UConn's Mamadou Diarra underwent surgery Monday to repair a torn meniscus...

[the Q]

There are 2 main things that determine if a meniscus can be repaired: its location and the tear pattern. Peripheral tears of menisci have a better blood supply and therefore have the capacity to heal if sewn back together. Central tears do not and therefore need to be excised so they no longer cause you pain and mechanical symptoms. Blood supply matters because the tear needs to organically heal. Even the most robust repair will fail over time if the body does not heal causing the suture to break.

The tear pattern is also important. Imagine a simple tear in cloth--very easy to sew together. Now, imagine if there were multiple components of the tear with irregular edges--much harder. These components are all considered during the arthroscopy to determine if you are a candidate for repair.

Sounds like he had a tear amendable to a repair which is great for him in the long run. Maintaining your meniscus decreases the rate of developing osteoarthritis over time. The repair takes time to heal so you do not do any advanced physical therapy until about 6 weeks. Compare this to a meniscectomy (excision) where you can start aggressive PT immediately and it explains some of the difference in recovery time. The 4-6 month range is reasonable return to division 1 athletics.

Quick side note--not all meniscus tears need surgery. If you put 100 people without any knee pain over the age of 40 into a MRI scanner, approximately 40% would have a incidental tear of their meniscus. The meniscus degenerates over time any many times does not require surgery.

Also, there is no correlation that having a meniscus tear in one knee makes you prone to developing another one in your other knee. ACL tears on the other hand...different story.

Hope he has a quick and uneventful recovery!

I have a partial tear right now, if it tore in another direction it would've been another complete tear. It's a weird cut, so the only way for them to fix it would be to cut it completely and then repair it.

I told them I'm clearly capable of tearing it on my own.

 

[Bonk]

I guess it depends what you mean by "fine." The coaching change should do wonders for everybody, but the front court is still kind of...bad? I don't say that to denigrate any of the players as much as I do to remain realistic about what they're going to give us at this stage in their development. Carlon had a decent freshman year relative to where he was ranked, but most kids in his mold aren't real factors until year three. We don't know if Sid is going to give us anything at the four or if he'll even play at all there given his stature. Even if he does, it'll be his first time playing college ball. Kwintin and Yakwe are complete flyers. Cobb gave us nothing last year, and even if he has transformed his body, he's logged less than 300 total minutes of D-1 action.

At this point there is nothing at the four or five that has proven to be better than replacement level. Diarra is a top 150 kid entering his third year with the program who I looked at as the most ready to elevate his game. His profile is strikingly similar to Hassan Martin, who made a big jump in his second season under Hurley and developed into an all-conference caliber player.

All hope is not lost since it looks like he should be able to return at some point, but to me there was something distinctly promising about Diarra compared to our other front court prospects. Long, explosive, rangy...pretty much everything you want in a college big man (he does need to bulk up). Losing him for an extended period of time is a huge blow.

I agree. However I think the biggest facet Diarra brought to the team was toughness and physicality. Both of which can be replaced if others step up to the responsibility. I think he has the potential to be the most skilled of our frontcourt because he was a higher rated recruit but he hasn't shown any offensive skills that can't be replaced. He's also mad undersized, in person he looks like 6'6 so it's not like we're losing anyone too physically imposing. But yes, big blow for now. Can't afford more injuries

 

[intlzncster]

I guess it depends what you mean by "fine." The coaching change should do wonders for everybody, but the front court is still kind of...bad? I don't say that to denigrate any of the players as much as I do to remain realistic about what they're going to give us at this stage in their development. Carlon had a decent freshman year relative to where he was ranked, but most kids in his mold aren't real factors until year three. We don't know if Sid is going to give us anything at the four or if he'll even play at all there given his stature. Even if he does, it'll be his first time playing college ball. Kwintin and Yakwe are complete flyers. Cobb gave us nothing last year, and even if he has transformed his body, he's logged less than 300 total minutes of D-1 action.

At this point there is nothing at the four or five that has proven to be better than replacement level. Diarra is a top 150 kid entering his third year with the program who I looked at as the most ready to elevate his game. His profile is strikingly similar to Hassan Martin, who made a big jump in his second season under Hurley and developed into an all-conference caliber player.

All hope is not lost since it looks like he should be able to return at some point, but to me there was something distinctly promising about Diarra compared to our other front court prospects. Long, explosive, rangy...pretty much everything you want in a college big man (he does need to bulk up). Losing him for an extended period of time is a huge blow.

I'd call Yakwe more than a flyer. He's a guaranteed defensive presence, which we need. Offensively, yeah, he's flyer. But Diarra wasn't giving us much there anyway.

