Twist of fate rewrote Dotzler's dream script

Great article here about Josh Dotzler and his life lessons:

Call him a survivor. Dotzler's senior day at Creighton arrives on Saturday. It's been a long career, a good one in many ways, but not the one he or anyone else dreamed of four years ago.

Somebody lost the Hollywood script. Dotzler had it all in front of him back then. He had committed to Creighton as a sophomore at Bellevue West. His team won the state title his senior year. He was a two-time Nebraska Player of the Year. Big-time schools were starting to look at him. But he was going to Creighton.

He matched the hype as a freshman. Dotzler ranked high among Missouri Valley guards in steals and assists and assist/turnover margin. He had a jumper. He could guard. He was on the road to becoming one of the best players ever to wear a Bluejay uniform, certainly one of the most popular. This was the Omaha hoops dream.

Doctors repair knees, not dreams.

Dotzler suffered a torn PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) in his right knee. It's rare, almost fluky. Players can come back from ACL tears. But PCL injuries are different. They are ruthless. They rob potential. They gut dreams.

"I really haven't thought about it, except when people ask," Dotzler said. "I truly believe things happen for a reason, so you can learn from all experiences. There's no sense in thinking about what might have been, because it's not going to happen."

Josh said, "There were times when I thought, should I even be playing? Am I good enough to play on this team? Am I good enough to play on this level? I went through some tough times. I never dealt with injuries before, never sat out. I didn't know if my body would respond."

Dotzler did not fall apart. He comes from a large family, a good family. He's married. He's mature. He's extremely grounded and classy. He has more than basketball to fall back on, even as he continues to dive for loose balls. And he has been a mentor to freshman point guard Antoine Young, who grew up watching Dotzler at Bellevue West. The torch is being passed with care.

"I've learned a lot from Josh," Young said. "I've watched him as a leader, watched how he conducts himself every day. I admired his toughness. He's taught me a lot about toughness, about leadership."

People sometimes wonder why Dotzler plays over Young. One man doesn't. There have been times Dotzler was the only player on the floor playing defense, the only guy doing the things Altman preached. He has been a poster boy for this program.

"Josh has brought so many good qualities to the program," Altman said. "His assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0, top five in the nation) is outstanding. He's a good defender. And he's been a leader. He comes to practice every day trying to get the other guys to play hard. Before games he'll be trying to get them going. That's draining. He's had to carry that load."

Colin Powell's Rules

More from Coach Tressel's book, THE WINNER'S MANUAL:

Colin Powell’s Rules
1) It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning
2) Get mad, then get over it
3) Avoid having our ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it
4) It can be done!
5) Be careful what you choose. You may get it
6) Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision
7) You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
8) Check small things
9) Share credit
10) Remain calm. Be kind
11) Have vision. Be demanding
12) Don’t take the counsel of your fears or naysayers
13) Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier

Additional Thoughts:

Humility precedes honor.
~Proverbs 18:12
If we were humble, nothing would change us- neither praise nor discouragement.
~Mother Teresa

The Global Village

From Coach Tressel's book, THE WINNER'S MANUAL:

If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of precisely one hundred people, with all the existing human rations remaining the same, the village would include..
60 Asians
12 Europeans
15 from the Western Hemisphere (9 Latin Americans, 5 North Americans, and 1 Oceanian), and 13 Africans.

Of those one hundred people…
50 would be female
50 would be male
80 would be nonwhite
20 would be white
67 would be non-Christian
33 would be Christian
20 would earn 89 percent of wealth
25 would live in substandard housing
17 would be unable to read
13 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would die within the year
2 would give birth within the year
2 would have a college education, and
4 would own a computer

From there, it’s only a short jump to apply the same principle to our everyday lives. Sure, the guy at the next locker has a better car, or he’s a starter on the team, or there are scouts looking at him; but in the big picture we are all blessed, and we need to recognize that and let it work its way into our lives

To determine whether people are living a grateful life, we can look in the classroom or the home or wherever they spend their time. If they’re not committed to becoming the best students in the classroom of the best sons or daughters at home, that’s a huge warning sing. I think the person who has a right attitude is able to say, “Man, am I lucky to be here! I need to study- I really don’t like this class, but I’m so thankful I’m here that I’m going to study hard. Practice is hard, but I’m going to take advantage of every opportunity I have.” Constant reminders of how fortunate we are can help us to keep things in proper perspective.

Final Score

"The only awards I've ever cherished have been team awards. Most of the time when you get an award, you say 'I want to thank my teammates for helping me.' But I want to thank my teammates for letting me help them because my agenda was to win games, nothing else. And my teammates allowed me to let them do their best. So this award is for the affirmation of team play."
~Bill Russell, Boston Celtics, 5-Time MVP

Tough Teams Talk

Talking to teammates - helping each other verbally - is one of the most obvious differences between good, tough players and soft, mediocre ones. Just getting in the habit of calling out your man and the ball each time on defense; and getting your teammates to do the same will end up saving baskets over the course of a game and season. Talking your teammates through screens, telling them when you are in good help-position ready to take a charge, motioning for them to clear out or cut through the lane, alerting them to cutters or players trying to sneak behind your defense – all of these and many more situations happen often in games. If you are not now in the habit of constantly talking during the action of the game, you may be surprised at how often your mere words can help your teammates make a play.

When you play on the road, you need men

Great blog from Coach Emuss...


In the words of Muhammad Ali:

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road - long before I dance under those lights."

At 19-4, winners of six of their last seven, Mizzou has already won three more games than all of last season. According to this story in today's St. Louis paper, increased intensity in practice is one reason for the Tigers' turnaround.

"Coach Mike Anderson is a strong believer that road games are pretty much won by toughness," said junior guard Zaire Taylor. "He always says, 'When you go on the road, we need men,' and that is pretty much the mentality we've been taking in practices.

The reason we've won our last two games is because of our practices. Ever since we lost at Kansas State, our practices have been like wars. We've been taking (hard work) that we've been bringing in practices and we're bringing that same energy into games. The practices have taken a step up.

When I go home from practice now, I feel more bruised than I do after games. The competitive atmosphere is real high. You wouldn't know we are teammates by the way we get after each other."

Do NOT Quit

"When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit."
~Unknown