Creighton's Josh Dotzler

[mike radigan]

likely out: http://thebluejaycafe.com/BB/viewtop...b5600ef5441480

[Bravesguy]

Interesting question, if Creighton loses Friday, do they have a chance of being in the NCAA tourney?
If not, then the logic of "they were going to save him for the NCAA tournament" is a futile argument.

One guy has now followed up on the thread saying an announcement will come this after noon that Dotzler is out for the tourney.

http://thebluejaycafe.com/BB/viewtopic.php?t=2359&start=15

"out for the tourney - Dana will confirm today at 5:15"

They should not have tried to rush him back so soon, with a ligament tear.

[mike radigan]

Interesting question, if Creighton loses Friday, do they have a chance of being in the NCAA tourney?
If not, then the logic of "they were going to save him for the NCAA tournament" is a futile argument.

One would hope the NCAA would take his injury into consideration. Oops, we're talking about the NCAA, never mind...

[Da Coach]

I am just listening to the MVC coach's telephone press conference held today.

One of the first questions asked by the press members was if Josh Dotzler would be available to play Friday. His answer was that he was seeing the doctor again Tuesday and that a final decision has not yet been made, but that he (Dana) did not think there would be any way Dotzler could be ready to play and the they were preparing for the game without him.

The conference is over 1 hour in length and is available to listen to by audio streaming from the MVC website. The coaches are interviewed one at a time. Jim Les is the first coach, followed by Tom Davis, Dana Altman, and Evansville.

http://www.mvc-sports.com/webapps/release?id=1599

[Majik45]

Dotzler is out for the tournament according to the Omaha World Herald this morning. You can get the free article here, but it requires registration which I already have to get my husker football news:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=38&u_sid=2125633

Here's the article:

Dotzler out for MVC tourney

BY STEVEN PIVOVAR
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The Missouri Valley Conference tournament comes a week too soon for injured Creighton guard Josh Dotzler.

The freshman from Bellevue West learned Tuesday that the knee injury he suffered Feb. 11 has not healed enough to allow him to play in the this week's tournament in St. Louis. He has missed Creighton's past four games, but he said the doctor told him he should be able to return to action if the Bluejays find themselves playing beyond St. Louis.

"The doctor said I should be ready to play next week but just not this week," Dotzler said. "I tried to do a lot on it on it yesterday, some running and some sprinting, and it was tough. So I knew even before I saw the doctor that if he cleared me to play, it would have been tough."

Dotzler suffered a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee midway through the first half of Creighton's loss to Southern Illinois. He came back to play, in pain, for 20 of the game's final 23 minutes.

"When it happened, you want to be out there," Dotzler said. "If I had known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have played the rest of that game. But it was my decision to go back out there and play."

Creighton, which opens Valley play Friday in St. Louis with a 2:30 p.m. game against Bradley, is 2-2 without Dotzler. He leads the Bluejays in minutes per game (32.7), assists per game (4.20) and steals per game (2.3).

His loss also has left Creighton struggling to find its offensive rhythm. The Bluejays have scored 61, 67, 67 and 62 points in their games without Dotzler at the point.

"It doesn't take much to look at our numbers without Josh and see that we haven't been very sharp," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "Our flow isn't what it should be, and I'm glad we have a couple of days to practice to try to get some flow to our offense and get everyone a little more comfortable with their roles.

"I think we've made some progress, but we just don't run as much as we did with Josh. We haven't had the point production, and everyone has been asked to do a little more. They've improved at it, but we haven't been smooth offensively."

In Dotzler's absence, senior Johnny Mathies and junior Dominic Bishop have handled most of the point guard duties. Mathies had been Creighton's primary perimeter scorer, so asking him to also run the offense puts a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.

"That comes along with the territory, especially being a senior," Mathies said. "The team depends on me, and this is nothing different that what happens all the time to teams all around the country."

[tornado]

More injury report:

ISU, which begins play Thursday night, has a couple guards who are banged up and who
didn't practice earlier this week. Junior Roberto Fortes and sophomore Brandon Holtz did not practice Monday because of injuries suffered Saturday at Wichita State.

