Only loftiest of goals remain for Hinrich
By Terry Hersom, Journal sports editor | Posted: Friday, April 13, 2007
Chicago Bulls' Andres Nocioni, left, Kirk Hinrich and Loul Deng, right react on the bench at the end of a game against the New Jersey Nets' during an NBA basketball game Friday, April 6, 2207, in Chicago. The Bulls defeated the Nets, 105-74. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
CHICAGO -- Every step of the way, there were always the skeptics, insistent that Kirk Hinrich couldn't achieve his next objective.
All of them seem so incredibly foolish now, there's almost no point doubting whether or not the 1999 West High grad can pull off the even loftier ambitions he discussed in an interview here Tuesday night at the United Center.
Shortly before taking the floor in front of another sellout crowd, the 26-year-old Chicago Bulls floor general paid tribute to an organization that has patiently allowed a young team to gradually start bringing back some of the glory.
"The organization gave us a chance to grow up as a group," said Hinrich, who led West to an Iowa Class 4A state title in 1999, then helped Kansas reach the Final Four in 2002 and 2003. "We had a young group the last couple of years. To their credit, we were able to get to know each other. Every player's gotten better.
"We've kind of molded into a pretty good team here and, hopefully, in the future, we'll contend for an Eastern Conference championship and the NBA Championship."
These still aren't the Michael Jordan-led Bulls who won six NBA titles in the 1990's.
Matter of fact, there are no acknowledged superstars in a lockerroom where the soft-spoken Hinrich greets a writer from his hometown with a welcoming smile and a firm handshake.
Still, the Chicago franchise has soared all the way back to the top of the league for attendance, averaging 22,249 customers over 40 home dates.
And, the increased interest started to some degree when the club made Hinrich the seventh pick in the Lebron James/Carmelo Anthony/Dwyane Wade draft of 2003.
A year later, the talented playmaker was joined by 6-9 forward Luol Deng, who played just one year at Duke, and Ben Gordon, a sweet-shooting guard who helped UConn win the 2004 NCAA title.
A strong cast of role players --a quality blend of veterans and youngsters --have helped put the Bulls back in the playoffs the last two seasons. But Hinrich and his teammates have yet to win a post-season series, which is something they definitely hope to change.
"For us, it's all defense," he said. "If we play with a lot of energy and guard the way we have at times this year, we feel we can beat anybody. It's just a matter of that and growing up. We felt like we had a chance to win those two series (the last two years), we just made too many mistakes. Hopefully, this year, we'll have an answer for that. You know, experience means a lot. We've learned that."
Gordon averages 21.3 points, Deng 19.0 and Hinrich 16.7 to go with a team-high 6.2 assists per contest. They're the primary scorers for a team that many believe is just a quality post player away from being one of the NBA's elite.
Already, though, they're not far from it. With three regular season games remaining, including a home finale tonight against Charlotte, the Bulls (47-32) are battling Central Division rival Cleveland (also 47-32 after a Thursday night win) for the second best record in the Eastern Conference.
Trailing only division leader Detroit, which they've beaten three times in four meetings, the Bulls have split four games with Cleveland but own a tiebreaker (12-4 division record) over James and the Cavaliers (9-6) that would give them the No. 2 seed and a home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs.
That only became possible this season when a post-season rules change allowed a division runner-up to be seeded ahead of division champs with inferior records. However, should the Bulls lose once or more while the Cavs win out, they'd slip all the way to fifth, which would likely send them into a first-round series with the defending NBA champion Miami Heat.
Chicago is 3-1 against a Miami team that has played much of the season without either Wade or massive Shaquille O'Neal. That includes an eye-opening 108-66 rout in a season opener on Oct. 31, which turned out to be far better than any Halloween night Hinrich ever enjoyed as a youngster in Sioux City.
Earlier that day, before his 26 points helped put a major damper on the reigning NBA kings' rings ceremony in Miami, Hinrich secured his future both professionally and financially, signing a five-year, $47.5-million contract that carries through the 2011-12 campaign.
Currently playing the last of four seasons on his original $10.2-million pact, he might have waited until season's end and coaxed even more money out of the Bulls. But the dollar signs were impressive enough, even though several internet sources rate him far higher as a player than literally dozens of NBA stars with richer deals.
"I don't know how much it would have been on my mind if I wouldn't have signed," he said. "But it was definitely exciting for me and my family to be secure money-wise and not have to worry about it for the rest of my life."
