The Return Of Kirk Trainwreck

by chicagobullseye on Dec 15, 2009 3:58 PM CST

Kirk Hinrich Stats, 12.15.09: 16 games, 28 mpg, 33% FG, 28% 3-PP, 68% FT%, 25 FTA in 448 total minutes of play.

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” - George Santayana

NOVEMBER 24th, 2009: “Beside Miller's recent struggles, Kirk Hinrich entered shooting career-low percentages of .360 overall and .316 from 3-point land. He did make 3 of 6 shots for seven points. "I don't know if I've ever had a stretch like this," Hinrich said. "I have to stay aggressive. Sometimes, I feel like I have it going and then I have a hard time finding a way of asserting myself. I come out, my shot feels good in the first half and then I sometimes completely lose my rhythm in the second half. I'm not too worried about it. I figure it's going to come around some time. Just keep looking to take my shots, be aggressive and I'll get through it." – KC Johnson, Chicago Tribune

NOVEMBER 29th, 2007: “Hinrich's struggles are more glaring. He's shooting 34.6 percent overall and hitting just 20.5 from the outside. His assist-to-turnover ratio is a pedestrian 1.8, and his 4.7 turnovers per 48 minutes rank 15th in the NBA Article'I just think I need to stay with it and good things will happen,' Hinrich said. 'My confidence isn't shot. I've been through tough stretches before. I just need to play myself out of it.'” – Associated Press Article

FEBRUARY 2nd, 2005: “Skiles said Curry didn't play again because he wanted to use a small, pressing lineup to create havoc in a come-from-behind bid. A four-guard lineup featuring a hot Jannero Pargo, with 10 fourth-quarter points, and an effective Ben Gordon, with 17 points overall, cut the deficit to 96-89 with 3:15 left. But the Bulls failed to convert a ton of chances in a winnable game. That's why Hinrich's 5-of-16 shooting night was glaring. He is 9 of 37 in his last three games. "I've been struggling," Hinrich said. "But everything still feels good. I don't think it's a mechanical problem. And I don't feel too much pressure. I just have to perform better." Asked if he knew what was bothering Hinrich, Skiles shrugged. "Not really," he said.” – K.C. Johnson, “Bulls Fail to Put Lid On Nets”

JULY, 2009: “We have [John] Salmons and a hell of a three-guard rotation with Salmons, [ Kirk] Hinrich and Derrick [Rose]. Ben wasn’t going to get a whole lot of playing time. His time was going to be diminished. And now we’ve added [Jannero] Pargo for the limited time the fourth guard will get. Ben just no longer fit. He’s a terrific player. But he needs minutes. And he wouldn’t have been happy with the minutes he was going to get here.” – Jerry Reinsdorf Interview with K.C. Johnson 7.21.09

FanPosts are user-created posts from the BlogABull community, and are to be treated as the opinions and views of that particular user, not that of the blogger or blog community as a whole.

Tweet Comment 15 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

wow

my brother was right…every other year…..interesting…

On Behalf of Sue, Wjb, majoyenrac, Bullshooter and all the other Hinrich fans...Ill keep the Hinrich Hope coming...There will be light!

by piccolomair on Dec 15, 2009 4:12 PM CST reply actions

meh, he's better than Pargo

by chapuforyou on Dec 15, 2009 4:46 PM CST reply actions

A few quotes don't prove much

I like Hinrich’s quote from this year though. He seems more bewildered by his recent stretch than disappointed, which is how I’d expect a player to feel if he was experiencing a slump instead of diminishing skill.

by YaoPau on Dec 15, 2009 4:47 PM CST reply actions

thankfully we got rid of the streaky scorer.

USE THE SOFTWARE. Actions-> Rec/Flag. Reply to comments with the reply button. Rec good fanposts/fanshots so the crud gets pushed down.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Dec 15, 2009 4:52 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs

Kirk is a trainwreck, but he's what we have to for right now

What I am more concerned with is the game tonight, which I call “the game of opposites” and here are my reasons for it….

Let me start with the Lakers HC, Phil. The Zen master himself, the most winningest coach in NBA history with 10 titles and one as a player. Now, at the complete opposite end of that spectrum, we have the 2nd year Rookie HC, VDN. Never coached before the bulls, and has a bad winning record so far. Bad start, I know.

Second, the Lakers have the twin towers who can dominate any team in the paint, inlcuding a few “throw ins” at the low post such as Bryant, Artest and Odom. Meanwhile, the bulls have absolutely ZERO ability to score in the paint, unless Noah is getting a tip in.

Third, the Lakers play a complete team defense. You might beat one guy, but you better be ready to beat two or three more after. On the other hand, teams get into the paint and score pretty much at will against the bulls inept defense, and soft middle.

