Hinrich's Good but not Great
Kirk Hinrich is one of the most overrated players in Bulls history. He's a good player, but he's nowhere near great. For some reason, many fans speak about him in reverential tones, even after one of his patented 4-13 shooting nights. The uninformed and ignorant Saturday night crowd
On a telecast this past season, the killer duo of Dore and Kerr suggested that he was only a step behind Steve Nash. I spent the remainder of the game on the internet, trying to find the Dore and Kerr familial ties to the Hinrichs. Kirk is a lot closer to Steve Blake than Steve Nash.
What are the reasons for this overestimation of the Hinrich skill set? I've narrowed it down to 3 possible causes:
1. The
Anyone remember the last time a NCAA champion came out of the Big 12? You shouldn't, because the conference known as the Big 12 has never won a National Championship in men's basketball. The Big 12 was formed in 1996, and before that, it was known as the Big 8. In the last 50 years, only 1 current member of the Big 12 has won a National Championship: The 1989 Kansas team thanks to Larry Brown and Danny Manning. Since then,
Here are the only Men's Basketball Championships in the pathetic history of Big 12 schools:
1945 -
1946 -
1952 -
1988 -
Yet, when you ask a casual basketball fan about the Kansas Jayhawks, they'd probably rank it it's "tradition of excellence" with UCLA, Indiana, Duke and North Carolina. They really don't deserve the rep. Since Danny Manning, the teams that currently constitute the Big 12 have really only produced two superstars over 20 years: Paul Pierce (Kansas) and Chauncey Billups (Colorado). That's beyond pathetic for a "major" conference.
In fairness to Kirk, as a senior, he led the Jayhawks, along with fellow first rounder Nick Collison, to the NCAA title game against the Syracuse Orangeman and freshman superstar Carmelo Anthony. In the biggest game of his life, he shot 6-20 and effectively ended the Jayhawk title hopes. Hinrich brought his torrid shooting to the NBA by hitting 38 and 39 percent of his shots in his first 2 years. Needless to say, I saw it coming.
Has anyone ever bothered to look at the teams Hinrich played against during his 4 years in the Big 12? The
To sum up, since the conference is so overrated, it stands to reason that many of the stars from this league will be overrated before they enter the NBA. Big 12 "Superstars" like Marcus Fizer, Venson Hamilton, Tony Allen, Raef LaFrentz, Wayne Simien, Kareem Rush, Chris Mihm, Cory Carr, Dedric Willoughby dominated their talentless peers in Conference. For the most part, they fell flat on their face when joining the NBA. Hinrich's NBA career has already surpassed most of the greatest players from his collegiate conference, but that when you really analyze where he comes from, that means absolutely nothing.
2. The Endless Nash Comparisons.
For some reason, the Bulls announcers and many fans have a rabid desire to compare him to Steve Nash. Please stop. There is no comparison. Steve Nash is in another universe. Comparing Nash to Hinrich is analogous to comparing to Harold Miner to Michael Jordan. A better comparison could be made between Steve Blake and Kirk Hinrich.
I'd sell my kidney if Hinich ever shoots 48% in a season. And I'd sell my other one if he averages 10 assists in a season. He's just not in the same league.
Kirk played absolutely horrible in half of the 2007 playoff games. He shot 35% in the Miami Series, and 38% in the Pistons series. Yet I read very little about his game tanking when we needed him most. Barry Rozner, a Daily Herald columnist who I usually enjoy, decided to write a glowing work about Kirk in the middle of the Pistons series. Why? I believe he was overly impressed with his 7-15 shooting performance against
April 21st, Game 1 vs. the Heat: 1-7 shooting with 4 turnovers in 19 minutes (Bulls win).
April 29th, Game 4 vs. the Heat: 2-12 shooting in 31 minutes (Bulls win).
May 7th. Game 2 at
May 10th, Game 3 vs.
May 17th, Game 6 vs.
He played pretty well in the other games, but playing solid in 50% of the playoff games is hardly superstar material. In the
In the 2007 playoffs, Ben Gordon played 395 minutes. He went to the free line 63 times (He made 58 of them). In 362 playoff minutes, Kirk Hinrich went to the line 26 times, and made 20 of them. What does that tell you about these Bulls stars? It should tell you BG takes it to the hole, puts pressure on the defense, and gets the other team in foul trouble. And Kirk doesn't.
Let's start giving the endorsements to BG and Luol, and let's start announcing Gordon last. When "Eye in the Sky" was blasting in 1993, we didn't announce BJ after MJ. Overall, Kirk Hinrich is a solid NBA player. He just isn't the first or second best on his own team.
Brilliant, brilliant article. The Suntimes.com should hire this guy.
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The Bulls biggest problem is not their point guard, or their lack of a scoring threat in the low post, or even their GM's inability to pull off a blockbuster trade to put them over the top, despite having more useful pieces to get such a deal done than almost any other team in the NBA. The Bulls biggest problem is that they play in the same division as the best organization in the Eastern Conference, if not the entire NBA (only possible exception is the Spurs), the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons have dominated the East for the past five years, reaching the Conference finals every year. This offseason they got younger and more athletic by adding first round draft pick Rodney Stuckey and opening up a rotation spot for Amir Johnson and a larger role for Jason Maxiell. They also added an under the radar free agent signing, Jarvis Hayes, who can provide some scoring off the bench and depth behind Tayshaun Prince.
I am afraid, for the Bulls, that this equals another second or third place finish depending on their luck against the Cavs. Sadly, Michael Jordan is not walking through that door and there will be no repeat of 1991 anytime soon. The Pistons are still the class of the East.
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Fred, you suck!!! I agree that Hinrich is overrated, but so are the Bulls, Bears, Cubs and Blackhawks. Chicago sports will never get close to the Bulls of the 90s LOL
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"I agree that Hinrich is overrated, but so are the Bulls, Bears, Cubs and Blackhawks. Chicago sports will never get close to the Bulls of the 90s LOL"
Notice noone said the Sox were overrated!! GO SOX!!
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You've missed the most obvious reason - the racist tendencies of the typical Chicago sports fan. Kirk Hinrich is worshiped because he represents the clean cut, white image that most fans in this city want to see. He fills seats and sells jerseys because he is what Chicago fans want as the "face of the franchise". Bulls announcers play into the stereotypical view of the white player as hardworking and intelligent, while ignoring or downplaying Hinrich consistently poor shooting and decision making. He rarely beats anyone off the dribble and has a difficult time finishing around the basket. The reality is that Kirk Hinrich is at best an average player who is maybe the fifth best player on his own team.
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I agree with the comment that Kirk Hinrich is maybe the fifth best player on his own team. But I wonder if there's been some special arrangement for Kirk Hinrich to stay with the Bulls organization. Regardless of Hinrich's poor production he receives heavy minutes as the starter. It seem to assure Kirk Hinrich's heavy minutes the Bulls let go Jamal Crawford and Ben Gordan which both player produce more than Hinrich. No matter how better other players on the bulls bench out produce Kirk Hinrich, Kirk Hinrich get the start. There also seem to be a muzzle on the Chicago sport media as well. I've listen to Chicago sport radio and every time a bull fan criticize the play of Hinrich it is brush aside as quick as it was said. It almost seem to be a rule that no long criticism of Kirk Hinrich be discussed. This is what lead me to wonder has there been some special arrangement for Kirk Hinrich to stay on the Bulls team? Are there important people behind the scene pulling strings for Hinrich?
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Nice info, thanks for sharing this.
Will come back again to check for updates, cheers,
Lindsay
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