Why the man crush on Hinirich?

Discussion in 'Chicago Bulls' started by Denny Crane, Nov 16, 2014.

  1. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    I get that there is a certain amount of loyalty shown between the team and Kirk, but what I don't get is why management builds a roster structure that gives Thibs no option but to play him way more minutes than he should be getting at this point in his career. We're losing games to doormat teams with him starting at PG, and with him as a key player on the 2nd unit, our 2nd unit sucks.

    The argument that Thibs likes him and plays him doesn't hold water. His options have been to play Kirk (Rose out injured), or play Marquis Teague or a pint sized scoring guard who is surly easy to take advantage of at the defensive end. A small sample of said pint sized guard getting abused on defense is enough to bring in the goggled one and play him extended minutes.

    I get that in the absence of Rose and other offensive weapons, the strategy of slowing the game down by nearly dribbling out the :24 clock on offense and running a near full court press on defense keeps really talented teams from running away and hiding (running up the score) in games. Kirk is suited for running the offense if that is the strategy, but it is not a post season winning one, as we've seen.

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    The guy is 34. He outright sucks. The stats show it, except for A/TO ratio. The suggestion that he's good on defense is mind boggling.

    http://www.82games.com/1415/14CHI3.HTM

    He's split his time at PG and SG this season. His PER at PG is 5.4. His PER against at PG is 18. Where's the defense?

    At SG he's a little better, but you want your SG to be, you know, a SHOOTING GUARD. He simply does not have the skills to be a quality one, even for backup minutes.

    There is no real "proper amount of minutes" he should be playing per game, as he shouldn't be playing in every game. Seriously. Playing him doesn't contribute to winning. Forget about the "when he's played, we've won games" argument, as we've won games no matter who we've had, including league best records with the equally awful Keith Bogans as our starting SG. Thibs can win with girls. In their absence, he can win with Bogans and Kirk.

    What do we gain from him being in there? Some sort of stability you get from a veteran? Well, he's not going to be playing much longer (old and sucky players shouldn't be in the league), and Tony Snell is a young guy who is taller, plays better D, and was drafted for his shooting prowess. Give him the burn in the regular season so he's seasoned come playoff time. We'll be that much more ahead.

    I think Thibs would rather play someone else. Especially Rose. But when he looks at his bench in Rose's absence (or when he's getting a rest), there isn't much of a choice - his hands are tied. He may talk the company line, but I think we're all seeing a different Thibs this season, one who doesn't seem happy anymore.

    I also think we're seeing a Kirk led team that's worse on the court than Philly and Boston, two teams that tanked last season. No, this is not a small sample, it's what we see on the court.

    Simply put: play Snell, and bring in a backup PG who can start the 31 games transplant thinks Rose is going to miss.
     
  2. such sweet thunder

    such sweet thunder Member Staff Member Moderator

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    I've been coming around on Kirk Hinrich's value this season. My feelings go something like this:

    1) I agree that KH isn't a great fit for the regular season, but why should we care about the regular season record.

    2) The Bulls are not going to win a championship if Rose is injured during the playoffs, so Kirk's only role in the playoffs is going to be as a backup point guard, or as a fill in at the two or three in case of injury. Which brings us to our next point,

    3) If the Bulls have injured players at the two or three when the playoffs roll around KH is plug and play.

    4) The second unit is going to have more than enough scoring come the playoffs.

    5) Kirk Hinrich matches up well with a number of tough players who the Bulls would face in the playoffs, including LJ, Beal/Wall, Wade, and Steph Curry. For that matter he's not a migitar.

    6) He's usually relatively good at the very, very beginning of the season and at the very, very end of the season/during the playoffs.

    7) He's on a modest contract.

    8) And finally, he might, might, might be able to carry some of the handling duties for Rose during the regular season.

    Seems like a pretty decent signing to me.
     
  3. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    The Bulls are a 10 point differential better team with him off the court. He's a net huge negative, and that is factoring in his defense and intangibles.

    My case is any minutes he gets is minutes someone else should get that far benefits the team more.
     

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