Doug Gottlieb Re-Education Camp?

[Bluedog]

I wonder if he would have said Harrison Barnes isn't an NBA player during the early part of last season.

To be fair to Gottlieb, he did say this:

Did u watch the two games?I was asked about Duke, I am not sold on Rivers right now, plenty of time to change that

http://www.tweetdeck.com/twitter/GottliebShow/~cR8lG

Frankly, though, I think jumping to any conclusions after two exhibition games is misguided. If the first game was televised in which Rivers shot over 50% and had 18 points, Gottlieb might have a different opinion. Posters on here have jumped to conclusions after the Blue-White scrimmage in the past (Shav, Zoubek), saying those players will be dominant and starters and then it doesn't turn out to be the case. I expect Rivers to be really good some games, but inconsistent, as most freshman are. Obviously, the potential is there though, he just needs to cut down on mistakes.

[licc85]

Apparently, Coach K has given Andre the "Red-Hot Green Light" this year. I had a good laugh as Doug frantically tried (in vain) to save that one.

I don't know what his problem with Austin is, but he's giving him a way harder time than he deserves. I wish people would just drop the "I want to destroy Lebron" comment. I'm sure we're all tired of hearing about it.

Also, he still hasn't learned to call the Chinese players by their surnames after following 3 games (and calling 2 of them). Pathetic.

[weezie]

Is he travelling with the team? It may be that we're his only ticket home. . . .

Or the slow boat from China.

Ugh,what could be worse than a plane ride w/dougie g.
Better he sits in a dark studio watching feed and pontificating.

[jafarr1]

Sure, Gottlieb gave himself an out, but why even make those statements in the first place? I wouldn't try to make any concrete judgments based upon a tour like this, good or bad.

[_Gary]

Sure, Gottlieb gave himself an out, but why even make those statements in the first place? I wouldn't try to make any concrete judgments based upon a tour like this, good or bad.

Exactly. I don't get all the gushing about Gottlieb on here today. I thought his smarmy dislike for Duke still shined through a few different times (like the comment at the end about Marshall). I'm not inclined to stand up and cheer just because he wasn't as nauseatingly anti-Duke as he usually is.

[Kedsy]

Exactly. I don't get all the gushing about Gottlieb on here today. I thought his smarmy dislike for Duke still shined through a few different times (like the comment at the end about Marshall). I'm not inclined to stand up and cheer just because he wasn't as nauseatingly anti-Duke as he usually is.

I'm not gushing, but I thought he was pretty good Thursday and again today. A lot of decent insights, nothing he said offended me, and I thought the Marshall line was funny. He was certainly less anti-Duke than Elmore or Packer.

[PSurprise]

Like many here, I was pleasantly surprised at Gottlieb today. From my perspective, almost everything he said today was pretty fair. He actually gave a little insight into the game being played and kept his usual anti-Dukeness to a slightly less level than we're accustomed to.

One thing I will give him credit for is that he only had one team he's familiar with to comment on. Overall, I thought his comments were pretty even.

[licc85]

I see a lot of people on this board comment that Len Elmore is extremely anti-Duke in his commentary. I know he's a MD alum, and there's no possible way he could LIKE Duke, but I've never had a serious problem with his commentary. Maybe it's because he's often paired with Mike Patrick, who just seems to like everyone, and it drowns out the anti-Duke coming from Elmore. Can anyone provide some examples of his anti-Duke bias?

[HK Dukie]

. Can anyone provide some examples of his anti-Duke bias?

Len is one of the primary "Duke gets all the calls" guys. It's like a ticking time bomb every telecast with him. You know it's coming. Just a question of when.

[killerleft]

Well he is back at his old ways. He just tweeted that we probably don't have an NBA guy on our roster. My count has a quite a few.

I was wondering when this lovefest for Dougie was going to end.

[CDu]

I thought Gottlieb was great. People are too sensitive about stuff like this. The guy gives his honest and usually-educated opinion as an analyst. When he thought Duke looked bad (e.g., against Arizona State when we looked unathletic) he said so. When he thought we looked good (e.g., his praise of Zoubek and picking us to go to the championship game later that same year) he said so. He's just very opinionated (which is part of his job) and very brash.