Fortes, who's been really hot of late, has a severely sprained left ankle, while Holtz has a deep bruise in his left knee. ISU coach Porter Moser believes both players will be available Thursday.

Junior Mark Kruse, who sat out Saturday's game at Wichita State because of a sprained ankle, should be ready and available.


Indiana State's David Moss is nearly 100% after a severe hamstring injury that costs him 11 games this season.


No further update on Josh Dotzler's injury, he is not expected to play this weekend.

[squeaky]

Josh Dotzler missed the last 7 games of Creighton's season. No doubt it hurt Creighton's chances in the MVC tournament, and in the NIT. Now the report is that he is still having pain in his knee and it is not imporoving as expected with rest. He has a complete tear of the posterior cruciate ligament, but they are still deciding whether to perform surgery.

Tough luck for the kid. For the injury to occur so late in the season could affect him next year, especially if he has surgery.

http://thebluejaycafe.com/BB/viewtopic.php?t=3081&sid=401098af7c0f0eeab690055a0b6ba594

[Da Coach]

Creighton point guard Josh Dotzler rested and missed the last 7 games of the Creighton season with his left knee injury. The doctors expected his torn left posterior cruciate ligament to heal without surgery. But when he tried to play again he kept having pain. So he apparently underwent an arthroscopy. If he is advised to have surgery, his prognosis for a full recovery is excellent, but there is an estimated 6+ month recovery time.

We hope for a fast and full recovery for the kid.

[tornado]

There is discussion on the Creighton board that Josh Dotzler's knee injury and surgical repair were a whole lot more complex than originally thought.
Some talk supposedly from inside source that Josh Dotzler will take a full redshirt year next season (2006-2007) similar to what Klayton Korver did at Drake, in order to get his knee back into playing shape without trying to hurry.
This comes as a stark reminder of some of the discussion that we had here on this board that Dotzler clearly was rushed back too soon when he initially had his knee injury, and now it may be costing them and him.
It is only message board talk at this point, but one guy says this about the poster who is giving the report:
"(he-the source)..is usually in the know."

http://thebluejaycafe.com/BB/viewtopic.php?t=3347

http://www.bradleyfans.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2220

http://www.bradleyfans.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=15787#15787

This discussion also confirms that backup point guard, Dominic Bishop (a guy who Bradley wanted before they signed Will Franklin) is leaving Creighton.
This may put CU in the hole with two point guards lost for next year.
Can Ty Morrison play PG?

[BU1999]

Dotzler did a very good job, especially for a freshman.
I hope he can be back.
They have an incoming freshman, Miles, and Nate Funk can play a little PG, although I doubt they'd want him to.

[tornado]

More news from Creighton.
One other guard on the roster, Thomas Lane, a kid just now finishing his redshirt year, will not return to Creighton next season.
Not a huge loss, but some potential effect.

[Da Coach]

Posted April 10-

http://www.bradleyfans.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=19618#19618

[flipper]

looks like bad news for creighton. just all the more reason i think southern illinois will be the team to beat in the valley next season.

[tornado]

Was talking with a Creighton fan and discussing Josh Dotzler.
He is really struggling early for Creighton, no mobility, turnovers, lost a step, pressing a bit and shooting only 25%.
He has played in 6 games, and started four, but is averaging only 2 points, and 3 assists, but is clearly hampered by mobility problems.

Creighton playes Thursday against Valpo, and it will be interesting to see what happens.
If he plays, it will all but kill any chance Dotzler has of redshirting,
as right now he has played only 20% of the scheduled games and is still eligible. But he is also now heading into a stretch with several games in a short stretch (in the Rainbow Classic) then followed by the long and grueling Valley Conference season.
But if he is held out of Thursday's game, then it will signal that Creighton is looking at the best long term interest for Josh and try to get him ready for a better season next year by redshirting.

[Da Coach]

There is a thread about point guard Josh Dotzler on the Creighton board. He had surgery for a broken finger and will be out for a month. Another tough break for the kid and for Creighton.

http://thebluejaycafe.com/BB/viewtopic.php?t=5401&sid=3dd2af53ee9e064ca801ef0335d04850