — and decide: Welp, that’s what the kid deserved.

Nah. UCLA senior forward Steve Jamerson II didn’t deserve this.

Neither did the reporter who asked Cronin, afterward, about the atmosphere in East Lansing, Michigan.

Here’s how it started:

Michigan State’s Carson Cooper is running down the court, ahead of the pack, going up for a dunk. The No. 15 Spartans lead UCLA by 27 with 4½ minutes left, well on their way to victory, when Cooper rises for a dunk. Behind him, Jamerson arrives a split-second late. He goes for the block, nothing dirty — watch the play yourself — but Cooper’s momentum, combined with the contact Jamerson makes on his arm, sends Cooper to the floor.

Cooper rises, angry. Hey, that’s his right. Jamerson stands his ground. His right, too.

And then Mick Cronin did one of the single cruelest things I’ve ever seen.

First, UCLA's Mike Cronin ejects his own player

You’re picturing the scene, right? The Breslin Center is furious, turning all its rage on Jamerson. That was the crowd’s right. So far, nobody has done anything wrong. Jamerson was hustling, competing. Didn’t look frustrated, just a split-second late as he contested the shot. Cooper was angry. The crowd was furious.

It happens.

But then Cronin does something that can’t happen. Cronin grabs Jamerson by the shirt, by the arm, and tells him to get out. Points angrily to a staffer, then to Jamerson, and gives the “get him out of here” signal.

Watch the video. See that look on Jamerson’s face? He’s bewildered, dejected. The entire building has just turned on him, and now his coach is sending him off the court, into the locker room, to face all that fury by himself? The video shows students giving Jamerson the middle finger, and shouting at him. You can see the finger(s). Can’t hear the shouting, thank goodness.

You hope Jamerson didn’t hear it, either, but that’s naïve.

After the foul, UCLA HC Mick Cronin ejects his own player, Steven Jamerson III. pic.twitter.com/KOFMCDRYjg

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 18, 2026

This was the worst example, but just the latest example, of Cronin humiliating his players. His postgame news conferences tend to go viral after losses, because he questions his players’ toughness or effort in the most straightforward terms, and has even suggested — rather blatantly — that his players aren’t smart enough.

“The most important thing for a teacher is for his students to have aptitude or they can’t learn,” he said in 2024 after a loss to Stanford. “If a team makes adjustments, we struggle to adjust to instruction on the fly.”

"It’s really hard to coach people that are delusional," Cronin said in 2025 after a loss to Michigan. "We got guys who think they’re way better than they are. They’re nice kids. They’re completely delusional about who they are.”

“You can't call your mommy; she can't help you,” he said in 2024. “You've got an opportunity of a lifetime and it may not last forever depending on your performance.”

Cronin thinks he’s old-school tough, and that players are soft. He’s not the problem — they are.

“If you’re hard on Little Johnny in this era,” he said earlier this month, after a win at Rutgers, “you might get investigated.”

At first, forgive me, I found it almost refreshing. Maybe that’s because I was inclined to like Cronin — because I’d always liked Cronin — since meeting him 20 years ago when he was coaching Cincinnati and I was living there, covering college basketball for CBSSports.com. In 2011, when players from Xavier and Cincinnati brawled, Cronin’s postgame disgust was so real, so deserved, I texted him that night to thank him for standing up for decency.

Now this is me, standing up for decency, and telling Mick — or telling UCLA — this has to stop. What happened to Steven Jamerson was the breaking point, for me.

What happened afterward, to a reporter? Another brutal, bully move.

Then Mick Cronin bullies a reporter

This story hinges on Xavier Booker, who spent the past two seasons at Michigan State before transferring to UCLA this season. The Breslin Center student section, the 5,000-strong Izzone, taunted Booker by chanting his name.

Afterward, a reporter asked Cronin what he thought about that.

“I could give a rat’s ass about the other team’s student section,” Cronin said. “I would like to give you kudos for the worst question I’ve ever been asked.”

A second reporter starts to ask a question on another topic, but Cronin ignores him to turn on the first reporter. His team has just been embarrassed. Cronin’s about to take it out on someone else.

“You really think I care about the other team’s student section?” he asks.

The second reporter tries to defend himself, and if his voice went up ever so slightly — and that’s all it was — could you blame him? He was being humiliated by the coach of UCLA, with cameras running. He was standing up for himself, and you know bullies:

They don’t like that.

“Are you raising your voice at me?” Cronin demanded.

The reporter, trying to calm the situation, backed down and said he wasn’t.

