It's Time To Bench Kirk Hinrich

The Bulls beat the Bobcats for the second time in a little over a week last night in Charlotte. Watching the game I noticed three things that the Bulls could do to help themselves get on the right track.

Their first move would be to petition the NBA to allow them to play the Bobcats 82 times a season. Somehow, I just don't see David Stern going along with that plan.

So the second move would be to used the lineup that worked so well last night more often in the next few games, and see if it was a one-time deal, or if there's actual chemistry between the five Bulls that owned the fourth quarter last night.

I've never been a huge fan of Chris Duhon, but he clearly did a better job of running the team in the final quarter last night than Kirk Hinrich has done all season. Which leads me to the third move the Bulls can make.

Bench Kirk Hinrich.

Last night's 0-point effort was just one in a series of horrible performances by Hinrich this season. Kirk played 17 minutes and aside from being shutout while on the court, he also could only manage 1 assist and three personal fouls. The Bulls have played 16 games this season, and in half of those games Hinrich has failed to score in double digits.

Now it's not like Hinrich has to be a big time scorer for the Bulls to win, but it's certainly a lot easier on the team when he's playing well. He hasn't done that at all this season.

Kirk is averaging only 10.7 points per game this season, while shooting only 35% from the field, and 21% from three-point range. All of this for only $11.25 million this season. He does lead the team in assists at 5.4 a game, but if Kirk is going to be such a lost cause scoring-wise, he needs to be dishing out at least 8 or 9 assists a night and committing less turnovers.

His current assist to turnover ratio is 1.76:1 which is nowhere near acceptable. Compare that number to other point guards around the league.

• Jose Calderon -5.59:1
• Chauncey Billups - 3.56:1
• Jason Terry - 3.55:1
• Chris Paul - 3.23:1
• Steve Nash - 3.03:1

Chris Duhon currently has a ratio of 3.14:1.

So in other words, Hinrich has become a liability both scoring and distributing the ball. Other than those two things, what's a point guard supposed to do? Hinrich is still a solid defender, but he's not nearly good enough to deserve more playing time because of it.

Whether or not a light is going to suddenly get turned on in Kirk's head, and he'll go back to playing like the guy that he's been the last few years, I don't know. All I know is that right now, the best point guard for this team is Chris Duhon, and he should be the starter.

This way Scott Skiles can try to help Hinrich get his game back by bringing him in off the bench and hoping he can help run the Bulls second unit. If Kirk can't get his game in line after that, John Paxson can use him as part of any deal the Bulls might make to get a low-post scorer like Pau Gasol to Chicago.

He's miserable in Memphis right now, and could probably be had for a lot cheaper than Memphis has asked for in the past.

Foul Balls

The Cubs Eye Brian Roberts - I'm not sure why the Cubs are going after so many middle infielders this winter, because I like the combination of Ryan Theriot and Mark DeRosa, but they are. First it was Colorado's Kaz Matsui, and now it's Baltimore's Brian Roberts.

A source close to the Cubs confirmed a Baltimore Sun report about their interest in Roberts, and a second baseball source said one package discussed for Roberts included a starting pitcher and at least one other player. Roberts, 30, is under contract for two more years and provides an ideal second left-handed bat the Cubs are seeking, along with Japanese free-agent outfielder Kosuke Fukudome.

It's believed the deal would be Roberts for Matt Murton and Sean Gallagher. If that's all the Orioles want, I say go for it.

Adding Roberts would provide the Cubs with another left handed bat, and it might finally be enough to convince Alfonso Soriano to get out of the lead-off spot. The Cubs could then just move DeRosa to right field.

If the deal falls through though, I think the Cubs should just send Murton to Kansas City for Mark Teahen. Teahen is the same type of player Murton is, but he's a left-handed bat as well with a lot of power potential. So in other words, making that deal would have absolutely no risk and the potential for a very high reward.

Kenny Williams Has No Tolerance For Snitches - Kenny Williams has had it pretty rough lately, but I'm not bothered by it too much. As a White Sox fan, it hasn't exactly been easy for me either. In previous years, if the Sox were hopelessly out of contention by August, I could stop watching if I wanted to. Or at the very least, watch a lot less.

I don't have that option anymore because I'm paid to watch this team now, and it's hard. So I don't mind if Kenny is getting ripped everywhere you look because right now he deserves most of it.

As Kenny has said repeatedly though, the criticism doesn't bother him that much. What's pissing him off right now are all those damn snitches around the front offices of MLB teams.

He also said he was fed up with other teams he believes were leaking information to reporters about the Sox's targets.

"There are too many executives in Major League Baseball offices who have loose lips," Williams said. "If they didn't have loose lips, you guys wouldn't know about it and the rumors wouldn't get out.

"Of course they affect how you do business and whether you're able to do business. It's a lot easier to do business when you don't have to deal with the public debate."

So that wasn't you telling everybody about how Torii Hunter was your #1 target this offseason? I don't think that was much of a secret there, Kenny. Much like it was no secret that no matter what the White Sox said about their pursuit of Hunter, we all knew all along that they'd never actually sign him.

Other than that I don't know what you're talking about. I don't remember hearing any insider information about the Linebrink signing, or the Quentin deal. Those gems just came out of nowhere.

Chicago Bears Spread Em - I don't know if you're aware of it, but the Bears do have a game tonight. If they win in Washington tonight they'll still have a 5% chance of making the playoffs, so it's a very important game.

What worries me tonight is that the Bears have given up 100 yards rushing in their last 8 games, and for the most part they've done it against mediocre running backs. Clinton Portis is capable of putting up 175 yards and 2 touchdowns on his own against our defense.

I would like to see the Bears use more no-huddle tonight, especially if it's working, but I don't want them to do it every drive as some people have suggested. I'd also like to see the Bears let Rex air it out a bit tonight.

Let's face facts here, Sean Taylor's death was tragic and all, but this is a football game. A dead safety presents matchup problems for Washington's defense, so let's use it. I've noticed lately that when Rex misses deep he's overthrowing his receivers.

That's a good thing. He used to underthrow those same receivers which resulted in a lot of his interceptions.

As for my pick, I'll take the Bears +3 tonight. They lost last week, so that means they'll win this week. It's what they've done all season.