Kirk's parents, Jim and Nancy, are both longtime teachers, both still working, although Jim, formerly the longtime boys basketball coach at West, took early retirement from the Sioux City schools in 2003 and is now teaching and coaching at North Kansas City High School. The couple spends weekends together, many of them in Chicago, but they've grown accustomed to all the mileage since as far back as when Kirk was growing up, traveling to youth tournaments far and wide.
"They make it here for most weekend home games," said Kirk. "They still really enjoy coming to watch me play and it means a lot to me as well. They love coming up, catching the games, hanging out. It's like their hobby now."
He has never failed to appreciate the support of his parents and also his sister, Jill, who lives in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park. They were definitely in his thoughts after the new contract was signed.
"My parents saved pop cans and scraped pennies to provide for me and my sister so we could afford to go to some weekend youth tournament," he told Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times. "I'm just happy to be able to tell them, "Don't worry about work or anything, just enjoy the rest of your life."
From gym rat to high school star, Hinrich reached the varsity as a freshman and West, not coincidentally, made state tournament trips the next four seasons in a row --the school's only trips to state.
Roy Williams certainly never regretted trips to Sioux City that helped him land Hinrich along with Nick Collison of Iowa Falls. Not only did Iowa's 1999 co-Mr. Basketball recipients have the stuff to play for tradition-rich Kansas, they had such an impact that Williams left Lawrence for North Carolina after their final season together, an NCAA runner-up finish to Syracuse and Anthony.
Even for those surprised that Hinrich could, indeed, become a star at Kansas, the NBA seemed out of reach. Again, though, Kirk proved them wrong, becoming a starter early in his rookie season. He has almost never been out of the lineup ever since.
Still, he hasn't allowed a lucrative contract to change his approach to basketball or his life away from the game, generally speaking. Nor does he hang back on the bench, milking that final pre-game introduction for a little more crowd noise.
The consummate team player, he is already halfway to the huddle on the court before the public address announcer has completed an emphatic, "Kirk HINE-RICK!"
It's all about the team and making sure his contributions help the team progress.
This season, the emphasis was on shooting, striving to improve upon percentages that crept from .386 to .397 and then .418 over his first three seasons.
"I felt like the last couple years I underachieved as far as my shooting percentage," he said. "I wanted to make sure I came out this year and got that done and tried to keep improving."
Needless to say, countless hours of shooting went into that mission. But there was more.
"It's that (lots of practice), but I think it's more just the mentality when I'm in games," he said. "The past couple years, if I started off cold and missed a few shots, I would sometimes lose my confidence.
"Now, I just go out and shoot like I would if I was in the gym playing pickup with my friends or whatever. If I miss a few, the next few are going in. I think I kind of got away from that the last couple years."
To that end, Hinrich's percentages are up to .447 overall and an excellent .414 from three-point range.
He has, indeed, gotten better and better. Some of that is the byproduct of four NBA seasons. Some goes back to last summer, when he landed a spot on Team USA for the World Championships in Japan.
Due to a disappointing third-place finish, the Americans will have to play in another qualifying tournament this summer in Las Vegas in order to secure a berth in the 2008 Olympics.
"Last summer, I really enjoyed it," he said. "I think I learned a lot about basketball. "I think I gained confidence. I got to play against a lot of the best players in the world -- against and with a lot of great players. It was a little bit long, but at the end I was happy I did it."
So, he'll definitely keep pursuing that this summer, hoping he'll still be wearing the red, white and blue in the next Olympics.
"I'm not exactly sure how the schedule will be, but they'll have a weekend where all the guys will come out and work out for a weekend," he said. "A lot of guys are hurt or they've got stuff going on. It'll probably be a different looking team (than last year)."
Ah, yes. The "guys." Like Kobe and Lebron and Carmelo and Dwyane. Hinrich, needless to say, has gone far beyond "just" making it in the NBA.
And, he, too, has some personal commitments planned for the summer. None is bigger than July 7, when he'll be married to Bishop Heelan grad Jill Fisher, who he's known since the summer before his junior year at West --when both were 16.
Fisher, a state champion long jumper for Heelan who shares the city record of 18 feet and three-quarters of an inch, was also an all-state volleyball player for the Crusaders. She went on to set a school long jumping record of 18 feet, 7.75 inches at Northwest Missouri State.
"We got engaged when I got back from Japan (the world championships) in either late August or early September," said Kirk.
Hinrich didn't reveal where the wedding will be held other than to say "we're going to a destination."
