Tag: Doug Gottlieb

National commentator blasts UCLA basketball’s NIL failures, speculates about Mick Cronin

Doug Gottlieb did not hold back.

The outlook for UCLA basketball gets worse by the day. The Trojans lost their fourth straight game Friday night, and they absorbed a second straight home-court loss at Pauley Pavilion after winning their previous 29 games at home. Maryland — which, by the way, is not having a particularly good season — went into Westwood and handled the Bruins fairly easily, building a 20-point lead and eventually winning by a comfortable nine-point margin, 69-60.

UCLA’s offense is a disaster. The Bruins simply lack high-end scorers and shooters. They don’t have elite talent. This is UCLA basketball we’re talking about, and the Bruins have been very good in recent years. They made the Final Four in 2021. They were a top-four seed in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments. UCLA basketball is not a program we cheer for here at Trojans Wire, but objectively speaking, UCLA has been good, and when UCLA is good in basketball, it should not have any problem landing top talent. Yet, as we noted earlier this week, coach Mick Cronin basically conceded that the Bruins’ NIL operation is deficient and has failed to bring in elite transfers.

Following the Maryland loss, Doug Gottlieb of Fox Sports not only made light of the Bruins’ NIL problems; he said Mick Cronin might get restless as a result. That point might be going too far — we think Cronin loves living in Los Angeles and won’t want out of UCL — but the focus on UCLA’s NIL deficiencies is impossible to ignore right now. It offers a parallel to what USC football is going through, and it’s something we’re going to continue to talk about.

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‘My response is Go Ducks:’ Mario Cristobal hilariously shuts down rumors about leaving Oregon for USC

When asked about leaving Oregon for USC, Mario Cristobal answered in a hilarious and abrupt fashion, reaffirming his place with the Ducks.

If there was ever any question about whether or not Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal might jump ship in Eugene and take his chances as the head coach of the USC Trojans, it should be put to rest immediately.

While appearing on the Doug Gottlieb show on Wednesday afternoon, Cristobal thought he was going to be involved in a conversation about his team, likely going over the program-defining win over Ohio State that took place in Columbus less than a week ago.

Instead, Gottlieb had other ideas and tried to talk to Cristobal about how possible it was that Oregon’s leading man would be interested in the job down in Los Angeles.

Cristobal’s response is priceless.

It was hard to imagine 24 hours ago that there’s anything Cristobal could do to make Oregon fans like him more, but he sure found a way to do it. The abruptness with which he shut down all questioning and even met Gottlieb’s hot-take persona with annoyance was endlessly entertaining, and something we will be listening to on repeat for quite some time.

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After having a coach leave Oregon for a “better job” less than a decade ago, it is refreshing to see Cristobal meet these rumors with such clarity. We can trust that his answer was honest.

“I’ll say it again, Go Ducks.”

Never change, coach. And please, never leave.

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Maria Taylor defends herself after Doug Gottlieb questioned why she gets an All-NBA vote

Maria Taylor stands up for herself after being called out by Doug Gottlieb.

The NBA released the media voting results for its end-of-season awards to the public on Friday, which meant that several reporters across the country had angry fans in their mentions asking them to clarify their ballot. One of these reporters was ESPN’s Maria Taylor, who left Lakers center Anthony Davis off her ballot entirely.

Davis received 99 out of 100 total media votes to make an All-NBA team, including 79 first-team selections, and 20 second-team selections. The only member of the media to not cast a vote for Davis was Taylor, and once fans on Twitter noticed and started calling her out, she explained that it was a “CLEAR mistake.”

Fox Sports’ Doug Gottlieb chimed in on the controversy, and openly asked why Taylor deserves to vote on the NBA’s All-NBA teams, arguing that she isn’t qualified for the privilege.

Many fans and fellow media members defended Taylor, and she spelled out exactly why she gets a vote in a direct response to Gottlieb.

Gottlieb didn’t stand down, though, and dug in on his take.

The exchange comes just a few days after had to defend herself after a radio host made sexist remarks about the outfit she wore during a Monday Night Football broadcast. The host, Dan McNeil, was later fired.

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OK State players disputed Doug Gottlieb’s tweet about the team’s demands for Mike Gundy

Why tweet that?

Oklahoma State football players — led by star running back Chuba Hubbard — threatened a boycott on Monday after a photo circulated on social media showing head coach Mike Gundy wearing a One America News T-shirt.

In the hours after Hubbard tweeted his frustrations with his coach promoting a far-right television network — an outlet that’s known to parrot racist and xenophobic conspiracy theories — Hubbard joined his head coach for a Twitter video and ended up being the one to apologize.

Yet, Hubbard promised that change was coming for the program. And on Tuesday, former Oklahoma State basketball player and current Fox Sports talking head Doug Gottlieb claimed that players came to Gundy with a list of demands. Those demands concerned things like hair, music and the ability to sag pants.

Gottlieb — who has even had his credibility questioned by his own colleagues — said that Gundy agreed to those “demands.” But immediately upon seeing that tweet, Oklahoma State football players were quick to dispute the claim in its entirety.

Gottlieb’s only follow-up on the unsourced tweet was to tell someone that he was “serious.” But the chorus of Oklahoma State players denying that tweet should be telling in itself.

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