The Chicago Bulls 2012-2013 campaign has officially come to a close. Now that we are weeks removed from the end of the season and have had time to be reflective, it’s time to take a look back at the performances of the members of this Bulls squad and brief look ahead at the future. The following is the fifth part of a series of nine posts detailing this year’s squad. Each player is assigned a season grade based off of their performance on general preseason expectations.
Previous player capsules can be found here: Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, Jimmy Butler
Name: Kirk Hinrich
Height/Weight: 6’3″ / 190 lbs
Age: 32
NBA Seasons: 10
Regular Season Stats: 60 games, 7.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 5.2 apg, 1.1 spg, 37.7 FG%, 71.4 FT%
Post-Season Stats: 4 games, 11.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 5.8 apg, 2.0 spg, 43.2 FG%, 64.3 FT%
Season Grade: C-
Recap:
Before Nate Robinson put the team on his back, the Chicago Bulls’ biggest offseason signing was Kirk Hinrich. Had he simply been an addition to the team I would have had no problem with this. However, in order to attain his services Chicago bid with themselves and ended up trading three point marksman Kyle Korver, who ended up having a monstrous season with the Atlanta Hawks.
Because of the price Chicago paid to get him as well as the fact that Chicago hard capped themselves to get him expectations for Hinrich were set to a higher standard than they normally would have been for a 32 year old. Unfortunately Hinrich failed to live up to these expectations. Offensively, he did create some opportunities for Chicago but failed to get any consistent scoring opportunities for his teammates and could barely muster any offense of his own. Defensively Hinrich did play very physical for the Bulls but was consistently burned by younger guards as they blew by him. It was like watching a moped try to race a Ferrari.
As a whole I was not a fan of Hinrich’s season and felt he didn’t performed up to the level he should have. I would have given him a lower grade, however there is no denying that the Bulls offense did seem to flow better when he was on the floor. Nor can I deny the fact that the Chicago Bulls had a better record with him starting than they did otherwise. For those reasons alone Hinrich passes… barely.
Future:
Hinrich looks like he’ll be a member of the Bulls for one more season. With any luck, Hinrich will spend this season working on his speed as well as his three point shooting.
This article has got it all wrong. True, Hinrich’s numbers appear unimpressive. However, he brings so much to the Bulls. The article claims that Hinrich was “burned by younger guards as they blew by him.” If he was, as the article claims, a mediocre defender then why did Joakim Noah say: “It’s obvious. He’s one of the best perimeter defenders in this league.” Furthermore, he limited Deron Williams, one of the top point guards in the league, to shooting 33.3% during the four games that Hinrich played in during the Brooklyn series. The article also seems rather dismissive of Hinrich’s offensive abilities. Many articles point out that I have read point out that Hinrich is a more than capable floor general, which is also evident when you see him play. Joakim Noah also said: “The way he controls the offense … Kirk is a big, big, big, big factor in this series.” Hinrich also fails to mention that Kirk Hinrich shot a more than respectable 39% from downtown. Lastly, this article neglects to mention the invaluable leadership, work ethic, and grit that Hinrich brings to the team.
I don’t know what Avi Saini was looking at but it clearly was not the Chicago Bulls of the 2012/13 season. The Bulls were clearly a better functioning team with Hinrich on the floor. Rose campaigned for and recruited Hinrich. It is highly probable the Bulls miss the playoffs without Hinrich. His grade should be “B”.