I thought Diarra was going to be one of the big surprises this year. Shame to hear.

 

[the Q]

I guess it depends what you mean by "fine." The coaching change should do wonders for everybody, but the front court is still kind of...bad? I don't say that to denigrate any of the players as much as I do to remain realistic about what they're going to give us at this stage in their development. Carlon had a decent freshman year relative to where he was ranked, but most kids in his mold aren't real factors until year three. We don't know if Sid is going to give us anything at the four or if he'll even play at all there given his stature. Even if he does, it'll be his first time playing college ball. Kwintin and Yakwe are complete flyers. Cobb gave us nothing last year, and even if he has transformed his body, he's logged less than 300 total minutes of D-1 action.

At this point there is nothing at the four or five that has proven to be better than replacement level. Diarra is a top 150 kid entering his third year with the program who I looked at as the most ready to elevate his game. His profile is strikingly similar to Hassan Martin, who made a big jump in his second season under Hurley and developed into an all-conference caliber player.

All hope is not lost since it looks like he should be able to return at some point, but to me there was something distinctly promising about Diarra compared to our other front court prospects. Long, explosive, rangy...pretty much everything you want in a college big man (he does need to bulk up). Losing him for an extended period of time is a huge blow.

If you are a believer in BPM, Whaley is a borderline startable player for a good team, and absolutely should be starting for this team.

Yakwe/Carlton is interesting, but Yakwe was just so bad offensively, it's amazing. I haven't seen many OBPMs that poor. He was DO level bad.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Hope Diarra makes a quick and complete recovery!

There's Cobb and Yakwe but to me, this puts more focus on the development of Isaiah Whaley. I know his PT waned down the stretch last season, but between 12/9 and 1/28, Whaley posted averages of 5.1 pts, 4 boards, 1.8 blocks in those 12 games. We all know Hurley preaches defensive intensity and Whaley provides that.

 

[the Q]

Hope Diarra makes a quick and complete recovery!

There's Cobb and Yakwe but to me, this puts more focus on the development of Isaiah Whaley. I know his PT waned down the stretch last season, but between 12/9 and 1/28, Whaley posted averages of 5.1 pts, 4 boards, 1.8 blocks in those 12 games. We all know Hurley preaches defensive intensity and Whaley provides that.

for all the things that this board gets excited about...I don't get why Whaley's defense is not one of them.

 

[CL82]

If Yakwe can rebound and make the outlet pass, he's an upgrade.

 

[intlzncster]

for all the things that this board gets excited about...I don't get why Whaley's defense is not one of them.

Size is a big part of it. Lack of any offensive skill. Overall clueless when it comes to how the game is played. Those probably feature prominently.

I like the kid, but don't think he'll reach effectiveness until jr year at the earliest.

 

[HuskyHawk]

for all the things that this board gets excited about...I don't get why Whaley's defense is not one of them.

Two reasons really. While he blocked shots very effectively, with good timing, any player with bulk could back him down effortlessly. He's a toothpick. He can't hold ground against any traditional big, even if he can guard somebody like say Polley, playing at the 4. Secondarily, his offense was beyond awful. Really bad. There was no need to even guard him.

I hope he (a) bulks up and (b) adds at least some basic offense, so that he can contribute. I think it's far more likely the Cobb and Yawke are able to do that this season. Diarra, I thought, gave you less shot blocking, but the ability to hold off a defender, much better offense and much, much better rebounding, along with better speed and finishing on the break. I really expected Diarra to thrive in a running, pressure defense environment.

 

[Captbluefin]

Better he gets it fixed now over mid-season. Diarra will be a good piece for this team in the future.. Its not that big of a hit people are making it out to be..It is not like we just lost Carl Malone at the 4.

This allows Whaley and a few others room to grow.. I have a lot of faith in Whaley in his jr and sr years.. We are now going to have more time to invest in him.

 

[sledog]

UConn Health

We shaould all go out and get prayer cards!

 

[Son of Robert]

One of Isaiah's developing strengths is a seemingly natural ability of crashing the offensive glass, by getting through the seams and timing his leaping near perfectly. Love this skill, not too many players have it. For the same reason he will also be effective on defense, being mobile and also getting some clean blocks and altering shots. He is 6'8, 6'9, long with good hops, athleticism, and a great motor. I expect Isaiah will have progressed quite a bit from his freshman to sophomore year and will log some serious minutes this year with or without Mamadou being available.

We will miss Mamadou, reminds me some of Jeff Adrien with his toughness, long arms and physicality inside, and I hope he has a complete and speedy recovery.