Fourth, the Lakers have tremendous three-point ability in Fisher, Bryant, Odom and Vujacic. They also play the traingle offense, and have the second best player (the first being MJ of course) to ever play in it. Meanwhile, the bulls three-point FG% is near the bottom of the league, and their FG% is less than mediocre. The play what I cal the “bermuda triangle offense” in which their FG% disappears the more shots they take.

Fifth reason this is the game of opposites, is that the Lakers have clutch shooting, a go to guy, and a scorer named Kobe. The bulls, on the other hand, rely on Salmons for shots, and he is our “go to guy” (stop laughing and continue reading, ok, I know its tough not to but laugh but try).

Finally, and I threw this is just for shits and giggles, the records of these 2 teams is opposite. Ok, not exactly, but if you squint your eyes while looking at it, it almost appears that way… Lakers 18-4 Bulls 8-14

So, to sum this up, I think there isnt one person on the bulls management team, or coaching team, or even the players who think they can compete in this game, let alone win it. This is not to bash the bulls, but I just wanted to say that this one is going to be harder for me to swallow since i live in this god forsaken land of Laker fans, and I have been hearing it all weekend and week from them.

"All they do is mock me, just like they did the fat fellow. All the time mocking, mocking, mocking, mocking all the time! Now, it is Babu's turn to mock "---Babu Bhatt in the Seinfeld Finale Part 2

P.S.
"The fact of the matter is the chicago bulls have never been a contender since I left..."----Johnny Kilroy

by chi_till_eye_die on Dec 15, 2009 5:16 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

I'm not even a Kirk Fan

I was a huge BG fan, but there’s just no way Kirk can go on shooting this poorly, It will turn around, He’ll have a break out game and it will pick back up.

by BigBabyCollin on Dec 15, 2009 5:28 PM CST reply actions

I hope you are right.

OK I don't know shit about basketball.

by SoulEater7 on Nov. 5, 2009 9:51 PM CST

by sue369 on Dec 15, 2009 5:41 PM CST up reply actions

Kirk has been on a downslide since 2006. A 3 year slump almost. Why is he going to turn it around now? He doesn’t play well when the pressure’s on, once the season is almost over, then he may shoot a little better.

I’m not a Kirk hater, but he’s always been super streaky. Why did we expect him to turn it around after years of struggling with his shot. The turnaround isn’t gonna happen

by C Smoove on Dec 17, 2009 1:08 PM CST up reply actions

Hinrich shot over 40% on 3pt. shots last year. Just didn’t play as much or take as many shots as he did when he was scoring 15-16 PPG. He is streaky obviously, but until the Bulls can aquire a legit 2 guard… Kirk is the Bulls best option at that position.

by kingles on Dec 17, 2009 1:38 PM CST up reply actions

Shot better in a decreased role, fine. But overall it’s pretty easy to see that he has peaked as a player and not improving. He’s not even 30 yet…what the hell happened to him?

by C Smoove on Dec 17, 2009 3:47 PM CST up reply actions

Hinrich has had some injury problems the last couple years. That is part of it, also his role has changed significantly due to the arrival of Rose. His minutes are inconsistant, and he’s coming off the bench. Some players don’t adjust that well to that, even if they aren’t complaining about it and they get a decent number of minutes overall. Also, as the post at the top of this thread indicates, there is a strange pattern to his shooting percentages over the last 5 years(down, up, down, up, down), which may or may not be a coincidence. It also seems like he lost some aggresiveness offensively during the 07-08 debacle. So lots of different things could be involved. I say, start him at 2 guard, and let’s see what happens.

by kingles on Dec 18, 2009 12:01 AM CST up reply actions

He just doesn’t play aggressively and is having too much trouble even hitting open shots. I wish we had some legit SG option cause Hinrich isn’t even a real SG anyway.

by C Smoove on Dec 18, 2009 12:07 PM CST up reply actions

I’m hopefull that if he’s put in the starting lineup as SG he might be a little more aggressive. Since his career low 3pt.% is 35%, and career avg. 3pt% is 38%(currently shooting 29%) he’s going to shoot better than he has. I’d like to see him shoot a lot more 3’s than he does(not like the Knicks, just 6-7 a game), and I hope playing at SG will bring that out of him. Having said that, he’s only a BETTER option than Salmons…not really a good option. Getting a legit SG as you say, should be a priority.

by kingles on Dec 18, 2009 12:51 PM CST up reply actions

Hinrich’s playoff averages are significantly better than his career regular season averages. This includes last season…this is not the sign of a player who can’t play when the pressure is on.

by kingles on Dec 17, 2009 1:43 PM CST up reply actions