Court Vision: Green Bay's Doug Gottlieb easy to dunk on with 'Nobody U' disaster

With the holidays ahead, its an ideal time to catch up on all things college hoops.

Like one of my favorite quirky stats, which you may have missed last week: Every national champion since 2004 was ranked in the top 12 of the Week 6 AP Poll the year they won it all.

So, fans of Tennessee, Auburn , Iowa State, Duke , Kentucky, Marquette , Alabama, Gonzaga , Florida, Kansas, Purdue and Oregon, congratulations.

Advertisement Maybe its not too late to ask for tickets to San Antonio for the holidays.

1.

The Doug Gottlieb dunk-a-thon There are quotes that age poorly ...

and then theres this from Gottlieb, the former Fox Sports hot take artist who Green Bay tapped as its head coach this offseason despite Gottlieb having as much college coaching experience as you and I: Everyone is running with this clip.

Doug Gottlieb never referred to Michigan Tech as 'Nobody U'.

Never even mentioned them.

What you don't hear is, "Every game on our schedule is a game that we can lose".

That's @GottliebShow talking about their strength of nonconference.

https://t.co/jrqT2wFzRB pic.twitter.com/7XZS8VfGBe Kyle Malzhan (@KyleMalzhan) December 19, 2024 That now-infamous Nobody U quote came days before Green Bays loss to DII Michigan Tech on Wednesday, and even if Gottlieb wasnt specifically remarking on Michigan Tech, he more than got his point across.

(Free idea for the fine folks at Michigan Tech: print some Nobody U shirts, if you havent already.

Theyll make a killing, and Ill take a large.) Gottliebs defense of that comment on X wasnt any better.

Done with this crap.

We scheduled up.

Including Michigan Tech.

No where ever, have I been critical of anyone on our schedule.

Now, back to work.

https://t.co/zfJcA8TlaO Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) December 18, 2024 Scheduling UP? Against a DII team that went 11-17 last season? Cmon, man.

Gottlieb like yours truly probably didnt even know Michigan Techs mascot before last week! (If you do, and youve never lived in Michigan, then kudos.) But the real reason people are up in arms over the whole Nobody U thing is because of how patently stupid this entire Gottlieb experiment is.

Not only did Green Bay hire someone with zero college experience his lack of qualifications is insulting enough to the coaching profession but the real damning part is that Gottlieb has continued hosting his radio show since being named head coach! Youve got time for that, buddy? When your team is 2-11, in last place in the Horizon, has lost eight straight and ranks 329th out of 364 teams in KenPoms efficiency rankings? Really ? Given those circumstances, having the elitist attitude to call anyone Nobody U has made Gottlieb prime for dunking on.

Some free advice for Doug: Just get off social media.

When Adam Schefters putting you in a body bag, its time to chill with the Twitter fingers.

And Jeezus, Doug.

A seven-game losing steak and last place in the Horizon League? Less time on social media and more time in the gym.

pic.twitter.com/r58Fpwfvb8 Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 17, 2024 And as if this total flaming disaster isnt funny enough, guess what Gottlieb was doing the morning of that Michigan Tech loss? Oh, you betcha: Posting about a decades-old call from a game he had absolutely nothing to do with.

It stinks for the kids at Green Bay that theyve gotten roped into this, but Green Bay signed up for it by hiring Gottlieb.

You wanted publicity? Well, youve got it.

Time to wallow in this mess of your making for at least another three months.

Advertisement 2.

Four undefeated teams remain, even after Jumpman Invitational scares There are only four undefeated DI teams left: No.

1 Tennessee , which beat Illinois (in Champaign!) on its final possession last weekend; No.

7 Florida , which held on versus North Carolina on Tuesday despite losing all of a 17-point first-half lead; No.

14 Oklahoma , which trailed basically all game versus Michigan but won on a 4-point play with under 15 seconds left; and ...

Drake, which beat its third high-major team this season ( Kansas State ) courtesy of an overtime buzzer-beater.

(Hilariously, Drakes next opponent? Green Bay!) Three SEC teams, and the Missouri Valley front-runner.

Just like we all drew it up.

But having been in Charlotte, N.C., for the Jumpman Invitational, I want to focus on Florida and Oklahoma, both of which have been much better this season than I believed they would be.

SEC prognosticators picked them sixth and 15th in the preseason.

Floridas depth and balance make it one of the best teams in the country.

Per CBB Analytics, among high-major lineups that have played at least 75 minutes together, UFs starters have the 10th-best net rating, outscoring opponents by 31.1 points per 100 possessions.

