Having said that, Thibodeau has a problem that he’s going to have to face sooner or later. He hasn’t gotten enough production out of veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich. That was the case again Monday night as Hinrich shot just 2-for-8 from the field, scored four points to go with five assists and four turnovers in 31 minutes. It was a sub-par performance in a season full of them for Hinrich, who has been hurt five different times already this season. He missed the past week due to a left knee bruise, and he looked rusty and frustrated. But Thibodeau decided to stick with him instead of Nate Robinson and rookie Marquis Teague, both of whom have played well lately.

Hinrich didn’t offer any excuses for his poor play, but acknowledged his knee is not 100 percent.

“It was good enough to play,” Hinrich said. “I would have liked for it to have felt a little better but that’s just an excuse … just disappointing. I didn’t play very well, and we didn’t play very well as a team.”

“I think Kirky’s fine,” Bulls center Joakim Noah said. “He’s got to get his rhythm back, but he’s doing a great job for us defensively, and (he needs to) just take his shots, not think about it. I know Kirk’s a worker, and he’ll be fine.”

via Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com