Kirk Hinrich does not want to hear excuses, nor is he about to make one.
In the last two seasons, he has heard over and over about how young the Bulls are and how, in the NBA, youth gives way to struggles.
“I feel like that’s a scapegoat,” the third-year guard said Monday. “We are young, but we can’t afford to play young. We have to play without making `young’ mistakes.”
That kind of resolve gave Hinrich and his teammates 47 victories last season and the team’s first playoff berth since 1998. It’s also why he started every game he played and why on Monday the Bulls picked up a fourth-year option on the Sioux City, Iowa, native.
Hinrich will lead the Bulls into their final exhibition games Tuesday against Memphis at the United Center and Wednesday against the Timberwolves in Minneapolis. The Bulls are 3-3 in exhibitions.
For Hinrich, there is a sense of urgency.
“It’s still early, but we’re running out of excuses,” he said. “We’re at a point right now where these next two preseason games, we have to take them seriously, and try to execute and play the way we did last year.”
It’s not easy when newcomers such as forwards Michael Sweetney and Tim Thomas still are becoming acclimated to the Bulls’ system.
“Sometimes it appears we’re strangers out there when you watch us play,” coach Scott Skiles said.
More than ever, the Bulls will rely on Hinrich and other backcourt players to carry them, especially with the team hurting for size and skilled scorers in the frontcourt.
Hinrich leads the Bulls in scoring with a modest 11.7 points a game. His preseason shooting percentages–52 percent from the field and 50 percent on three-pointers–belie his streakiness.
“Most of Kirk’s life, even in college, he’d miss three or four and make four or five,” Skiles said. “It’s kind of the way he plays. He does so much out there. His shooting sometimes becomes secondary. He’s a totally different player when he’s knocking down shots.”
So far, he has displayed a knack for getting hot early in the second half of games.
“I’m just trying to be aggressive and feel out the flow of the game and how things are going,” Hinrich said. “When things aren’t going well for us, we have to stick together and try to be more assertive at that time. Someone has to try to step up and make plays.”
Skiles wants Hinrich to raise his shooting percentage closer to .445 from last season’s .397 and his three-point percentage to about .400 from .355.
Both are within reach. Hinrich sank 39 percent of his threes as a rookie.
“It doesn’t seem like that big of a jump in percentage,” Skiles said. “It changes the perception of the way teams play you. The way he can penetrate, defend and all the other things he does; it can really open up his game.”
That’s not the only area in which Hinrich and Skiles want improvement. Hinrich also must avoid foul trouble, a stigma that plagues many Bulls players.
An excellent defender, Hinrich sometimes finds himself struggling to find a balance between playing hard and trying too hard.
“When I slide down to play the [off] guard, I feel I have to be more aggressive to compete with those guys,” he said.
“At the same time I have to be smarter and do it without fouling.”
Easing up on defense isn’t an option.
“Defensively, we have to play hard every day,” he said. “If we don’t do that, we’re not going to be successful.”
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mxgarcia@tribune.com
