Kirk Hinrich has had a fine NBA career: over 9,000 points scored, 4,000+ assists in close to 27,000 minutes on the court. He was a vital part of that 2007 Chicago Bulls team that went 49-33, finished third in the Eastern Conference, and reached the second round of the playoffs.
However, Kirk Hinrich is on the wrong side of 34, and he’s not going to be reverting to his ’07 form any time soon. This year Hinrich is establishing new career lows in FG% (.365) AND 3PT FG% (.320). Yet Coach Tom Thibodeau continues to play favor his aging and declining combo guard over the younger one with much more potential.
TNT’s Kenny “the Jet” Smith on E’Twaun Moore: “He was one of those guys [at Purdue] that could play the point. He’s going to be used going down the stretch towards the playoffs.”
He’s shooting 477% on the season, however, it’s on a limited sample size of just 86 attempts. His breakout performance versus MVP candidate Russell Westbrook was eye-opening, but remember it’s just one game. But what a game it was, 9/10 from the floor, 19 points including the game winning three-pointer; defending Westbrook to the tune of 2 of 12 shooting and four turnovers forced.
Since that evening, Moore has logged more minutes than Hinrich, not by much, but hey it’s progress. Maybe now Thibodeau’s practice of playing Kirk Hinrich over E’twaun Moore will start to dwindle. If Hinrich was a more superlative defender that decision would be easier to understand, but he’s not.
Hinrich isn’t as bad as Bulls fans portray him to be on social media. He’s been the whipping boy all season long and it’s not totally fair…but then again Kirk Hinrich is…..not…he’s….not….he’s not good. (apologies to Ty Webb on that)
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. You can read Banks’ feature stories and op-eds in the Chicago Tribune RedEye newspaper and hear his regular guest spots on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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