 

[UconnU]

We open November 8th in the 2K Classic.

Best case, he is practicing with the team as we begin play. If it's six months, we don't see him until the back half of the schedule.

It's not ideal. We'll see how it plays out.

The problem is the 4-6 months of lost development. He is still too raw to play major minutes of high major ball. I don’t see him being a factor at all this year.

 

[TheChamps990411]

4-6 MONTHS??? For a meniscus? I thought 4-6 weeks was more likely than months, but i'm no ortho.

That really sucks for the kid, hoping he's back by winter break.

Yeah that seems a bit much. I mean i can see being in a brace and/or crutches for about 6 weeks but 4-6 months seems a lot but i guess its because he plays basketball?

 

[UC313]

My 6 year old is gonna be bummed. His Mama-doooo!!!! cheer is going to need replacement.

 

[champs99and04]

I'd call Yakwe more than a flyer. He's a guaranteed defensive presence, which we need. Offensively, yeah, he's flyer. But Diarra wasn't giving us much there anyway.

I thought Diarra was going to be one of the big surprises this year. Shame to hear.

He should be an upgrade over Onuorah, at the very least. I liked the addition because he adds a different dimension to the team. Whether that will be worth his weaknesses elsewhere, I'm not sure.

He averaged 4.1 blocks per 40 minutes as a freshman, which is a lot. But then he dropped to 3.8 as a sophomore and 2.7 last year. Comparatively, Brimah averaged 5.0 blocks per 40 minutes for his career, never dipping below 4.3 in a single season. He was also a far more effective rebounder and offensive player than Yakwe. Given how this board treated Brimah, I'm not sure a poor man's version of him is going to inspire a lot of confidence.

We're really banking on on him returning to where he was as a freshman if he's going to be a useful player, and even then, I don't know what role a 6'7 shot blocker who doesn't do much else is on a college team. My guess is that Hurley sees value in his versatility.

 

[BlueMAB]

Yeah that seems a bit much. I mean i can see being in a brace and/or crutches for about 6 weeks but 4-6 months seems a lot but i guess its because he plays basketball?

Sarcasm?

 

[champs99and04]

If you are a believer in BPM, Whaley is a borderline startable player for a good team, and absolutely should be starting for this team.

Yakwe/Carlton is interesting, but Yakwe was just so bad offensively, it's amazing. I haven't seen many OBPMs that poor. He was DO level bad.

Whaley seemed to hit a wall around February. Before that, the eye test definitely supported BPM. He was doing really impressive things defensively that gave me hope he could be a really dynamic player on that end.

He's certainly not a player I rule out, but his statline over his last 10 or 11 games has to be the worst I've ever seen from a UConn player getting regular time. He scored 10 points, got 8 rebounds, and dished 3 assists total over his last 101 minutes. I don't even know how that's possible, he was making Terrence Samuel look like basketball Jesus. It's possible that DO might have been as bad or worse and I'm almost positive Ollie trotted them out there together. Last year's team was truly special.

 

[intlzncster]

Comparatively, Brimah averaged 5.0 blocks per 40 minutes for his career, never dipping below 4.3 in a single season. He was also a far more effective rebounder and offensive player than Yakwe. Given how this board treated Brimah, I'm not sure a poor man's version of him is going to inspire a lot of confidence.

Brimah was a high end backup center who had to start and play as much as possible. If UCONN ends up having to rely on Yakwe as much as Brimah, then they will definitely be struggling. And yes, the board would unleash on him.

 

[UconnU]

Whaley seemed to hit a wall around February. Before that, the eye test definitely supported BPM. He was doing really impressive things defensively that gave me hope he could be a really dynamic player on that end.

He's certainly not a player I rule out, but his statline over his last 10 or 11 games has to be the worst I've ever seen from a UConn player getting regular time. He scored 10 points, got 8 rebounds, and dished 3 assists total over his last 101 minutes. I don't even know how that's possible, he was making Terrence Samuel look like basketball Jesus. It's possible that DO might have been as bad or worse and I'm almost positive Ollie trotted them out there together. Last year's team was truly special.

The biggest issue with this team is that the entire front court is filled with journey men and underweight backup tier players. The difference in talent level between our back court and front court may be the widest gap in the country. Maybe we do just play to our strengths and go with a circa 2006 Villanova type starting lineup. Will need to gang rebound. This Florida State game is going to be interesting their smallest player in rotation is 6’4 and their center in 7’4.