Whats wild, though? Thats the Gators only fourth- most efficient lineup this season; the other three all feature different combinations of forwards next to Todd Goldens trio of senior guards: Alijah Martin , Will Richard and Walter Clayton Jr.

But that trio definitely drives the bus in Gainesville, and rivals any backcourt in the country.

Its accounting for 54.2 percent of Floridas scoring, 56.1 percent of its assists and 34.4 percent of its rebounds.

Clayton has been the best of the bunch an 18.5 point-per-game scorer who looks like an All-American but all three have been awesome, and few (if any) teams have the ability to shut down the entire trio.

Advertisement Richard was the late hero against North Carolina.

RJ Davis was solid defensively in forcing Martin into a tough turnaround jumper, but Richard gets the first touch after the miss, then the offensive rebound and then completes the triple-jump for the putback.

The Gators are eighth nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, per KenPom, and Richard was one of five different players with at least two such boards versus the Tar Heels.

As for Oklahoma, in a year full of elite freshmen, one guy who definitely isnt getting enough attention is Jeremiah Fears but that should change after Wednesday, when Fears did this to push the Sooners past the Wolverines: Talk about stones.

Fears canned the subsequent free throw, too, in a high-pressure setting.

What hes doing defies conventional standards for reclassified guards.

Fears should still be a high school senior, but instead, the 18-year-old opted to graduate high school early and join the Sooners in July.

All the 6-foot-4 freshman has done since then is emerge as Porter Mosers best player and a potential first-round NBA draft pick.

Whats perhaps most impressive about Fears is how hes been so effective, largely as a one-on-one scorer.

Per Synergy, Fears most efficient offense is in iso situations, where he ranks as excellent and in the 88th percentile nationally.

Thats absurd and speaks to Fears special quickness.

He draws five personal fouls per game, per CBB Analytics which ranks in the 98th percentile nationally and his 6.5 free-throw attempts per game are 13th-most amongst high-major players.

Look how easily he gets past Tre Donaldson , who grades out as Michigans stingiest perimeter defender: Whats equally encouraging, especially for NBA evaluators, is how comfortable Fears looked in the pick-and-roll versus Michigan.

Per Synergy, Fears had a season-high 11 possessions as a pick-and-roll handler versus the Wolverines, and he either scored or got fouled on eight of those trips, leading to 16 of his game-high 30 points.

I love how seamlessly he rejects screens to get to his spots.

He does that here and then gobbles up all the space Vlad Goldin had to cover in Michigans drop: Fears isnt the only reason Oklahoma is undefeated and set to enter the top 10, but hes certainly the biggest.

Moser has his stud, and it should lead to the Sooners making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his tenure.

3.

Meanwhile, North Carolina (and to a lesser extent, Michigan) still needs work The Tar Heels have been much maligned this season, dropping to 1-5 versus high-major opponents after their loss to Florida.

Really, the same issues like falling behind by double-digits keep cropping up for Hubert Davis team, which thus far has had no answers for its problems .

Even though its only December, its getting late early for UNC.

If the Tar Heels dont beat No.

18 UCLA on Saturday, in their final significant nonconference game, then the storied blue blood likely will need to win at least 15 games in the ACC to have a comfortable at-large resume.

(And looking ahead to March, if North Carolina misses the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons? Davis seat is going to get scalding hot.) Advertisement As for Michigan, the Danny Wolf-Vlad Goldin pick-and-roll pairing remains one of the toughest actions to stop in college basketball.

So, why did the Wolverines go away from those two down the stretch versus Oklahoma? Michigan led by five with under seven minutes to play, but its Twin Towers who finished with 41 of the teams 86 points got off only four shots combined thereafter.

The rest of UM went 1-for-6 with two turnovers, the last of which by Roddy Gayle came with under 30 seconds to play and Michigan up three.

Ouch.

Dusty May has shown no hesitation to funnel offense through Wolf and Goldin, as he should; per CBB Analytics, when theyre both on the floor, Michigan outscores its opponents by 31 points per 100 possessions.

Theyre a key reason why Michigan leads the nation in 2-point percentage.

What is a defense supposed to do when a 7-foot ballhandler moves and passes like this on the perimeter? That isnt normal.

Its also why Im still very in on Michigan over the long term, even if the top of the Big Ten is loaded.

The turnovers and inconsistent 3-point shooting are concerns, yes, but Im betting on those bigs (and May) being good enough to sand out the Wolverines rough edges.

