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CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls centre Joakim Noah will be held out of all basketball-related activities for about a week in hopes that the rest will clear up his lingering groin strain. "He still has a little bit of soreness," coach Tom Thibodeau said Friday before the Bulls played the Indiana Pacers in a preseason game. "We want to make sure hes completely healed before we move on. We dont want him to re-injure it. We want him to rehab and focus on getting healthy." Noah was injured early in training camp and missed the Bulls first three preseason games before playing 19 minutes Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons. Afterward, he said he felt "great," but the soreness in the groin returned on Thursday. "I want to be out there," Noah said. "Were looking good. But Ive got to be healthy. It sucks, especially this early in the season, but it is what it is and Ill just get back as soon as I can." If Noah does sit out exactly a week, that would give him four days to get in playing shape before the teams regular-season opener against the Miami Heat on Oct. 29. Noah said that would be enough time for him to be ready, but Thibodeau was noncommittal. "Were going to make sure hes healthy," the coach said. "Well cross that bridge when we come to it." With Derrick Rose back in the lineup after missing all of last season following knee surgery, the Bulls are expected to be title contenders this season if everyone remains healthy. "We have a great opportunity in front of us," Noah said. "Its a part of the game. Of course, Id rather be playing right now, but you have to do the right thing. This is the right thing to do." . On paper, it looks a little like Andre the Giant taking on a midget wrestler. It has all the makings of a rout with the Americans adding an eighth win in nine outings of this biennial event. The Yanks have eight players in the top 15 in the world while the Internationals have just one. . -- Novak Djokovic benefited from an erroneous call and claimed he didnt realize he had broken the rules. . -- Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson is being checked for a possible concussion after blowing a tire on his way to the first workout of spring training. . Cleary also had two assists and Patrick Eaves added two goals for the Red Wings, who also ousted Phoenix in seven games during the first round of the 2010 postseason. Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which got a goal apiece from Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall and suffered no shortage of offense despite the absences of Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. .Y. - Terry and Kim Pegula have no immediate plans to tinker with their new NFL team.ACCRA, Ghana - Ghana picked Michael Essien and Kevin-Prince Boateng in a preliminary 26-man World Cup squad on Monday. The group will be trimmed to a final 23-man squad after a friendly game against the Netherlands on May 31, the Ghana Football Association said. AC Milans Essien and Schalkes Boateng were named after returning to international football last year. They had both asked for time away from the national team in the years after the last World Cup. Ghana captain and striker Asamoah Gyan and midfielder Sulley Muntari were also included and are set to play in their third consecutive World Cups. Ghana was the best-performing African team at the 2010 tournament, reaching the quarterfinals and just missing out on the semifinals after a penalty shootout loss to Uruguay in South Africa. Ghana will play the United States, Germany and Portugal in Group G in Brazil, and opens its campaign against the U.S. in Natal on June 16. Ghana beat the U.S. in the second round of the last World Cup. Coach Kwesi Appiah didnt reveal what his target was for the team that nearly became the first African nation into the last four of a World Cup four years ago. "Once the players are all fit we hope to deliver," Appiah said. "Every coach has a target and l believe in my players and the national team, but l cannot tell where we will gett to.dddddddddddd. The only thing l can say is we will not disgrace Ghanaians." Essien missed the 2010 World Cup through injury and is likely facing his last chance to play at the showpiece in Brazil. Boateng stepped down from national team duties in 2011 but was recalled to Ghanas squad toward the end of the World Cup qualifying campaign late last year. Ghana will play in its third straight World Cup in Brazil. Appiah also picked Marseilles Andre Ayew, Juventus Kwadwo Asamoah and young attacking midfielder Wakaso Mubarak. Defender Jeffrey Schlupp, who plays for Englands Leicester City, was the biggest surprise in the initial squad. The GFA announced Monday that Ghana would play the Netherlands in Rotterdam on May 31 and South Korea in Miami on June 9 in its final World Cup warm-ups before facing Jurgen Klinsmanns U.S. team in Brazil. ___ Provisional squad: Goalkeepers: Adam Kwarasey, Fatawu Dauda, Stephen Adams. Defenders: Samuel Inkoom, Daniel Opare, Harrison Afful, Jeffrey Schlupp, John Boye, Jonathan Mensah, Jerry Akaminko, Rashid Sumaila. Midfielders: Michael Essien, Rabiu Mohammed, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Kwadwo Asamoah, Sulley Muntari, Albert Adomah, Wakaso Mubarak, Christian Atsu, David Accam, Andre Ayew, Afriyie Acquah. Forwards: Asamoah Gyan, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Abdul Majeed Waris, Jordan Ayew. ' ' '
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