As a play-by-play guy, I think he's fantastic. He actually pays attention to the game. He actually discusses the merit (or lack thereof) of calls made throughout the game, and he's almost always right. He actually provides wit and humor. And he actually provides insight into the game being played. I think he's the best color commentator I've seen in a while. Better than Knight, who has forgotten more than I'll ever know about the game, but is getting less sharp at analyzing the actual game being played. Better than Bilas (who is getting too preachy for me). And obviously better than the other guys who are really bad (Elmore, Vitale, etc).

[UrinalCake]

What's up with Gottlieb criticizing Gbinije for fouling a guy shooting a three-pointer when the replay shows it was a horrible call? Gottlieb first said it was a "low IQ play," then after watching the replay he backtracked and said "he didn't leave the ground and just had his hands up, but you shouldn't even stand close enough that the shooter can kick his legs out into you." Seriously?

If you really want to get your blood boiling, go to the NCAA vault and listen to Billy Packer's commentary of our 2001 final four game against Maryland.

[CDu]

What's up with Gottlieb criticizing Gbinije for fouling a guy shooting a three-pointer when the replay shows it was a horrible call? Gottlieb first said it was a "low IQ play," then after watching the replay he backtracked and said "he didn't leave the ground and just had his hands up, but you shouldn't even stand close enough that the shooter can kick his legs out into you." Seriously?

If you really want to get your blood boiling, go to the NCAA vault and listen to Billy Packer's commentary of our 2001 final four game against Maryland.

Not Gottlieb's best moment of commentary on the game (probably his worst). He was otherwise really good about noting when the replay clearly showed it was a bad call. That one he fell into the commentator trap of committing to one story line on a play and not bending enough when the replay clearly shows you're wrong. It's one of my pet peeves, and he usually didn't make that mistake.

In fairness, he was hinting that it was an unusual mistake for Gbinije (he had referred to Gbinije as a high-IQ player when he said that was a low-IQ play). He just didn't adjust enough to say that it wasn't really a low-IQ play once he saw the replay.

[UrinalCake]

I also enjoyed the comment that the Duke team is "circumventing the globe." Did we take a spaceship to get to China?

[CDu]

I also enjoyed the comment that the Duke team is "circumventing the globe." Did we take a spaceship to get to China?

I remember that one, and almost made a comment about it to my wife. She would have surely responded "dork." I think that was the play-by-play announcer though, not Gottlieb.

[hurleyfor3]

I also enjoyed the comment that the Duke team is "circumventing the globe." Did we take a spaceship to get to China?

Nah, we took the tunnel.

[Indoor66]

Nah, we took the tunnel.

The one we were all digging as children?

[Dukeface88]

The one we were all digging as children?

No, the quantum tunnel teleporter. The one the physics department keeps next to the invisibility cloak.

[lotusland]

Not Gottlieb's best moment of commentary on the game (probably his worst). He was otherwise really good about noting when the replay clearly showed it was a bad call. That one he fell into the commentator trap of committing to one story line on a play and not bending enough when the replay clearly shows you're wrong. It's one of my pet peeves, and he usually didn't make that mistake.

In fairness, he was hinting that it was an unusual mistake for Gbinije (he had referred to Gbinije as a high-IQ player when he said that was a low-IQ play). He just didn't adjust enough to say that it wasn't really a low-IQ play once he saw the replay.

He acknowledged that the shooter kicked out his legs and performed a "Reggie Miller" to draw the foul call and said that sG shouldn't have gotten close enough to allow him to draw the foul through a somewhat deceptive tactic similar to a flop or a Punter falling down to draw a roughing to kicker penalty. There was nothing biased or even inaccurate about what he said IMO.

[CDu]

He acknowledged that the shooter kicked out his legs and performed a "Reggie Miller" to draw the foul call and said that sG shouldn't have gotten close enough to allow him to draw the foul through a somewhat deceptive tactic similar to a flop or a Punter falling down to draw a roughing to kicker penalty. There was nothing biased or even inaccurate about what he said IMO.

I completely agree that there wasn't any bias intended from Gottlieb (I've been one of the ones defending him). Although one could debate whether or not Gbinije was so close to the player as to even had it be a reasonable "Reggie Miller" call. You still have to close out on defense - sometimes the officials miss the call.