The Chicago Bulls have elected to shut down All-Star center Joakim Noah for at least a week to rehab his strained groin.
According to ESPN, after playing 20 minutes against the Detroit Pistons Wednesday night, Noah reported feeling discomfort in the area.
"We're going to shut Jo down," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau told ESPN during Friday's shootaround. "He's got a little soreness, so we want to make sure we get that taken care of. Probably another week or so, but we just want to make sure he's completely healthy before we move forward."
Thibodeau said there has been some improvement but not enough to warrant Noah, who scored two points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished 3 three assists against Detroit, to continue playing.
"It's better, but it's not where we'd like it to be," Thibodeau said of Noah's rehabaliation. "We want it completely healthy where he doesn't feel it, and right now he's still feels it, so we got to take care of that."
Thibodeau also acknowledged that Noah's health could have some effect on the team's final roster decisions.
"I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it could," said Thibodeau. "We're looking at what our needs are. The one good thing: Jo's only played 20 minutes so far in the preseason. So it has given us a look at Nazr Mohammed, Taj Gibson and Erik Murphy. That's what I like about our team is the versatility. We're still evaluating. In the end, we'll do what we think is best for the team."
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