 

[3rdbass]

Losing Diarra hurts. He was effective on defense and offense at the end of last year but still troubled by stupid fouls. I thought this would be the year he puts it all together and is an impact player for us upfront. I think the chances we play small are now increased. I think we will see a lot of lineups with Polley and Wilson at the 3-4 and 3 guards will used a lot during the season. Carlton starting is a given and I don't see another guy making much an impact up front from our big men unless Yawke or Cobb play great. Cobb has some skills but he is such a defensive liability that having him on the floor is a black hole. Same for Yawke on offense. I still think these guys are more backup players than starter and unless Whaley gained a lot of muscle he really has no chance of playing well against the bigger teams we will play.

 

[Palatine]

Brimah was a high end backup center who had to start and play as much as possible. If UCONN ends up having to rely on Yakwe as much as Brimah, then they will definitely be struggling. And yes, the board would unleash on him.

Brimah was the AAC Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. It's as much UConn's fault as his that he didn't develop beyond that point. In any case, to call him a back up is absurd.

 

[UconnU]

If you are a believer in BPM, Whaley is a borderline startable player for a good team, and absolutely should be starting for this team.

Yakwe/Carlton is interesting, but Yakwe was just so bad offensively, it's amazing. I haven't seen many OBPMs that poor. He was DO level bad.

Whaley's sample size is far too small to analyze.

If I were Whaley or Polley I would be trying to put on weight and working on my rebounding right now, that 4 spot is wide open.

 

[champs99and04]

Brimah was a high end backup center who had to start and play as much as possible. If UCONN ends up having to rely on Yakwe as much as Brimah, then they will definitely be struggling. And yes, the board would unleash on him.

A high end backup on a great team, maybe. But I think the lack of a quality backup behind him was equally problematic. He and Facey had some limitations that were exposed against P5 teams, but I never really felt like they held us back as much as coaching and guard play. If you plug those guys into this roster, with Hurley coaching, you're looking at a top ten team. Yakwe isn't in that class.

 

[intlzncster]

Brimah was the AAC Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. It's as much UConn's fault as his that he didn't develop beyond that point. In any case, to call him a back up is absurd.

That might speak more to the quality of the AAC than anything. He earned that award for his blocking ability. He was an average man to man defender. And he had trouble staying on the court. Worse, he was a black hole offensively. UCONN generally played 4 on 5 when he was on the court. That mitigates his defensive contributions.

It doesn't matter what he could have become or that it was UCONN's fault for not developing. I'm just talking about what he was on the court. A good starting center will give you the defense, plus 12 and 8 with maybe a couple assists.

This is coming from someone who liked Brimah, despite his faults. I'm just trying to be realistic about what he was at UCONN.

 

[intlzncster]

A high end backup on a great team, maybe. But I think the lack of a quality backup behind him was equally problematic. He and Facey had some limitations that were exposed against P5 teams, but I never really felt like they held us back as much as coaching and guard play. If you plug those guys into this roster, with Hurley coaching, you're looking at a top ten team. Yakwe isn't in that class.

That might be, but I'm talking more about what he was on the court and how people responded to him on this forum as a result. If he would be a different player with better coaching, we didn't get to see it.

Similar things could be said about Yakwe. He'll finally get quality coaching and a better team. Also, he dealt with injuries over the course of his career at St Johns.

Back to Brimah, how many UCONN centers would he have started over in the last 20 years or so?

 

[champs99and04]

The biggest issue with this team is that the entire front court is filled with journey men and underweight backup tier players. The difference in talent level between our back court and front court may be the widest gap in the country. Maybe we do just play to our strengths and go with a circa 2006 Villanova type starting lineup. Will need to gang rebound. This Florida State game is going to be interesting their smallest player in rotation is 6’4 and their center in 7’4.

Agreed. Though in fairness, the backcourt has plenty to prove as well. It wasn't like any of our guards were that special last season. Difference is they have the potential to be great whereas the front court does not.

 

[jibsey]

I feel bad for the kid but the reality was that he was not a difference maker though we hoped for improvement. We have a weak and likely inadequate front court. A very nice group of guards but our bigs don’t spell excitement. Hurley will need to summon all of his skills (like the undertaker had to when Sonny Corleone got shot in the causeway).

 

[kobe]

Mamoudou Diarra > Mamadou Diarra

 

[Hankster]

4-6 MONTHS??? For a meniscus? I thought 4-6 weeks was more likely than months, but i'm no ortho.

That really sucks for the kid, hoping he's back by winter break.

I agree. I had meniscus surgery YEARS ago. It took some time. I know a young kid at a car dealership who had knee problems. Saw him a couple of weeks ago. He had the surgery and you never know it. Now, I understand we are talking sports here. I guess I am trying to say, meniscus surgery isn't as bad from decades ago. He will do fine. Therapy starts immediately.