What really happened to Noah's left knee?

[cubskiller]

This was from K.C. Johnson's article in the Tribune yesterday...

Moving forward: Joakim Noah's daily regimen after more-serious-than-expected left knee surgery has been documented. Weight training. Pool work. Stretching. Ice. Cold tubs.

Though there are games in which Noah doesn't appear to move or jump well, he's encouraged.

"I still have another gear to get to," Noah said. "But overall, I'm just feeling a lot better every day."

Gasol has seen the work Noah has endured.

"It takes a little time," he said. "Meniscuses are tricky too. Some guys have to deal with that for the rest of their careers, so you really have to monitor that, see how you react to the workload. He's been doing that pretty well."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/ct-pau-gasol-all-star-voting-bits-spt-0109-20150108-story.html


First it was said that Noah originally had a minor arthroscopic procedure done to clean out his knee. Then later he came out and said "It was more than a scope" and that was what it was originally supposed to be. Ever since that came out nothing more was really elaborated on. Did Jo suffer some sort of meniscal tear?

[Ice Man]

Well, we know it was a tear (or tears) because even minor clean-ups are of tears. That is why to go in there, to fix up the tear. I don't know what "more than a scope" means. After that, it's all guessing.

[jc23]

I wonder when he injured it last season, was it during the regular season or playoffs? it was sad watching him limp around the court vs washington last year.

[Mech Engineer]

I wonder when he injured it last season, was it during the regular season or playoffs? it was sad watching him limp around the court vs washington last year.

That's a good question. It must have been in practice or the Washington series. He played big minutes in the last regular season game against Charlotte. I doubt even Thibs is so dumb on minutes if Noah was hurt before that.

The other possibility is he had a sprain and got aggravated during the playoffs/tore it...something like that.

The secrecy behind his injury is interesting. They disclosed Derrick's meniscus tear in full detail while this was categorized as minor. Will McDermott wear a brace too?

Hope Joakim recovers fast. The Bulls need him more than the stats say.

[johnnyvann840]

The fate of the Bulls of 2014-15 is going to be decided by whether or not Rose and Noah ever get back to all star level play.

The truth is that this team will go as far as those two can take us. The rest of the team are doing more than expected. Jimmy is here to stay. We see what happens when he and Pau and Taj cannot carry the team and Rose and Noah don't at least play average.

Jo hasn't looked himself all season despite having a few good games. Derrick has fallen off a cliff lately. A few weeks ago we all thought he was back for real and he seems to have regressed as has Noah.

Rose is now shooting under .400 from the field and .25% from 3 pt. his TS% is down to miserable levels.. and this after his numbers looked very good for the first month of the season. Noah's TS% is .478 and he can't even shoot FT's anymore and his finishing at the rim is horrid. He can't even go up strong.

Derrick and Jo are taking up half the teams salary, the bottom line is it is time for them to produce. The team is 25-12 despite their poor play, imagine if they can both find it again.

[kodo]

I wonder when he injured it last season, was it during the regular season or playoffs? it was sad watching him limp around the court vs washington last year.

I seemed to remember someone (Noah, Thibs, management, not sure) confirming he was in serious pain at the end of the regular season and he decided to play through it for the Wizard series. We started a thread about it buried somewhere on this board.

[BrooklynBulls]

How do we REALLY know his left knee isn't Al-Qaeda? We can't be sure.

[jax98]

How do we REALLY know his left knee isn't Al-Qaeda? We can't be sure.

[RedBulls23]

Just get back to 100% for the playoffs.

I do wonder if it would help him to take a few games off here and there.

[vvgotgame19]

Well at least it's good to hear he's feeling better every day. I still say take it easy on him at least until after the all star break. We have the bigs to do it, and Mirotic deserves the minutes. We need a healthy Noah in the playoffs.

[maynardo]

The bad part is that he hasn't looked better as the season goes along.

[cubskiller]

Well, we know it was a tear (or tears) because even minor clean-ups are of tears. That is why to go in there, to fix up the tear. I don't know what "more than a scope" means. After that, it's all guessing.