Thanks to all of those years of hard work, becoming the caliber of basketball player few towns like Sioux City will ever know, just about anywhere on the planet should be within his means.
All of them seem so incredibly foolish now, there's almost no point doubting whether or not the 1999 West High grad can pull off the even loftier ambitions he discussed in an interview here Tuesday night at the United Center.
Shortly before taking the floor in front of another sellout crowd, the 26-year-old Chicago Bulls floor general paid tribute to an organization that has patiently allowed a young team to gradually start bringing back some of the glory.
"The organization gave us a chance to grow up as a group," said Hinrich, who led West to an Iowa Class 4A state title in 1999, then helped Kansas reach the Final Four in 2002 and 2003. "We had a young group the last couple of years. To their credit, we were able to get to know each other. Every player's gotten better.
"We've kind of molded into a pretty good team here and, hopefully, in the future, we'll contend for an Eastern Conference championship and the NBA Championship."
These still aren't the Michael Jordan-led Bulls who won six NBA titles in the 1990's.
Matter of fact, there are no acknowledged superstars in a lockerroom where the soft-spoken Hinrich greets a writer from his hometown with a welcoming smile and a firm handshake.
Still, the Chicago franchise has soared all the way back to the top of the league for attendance, averaging 22,249 customers over 40 home dates.
And, the increased interest started to some degree when the club made Hinrich the seventh pick in the Lebron James/Carmelo Anthony/Dwyane Wade draft of 2003.
A year later, the talented playmaker was joined by 6-9 forward Luol Deng, who played just one year at Duke, and Ben Gordon, a sweet-shooting guard who helped UConn win the 2004 NCAA title.
A strong cast of role players --a quality blend of veterans and youngsters --have helped put the Bulls back in the playoffs the last two seasons. But Hinrich and his teammates have yet to win a post-season series, which is something they definitely hope to change.
"For us, it's all defense," he said. "If we play with a lot of energy and guard the way we have at times this year, we feel we can beat anybody. It's just a matter of that and growing up. We felt like we had a chance to win those two series (the last two years), we just made too many mistakes. Hopefully, this year, we'll have an answer for that. You know, experience means a lot. We've learned that."
Gordon averages 21.3 points, Deng 19.0 and Hinrich 16.7 to go with a team-high 6.2 assists per contest. They're the primary scorers for a team that many believe is just a quality post player away from being one of the NBA's elite.
Already, though, they're not far from it. With three regular season games remaining, including a home finale tonight against Charlotte, the Bulls (47-32) are battling Central Division rival Cleveland (also 47-32 after a Thursday night win) for the second best record in the Eastern Conference.
Trailing only division leader Detroit, which they've beaten three times in four meetings, the Bulls have split four games with Cleveland but own a tiebreaker (12-4 division record) over James and the Cavaliers (9-6) that would give them the No. 2 seed and a home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs.
That only became possible this season when a post-season rules change allowed a division runner-up to be seeded ahead of division champs with inferior records. However, should the Bulls lose once or more while the Cavs win out, they'd slip all the way to fifth, which would likely send them into a first-round series with the defending NBA champion Miami Heat.
Chicago is 3-1 against a Miami team that has played much of the season without either Wade or massive Shaquille O'Neal. That includes an eye-opening 108-66 rout in a season opener on Oct. 31, which turned out to be far better than any Halloween night Hinrich ever enjoyed as a youngster in Sioux City.
Earlier that day, before his 26 points helped put a major damper on the reigning NBA kings' rings ceremony in Miami, Hinrich secured his future both professionally and financially, signing a five-year, $47.5-million contract that carries through the 2011-12 campaign.
Currently playing the last of four seasons on his original $10.2-million pact, he might have waited until season's end and coaxed even more money out of the Bulls. But the dollar signs were impressive enough, even though several internet sources rate him far higher as a player than literally dozens of NBA stars with richer deals.
"I don't know how much it would have been on my mind if I wouldn't have signed," he said. "But it was definitely exciting for me and my family to be secure money-wise and not have to worry about it for the rest of my life."
Kirk's parents, Jim and Nancy, are both longtime teachers, both still working, although Jim, formerly the longtime boys basketball coach at West, took early retirement from the Sioux City schools in 2003 and is now teaching and coaching at North Kansas City High School. The couple spends weekends together, many of them in Chicago, but they've grown accustomed to all the mileage since as far back as when Kirk was growing up, traveling to youth tournaments far and wide.
