'Bored' Hinrich hates having to sit out

Ex-Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich is having no fun sitting on Atlanta's bench. He's out with a right hamstring injury and isn't expected to play again unless the Hawks win the series and move on to the Eastern Conference finals.

“It's brutal. I'm just bored. I want to play,” Hinrich said before Game 5. “I'm just happy we've been playing well. It's 2-2, so it's an exciting series. It just stinks not being to play so far.”

After seven seasons with the Bulls, Hinrich was traded to Washington on draft night last June to help clear free-agent cap space. The Wizards sent Hinrich to Atlanta in February.

“As soon as it happened, I was excited,” he said. “Had a chance to get in the playoffs. That's what you play for.”

Alas, there has been no second-round action for Hinrich. He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Atlanta's clinching Game 6 against Orlando.

“I'm not getting ready to play, just getting treatment all the time,” he said. “I'm just bored.”

Thibs on exec team:

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was asked if he has ever received conflicting instructions from general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson.

Both men received votes for NBA Executive of the Year, which was announced Tuesday. Forman shared the award with Miami's Pat Riley.

“They're pretty consistent,” Thibodeau said with a laugh. “They've got that down pretty good. I wish they both shared the award.”

Deng plays ironman:Luol Deng played nearly 46 minutes in Game 5, which seems like a high number until considering that Memphis and Oklahoma City played three overtimes Monday night in a game that ended at nearly 1 a.m. Central time.#8220;I'm definitely going to feel it tonight,#8221; Deng said. #8220;I'm probably going to feel it tomorrow morning. When the ball goes up, somehow you don't feel it.#8220;We've got a young team and there's no reason we shouldn't play hard. You saw the Memphis game where it went triple overtime and guys were fine. They just kept playing.#8221;Rose looks ahead:Derrick Rose offered an early forecast of how the Bulls can finish off the Hawks in Atlanta on Thursday.#8220;We cannot get tired, that's the biggest thing,#8221; he said. #8220;We know that going down there, they're going to give us their all. If we come out and play our way, defense first, we can make things tough on them. We need to have a nice pace to our game. We know this is going to be a war in Atlanta.#8221;Bull horns:Keith Bogans delivered a personal 8-point run in the first quarter of Game 5. He knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, then added a baseline cut and reverse lay-in on three straight possessions, giving the Bulls their biggest lead of the game at 32-17. Including playoffs, the Bulls are 31-2 when Bogans scores at least 6 points. #8230; Center Joakim Noah went scoreless Tuesday and took just 2 shots. #8230; Kyle Korver played just four minutes.