Apparently, Kirk Hinrich’s strong defense doesn’t stop after back-to-back solid performances against Ray Allen and Brandon Roy.
Asked after the Bulls defeated Portland on Saturday if signing a $47.5 million contract extension on the eve of this season had contributed to his earlier defensive inconsistency, Hinrich snickered and acted, well, defensive.
“Nah,” Hinrich said. “I don’t feel pressure or any extra burden because I’m going to get paid more money. If I don’t play well, I don’t play well. It has nothing to do with effort or money. I just want to be the best player I can be and help my team win.”
Hinrich is doing so by recapturing the form that has stamped him as the Bulls’ best perimeter defender. Friday night in Seattle, Allen missed a season-high 19 shots. In Saturday’s final seconds, Hinrich played textbook positional defense as Roy missed a game-tying drive.
“Kirk has had tough duty back-to-back nights, and I thought he was good,” coach Scott Skiles said. “Kirk, I’d say now for three weeks or so, defensively has looked much more like himself. In Seattle, it really stood out.
“But when we’re looking at tape, he’s stringing together some really good performances again. And we need that. He’s so valuable when he’s like that.”
Hinrich dropped the defensiveness to admit his defense didn’t match his standards earlier this season.
“I was more inconsistent,” he said. “I don’t remember a point where I felt like I turned it on defensively. I’m just out there competing and guarding guys the best I can.”
Allen was visibly frustrated, complaining to officials, shoving Hinrich as he came off screens.
As a bonus, Hinrich had his best offensive month statistically in January and scored a combined 37 points in the back-to-back victories over Seattle and Portland to start February. In January, Hinrich averaged 17.6 points and 7.5 assists.
“When we came back home from the first long trip [in November], we had that long home stretch and I didn’t play with any aggressiveness offensively at all,” Hinrich said. “I deferred to everybody else for whatever reason.
“My game is about having an aggressive mind-set. I think I’ve been doing that lately.”