I don't know much about knee anatomy but wouldn't a meniscus tear be much worse than just a normal tear?

[umfan83]

I'd almost be happy if they confirmed it was a meniscus tear at this point. At least that would explain a lot of the poor play and give us reasonable expectation that he will improve before the playoffs.

If he had a meniscus tear comperable to Rose (probably not because Rose couldn't play on his), it took Rose 9 months before he stepped on the court for a game (FIBA), and at 14 months Rose still doesn't seem 100% right. Granted there are a couple of big differences between Rose and Noah beyond just the severity of the injury (still hadn't fully come back from ACL tear, being a guard that relies on explosiveness I'd also expect him to get back to 100% slower), but overall it makes sense that Noah would be struggling. 9 Months from May is February, so he hasn't even gone the length of time it took Rose to play in games, and Noah's been playing in them for over 3 months already.

[hellenicbull]

I remember listening to Waddle and Silvy last year and yes Thibs knew full well Noah was playing with a hurt knee. Yet he still played him long minutes in meaningless games. Well, here is the result and it's not good. Noha's game may never be the same.

[khufure]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/ct-defensive-woes-bulls-spt-0114-20150113-story.html

Nevertheless, Noah admitted in November the surgery turned into more than a scope. CSNChicago.com reported in May and a source subsequently confirmed that some cartilage was removed.

Still doesn't sound that serious.

[musiqsoulchild]

This is why I dont worry about Noah. Or for that matter Rose.

Especially Rose....he has shown me enough that I know that he's holding back.

And Noah...if I had to choose a player to defend one possession in order to save the world....that player is Joakim Noah. Its a good thing that we have 3 of those ----Jimmy, Taj and Noah.

It will all come together beautifully in May as Chicago normally does.

[Ice Man]

I don't know much about knee anatomy but wouldn't a meniscus tear be much worse than just a normal tear?

Not sure what a normal knee tear is. You can tear a ligament, that is bad, or tear meniscus, that is also bad.

[Ice Man]

This is why I dont worry about Noah. Or for that matter Rose.

Especially Rose....he has shown me enough that I know that he's holding back.

And Noah...if I had to choose a player to defend one possession in order to save the world....that player is Joakim Noah. Its a good thing that we have 3 of those ----Jimmy, Taj and Noah.

It will all come together beautifully in May as Chicago normally does.

You preaching from a revivalist's tent?

[DuckIII]

How do we REALLY know his left knee isn't Al-Qaeda? We can't be sure.

Al-Qaeda doesn't show weakness. Al-Qaeda is his right knee.

[kyrv]

The fate of the Bulls of 2014-15 is going to be decided by whether or not Rose and Noah ever get back to all star level play.

The truth is that this team will go as far as those two can take us. The rest of the team are doing more than expected. Jimmy is here to stay. We see what happens when he and Pau and Taj cannot carry the team and Rose and Noah don't at least play average.

Jo hasn't looked himself all season despite having a few good games. Derrick has fallen off a cliff lately. A few weeks ago we all thought he was back for real and he seems to have regressed as has Noah.

Rose is now shooting under .400 from the field and .25% from 3 pt. his TS% is down to miserable levels.. and this after his numbers looked very good for the first month of the season. Noah's TS% is .478 and he can't even shoot FT's anymore and his finishing at the rim is horrid. He can't even go up strong.

Derrick and Jo are taking up half the teams salary, the bottom line is it is time for them to produce. The team is 25-12 despite their poor play, imagine if they can both find it again.

For sure. I would add in the underperforming defense, but roster wise, yep, it's about Rose and Noah.

Rose and Noah are not playing well, at times even being negatives on the court, and the defense has not been that good. Yet they are 25-12. In the funny Thibs firing thread, it was said the team is "under performing". No, I'm serious.

By the way, Rose was not rusty to start the season, much like for team USA, he was not rusty but after playing became rusty (the only NBA player in history to accomplish that by the way).