“Yeah, you are, yeah, you are,” Cronin said. “Come on, dude … everybody’s standing here listening to you. Everybody. This is on camera. They can hear you. I answered the question. I could give a rat’s ass about the other team’s student section. I coach UCLA. I don’t care about Michigan State students. Who cares?”

UCLA coach Mick Cronin's thoughts on the Michigan State student section. @ThisistheIZZONEpic.twitter.com/7pJJHEs7sQ

— Owen Oszust (@Owen_Oszust) February 18, 2026

This was the biggest kid in the schoolyard, pushing down a smaller one and then mocking him. It’s what Cronin had done to Jamerson, using the assembled crowd to reinforce his own cruelty.

This is who Cronin is with cameras rolling, and NBA scouts tell me he’s even worse behind closed doors, at practice. A Western Conference scout, a longtime friend of mine, was discussing Cronin’s recent odd behavior with me before tipoff at a recent Big Ten game. This was before the incident Tuesday night at Michigan State — that’s how bizarre Cronin has been behaving — when the scout told me:

“He mother(bleeps) them in practice like you wouldn’t believe,” the scout said. “Oh, he (bleeps) them. Mick is the only coach I know who doesn’t film his practice. You know why? He doesn’t want evidence.”

An Eastern Conference scout, another longtime friend who has attended UCLA practices, said he’s heard the same — that Cronin doesn’t film practice — and added: “John Wooden would be beside himself” at the way Cronin treats his players on a daily basis.

“Not sure why he’s so combative,” the scout continued. “He’s an excellent coach, and actually a great guy off the court.”

As I said, I’ve found Cronin to be charming away from the court as well, and was such a fan of his — past tense, was — that I suggested the Indiana basketball program hire Cronin last season after firing Mike Woodson. It’s OK to admit when we’re wrong.

What is Cronin waiting on? How about you, UCLA? Contrast UCLA’s silence, its unspoken approval of Cronin, with what Kansas State did Sunday, firing basketball coach Jerome Tang for a postgame rant that included: “These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform, and there will be very few of them in it next year.”

You ask me, Kansas State wasn’t standing up for its players but being cheap and opportunistic, using Tang’s rant to try to fire its losing coach for cause — and get out of his $18 million buyout. That might stick in court, but probably not.

Contrast Cronin’s postgame behavior Tuesday with Purdue coach Matt Painter the same night, when Michigan trounced his team at Mackey Arena and Painter stuck up for his players, said he “liked” them and even “loved” them, and then joked with reporters afterward.

“That was way too much talking,” he said as he rose to head back to the locker room.

“That’s on you,” a reporter teased.

“You have to own your part,” said Painter, teasing back, maybe the nicest great coach ever.

Mick Cronin? If he’s not the meanest coach in the country, God help the players of any coach who deserves the title more.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar. Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mick Cronin ejects UCLA players, rips into reporter. Can't stop bullying

A franchise and its biggest star need to be aligned, and it appears the Lakers have that with Luka Dončić.

The Lakers traded for him last February, and he showed that he wanted to stay here by signing an extension in the summer.

Since then, every move has been about building around Luka and maintaining flexibility so that they can have optionality this summer with as much cap space as possible.

This is why they had a rather quiet trade deadline and why Lakers President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka described the team as being aggressive by saying no to bad deals.

While fans might’ve been unsatisfied with the activity at the trade deadline, according to a recent piece by Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Luka supports how LA approached it.

A source familiar with Doncic’s thinking told ESPN that L.A.’s deadline approach with “adherence to discipline” and focus on the “long-term picture” was supported by the 26-year-old star. He has not pushed the team to add a superstar-level co-star for when James is no longer on the roster.

The relationship between Luka and the Lakers is still fairly new, but they’ve shown that they’ll work hard to do what he approves of.

When he joined the team in the middle of the season and asked for a center, they got him one. This summer, he was part of the recruiting pitch for Marcus Smart, and they landed him as well.

So, if he understands the inner workings of the organization and believes in the plan, then that’s what matters most.

Still, the pressure will be on the Lakers’ front office to prove they didn’t waste a deadline and can actually capitalize on the opportunity they created in the summer.

Because if they don’t upgrade the roster in significant ways this summer, then it won’t be long before even Luka will be wondering what’s being done to foster winning.

And while things are good now, as we’ve seen around the NBA with other franchises and their stars, it doesn’t take much for a situation to turn sour.

For now, though, Luka is happy and aligned with the vision.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.