"They make it here for most weekend home games," said Kirk. "They still really enjoy coming to watch me play and it means a lot to me as well. They love coming up, catching the games, hanging out. It's like their hobby now."
He has never failed to appreciate the support of his parents and also his sister, Jill, who lives in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park. They were definitely in his thoughts after the new contract was signed.
"My parents saved pop cans and scraped pennies to provide for me and my sister so we could afford to go to some weekend youth tournament," he told Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times. "I'm just happy to be able to tell them, "Don't worry about work or anything, just enjoy the rest of your life."
From gym rat to high school star, Hinrich reached the varsity as a freshman and West, not coincidentally, made state tournament trips the next four seasons in a row --the school's only trips to state.
Roy Williams certainly never regretted trips to Sioux City that helped him land Hinrich along with Nick Collison of Iowa Falls. Not only did Iowa's 1999 co-Mr. Basketball recipients have the stuff to play for tradition-rich Kansas, they had such an impact that Williams left Lawrence for North Carolina after their final season together, an NCAA runner-up finish to Syracuse and Anthony.
Even for those surprised that Hinrich could, indeed, become a star at Kansas, the NBA seemed out of reach. Again, though, Kirk proved them wrong, becoming a starter early in his rookie season. He has almost never been out of the lineup ever since.
Still, he hasn't allowed a lucrative contract to change his approach to basketball or his life away from the game, generally speaking. Nor does he hang back on the bench, milking that final pre-game introduction for a little more crowd noise.
The consummate team player, he is already halfway to the huddle on the court before the public address announcer has completed an emphatic, "Kirk HINE-RICK!"
It's all about the team and making sure his contributions help the team progress.
This season, the emphasis was on shooting, striving to improve upon percentages that crept from .386 to .397 and then .418 over his first three seasons.
"I felt like the last couple years I underachieved as far as my shooting percentage," he said. "I wanted to make sure I came out this year and got that done and tried to keep improving."
Needless to say, countless hours of shooting went into that mission. But there was more.
"It's that (lots of practice), but I think it's more just the mentality when I'm in games," he said. "The past couple years, if I started off cold and missed a few shots, I would sometimes lose my confidence.
"Now, I just go out and shoot like I would if I was in the gym playing pickup with my friends or whatever. If I miss a few, the next few are going in. I think I kind of got away from that the last couple years."
To that end, Hinrich's percentages are up to .447 overall and an excellent .414 from three-point range.
He has, indeed, gotten better and better. Some of that is the byproduct of four NBA seasons. Some goes back to last summer, when he landed a spot on Team USA for the World Championships in Japan.
Due to a disappointing third-place finish, the Americans will have to play in another qualifying tournament this summer in Las Vegas in order to secure a berth in the 2008 Olympics.
"Last summer, I really enjoyed it," he said. "I think I learned a lot about basketball. "I think I gained confidence. I got to play against a lot of the best players in the world -- against and with a lot of great players. It was a little bit long, but at the end I was happy I did it."
So, he'll definitely keep pursuing that this summer, hoping he'll still be wearing the red, white and blue in the next Olympics.
"I'm not exactly sure how the schedule will be, but they'll have a weekend where all the guys will come out and work out for a weekend," he said. "A lot of guys are hurt or they've got stuff going on. It'll probably be a different looking team (than last year)."
Ah, yes. The "guys." Like Kobe and Lebron and Carmelo and Dwyane. Hinrich, needless to say, has gone far beyond "just" making it in the NBA.
And, he, too, has some personal commitments planned for the summer. None is bigger than July 7, when he'll be married to Bishop Heelan grad Jill Fisher, who he's known since the summer before his junior year at West --when both were 16.
Fisher, a state champion long jumper for Heelan who shares the city record of 18 feet and three-quarters of an inch, was also an all-state volleyball player for the Crusaders. She went on to set a school long jumping record of 18 feet, 7.75 inches at Northwest Missouri State.
"We got engaged when I got back from Japan (the world championships) in either late August or early September," said Kirk.
Hinrich didn't reveal where the wedding will be held other than to say "we're going to a destination."
Thanks to all of those years of hard work, becoming the caliber of basketball player few towns like Sioux City will ever know, just about anywhere on the planet should be within his means.
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kirkHinrich1fan wrote on Oct 6, 2008 4:49 PM:
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Hinrich Fan wrote on Apr 13, 2007 2:16 PM:
bob wrote on Apr 13, 2007 1:25 PM: