INDIANAPOLIS -- Reggie Miller's heart is telling him to do something his head -- and sprained right ankle -- are still telling him not to even consider.

Miller said the injured ankle felt better on Wednesday than it did the day before, but he still wasn't sure whether he would play in the opening round of the World Championships on Thursday.

He knows what he wants to do, though.

"To miss a game is not in my character. I'm sure it's going to be tough tomorrow,'' Miller said. "But knowing how stubborn and hardheaded I am, I'm probably going to push it and be ready for Friday's game. Even though I know I shouldn't be playing, I probably will.''

The United States, the heavy favorite in the 16-team tournament, will play Algeria on Thursday night. The next two games will be against Germany on Friday night, and China on Saturday night. The United States beat both of those teams handily in a pair of exhibition games last week.

It was during the 91-73 victory over Germany on Sunday that Miller injured his ankle.

"Obviously, as more time goes by, the better I'm going to feel,'' he said. "If this was a playoff game, I'm sure I'd push myself.''

He said he would see how his ankle felt after a shootaround Thursday morning.

"Obviously, I won't be 100 percent,'' said the 37-year-old Indiana Pacers guard, the oldest player on the U.S. team.

"Later, the quarterfinals and semifinals are definitely going to be challenging, and I definitely want to be at or close to full strength for those games,'' Miller said.

So should he forget about all three games this weekend and make sure he's ready for the later games?

"Logic is telling me yes, I should do that. But a lot of that goes out the window,'' he said. "I'm having so much fun playing with these guys, I want to be a part of every experience.''

U.S. coach George Karl said he still had not settled on a starting lineup.

"I'm pretty close, but I'd rather wait until tomorrow,'' Karl said.

Whoever plays, Karl said, will be prepared.

"The thing that the NBA does probably as well as anybody in the world is prepare. You play 82 games and you have to be an expert on how to prepare for every game and get it scouted and get the film work done,'' said Karl, the Milwaukee Bucks coach

"I have my film guy down here ... so we'll be very prepared for whoever we play in the quarterfinals, semifinals, finals. We're probably not very prepared for Algeria, but we've played Germany and China. After that, there's over-preparation. If you watch a team five or six times, there's not much more you can do.''