4.

Hope you got your UConn jokes in when you could ...

Because since going 0-3 in the Maui Invitational, Dan Hurleys Huskies look, well, a lot more like the top-10 team we expected them to be.

Per Bart Torviks sorting tool, since leaving Hawaii, UConn ranks as the No.

10 team in the nation, with the third-best adjusted offensive efficiency during that stretch.

The Huskies defense is still 85th in adjusted efficiency over that time that seems like its going to be more of a year-long struggle for Hurley but three straight wins over top-40 KenPom teams, plus Wednesdays overtime victory over Xavier (even though XU was missing its best player, Zach Freemantle ), affirms that UConn is back on the right track.

Advertisement So how did Hurley do that? A few ways.

Leaning more heavily on five-star freshman Liam McNeeley has been a big one.

The 6-foot-7 McNeeley is tailor-made for the Cam Spencer role, and over UConns past five games, hes averaging 16 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

He was huge against Gonzaga especially, finishing with a team-high 26 points, and even fighting through foul trouble versus Xavier, he still managed to chip in 14 points, four assists, three rebounds and no turnovers.

No surprise that once he picked up his second personal foul in the first half versus the Musketeers , UConn went almost seven minutes straight without scoring.

Hes become that essential to the Huskies success.

Guess where Hurley went with 90 seconds left and his team down one? UConn also got key contributions from Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed, who started his first game of the season (because typical starter Samson Johnson was out with a concussion).

Im still not sure that Reed shouldnt be UConns starting center from here on out; his footwork has been miles better than it was at Michigan last season, and he ranks in the 85th percentile or higher nationally as a post-up scorer, cutter and pick-and-roll roll man, per Synergy.

Ill gladly chair the Tarris Reed fan club.

But what won the Xavier game, and what UConn will need to show more consistently, was defense.

With just over two minutes left in overtime, Xavier had the ball down five; a basket wouldve made it a one-possession game again, and kept the Musketeers right in it.

Instead? Xavier missed back-to-back shots from inside six feet because UConn built a wall before Solo Ball read an ill-timed pass, jumped it and was subsequently fouled going the other way in transition.

His two free throws turned what couldve been a one-possession game into a 7-point cushion.

UConns next defensive possession was just as stout.

Ball closed off Dayvion McKnight s options in the lane, forcing Xavier to reset, and then Karaban fought through an ineffective screen to block Marcus Foster s late shot-clock 3: UConn is far from a finished product, and it isnt nearly the wagon it was last season, but I still wouldnt want any part of the Huskies anytime soon.

5.

Blind resume test Just to check your perceptions at the door.

Which resume would you rather have? Team A: 7-3 overall Top-40 offense and top-15 defense One win over a top-35 team Two of three losses to ranked foes Advertisement Team B: 9-2 overall Top-40 offense and top-15 defense No wins over top-35 teams Both losses to ranked foes Times up.

Team A is ...

Illinois, one of the perceived Big Ten front-runners.

Team B is ...

Maryland , which is receiving votes in the AP Poll but with significantly less national attention.

Both teams have a potential first-round freshman, too Kasparas Jakucionis (and Will Riley ) for Illinois, Derik Queen for Maryland which makes the comparison that more interesting.

Long term, I probably like Illinois makeup better than Marylands? But I wouldnt be surprised if the Queen- Julian Reese frontcourt pairing means the Terps fare better in Big Ten play.

OK, another one.

Who would you rather be? Team C: 8-3 overall Top-15 offense and top-75 defense Three wins over top-35 teams Two of three losses to ranked foes Team D: 10-2 overall Top-15 offense and top-75 defense Two wins over top-35 teams One of two losses to ranked foes Got your vote? Team C is ...

Purdue, another Big Ten front-runner (which plays Auburn on Saturday, although the Tigers seem likely to be missing Johni Broome , who is dealing with a shoulder injury).

Team D is ...

Dayton , which looks not just like the Atlantic-10 favorite, but like a team that could do serious damage in the NCAA Tournament.

Had Dayton not surrendered a 21-point lead to North Carolina in the Maui Invitational, we might be talking about the Flyers as a borderline top-10 team.

Really.

Dont sleep on Anthony Grants squad.

Fridays de facto road game versus Cincinnati should be one of this weekends best.

Happy hoops watching, and happy holidays, to all of you.

(Photo of Doug Gottlieb: Sarah Kloepping / USA Today via Imagn Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.