Hinrich stepping into leadership role

Given the choice of speaking up or staying quiet, Kirk Hinrich will usually opt for the latter.

One member of the Bulls' traveling party gave an interesting example of Hinrich's leadership style. Following an important road win a few seasons ago, the Bulls' guard didn't scream or celebrate. Instead, he simply walked down the aisle of the bus and smacked each of his teammates on the shoulder.

So reports that Hinrich has stepped up as a leader during training camp do raise some eyebrows. The compliments have come from teammates and management.

"Two things," general manager John Paxson said. "First, he is carrying himself with more confidence, and from what I've seen he is more vocal. Kirk will never be a guy who talks all of the time, but he seems more assertive."

Hinrich has made a specific effort to be more vocal during practice. Heading into his fifth season, though, Hinrich knows the system, knows his teammates and has a pretty good idea of what it will take for the Bulls to keep improving. Sharing that knowledge has been a natural progression.

"I just try to go out there, be myself, but at the same time do my job as the point guard on this team," he said following Thursday's practice at the Berto Center. "I think this has a chance to be the best team that I've been on. I think we're doing a good job of just coming in here every day and working hard and trying to get to the point everybody wants to be at."

Bulls coach Scott Skiles would probably be a good example of a vocal team leader. As a player, Skiles always seemed willing to pass instructions to his teammates.

Skiles didn't think Hinrich is making any more noise than usual. But the coach believes all the Bulls veterans have created a better running dialogue this month.

"They're not afraid to discuss a busted play with each other without worrying about hurting the other guy's feelings," Skiles said. "Those kind of things only come from having a relationship with somebody."

Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni and Chris Duhon are in their fourth season together, while veteran center Ben Wallace is back for his second year. They'll get their second trial run of the preseason tonight at the United Center against Dallas.

"I feel like as a group we have a good rapport," Hinrich said. "When somebody's not doing something, we'll talk about it and try to figure it out. That's what it's all about -- feeling a responsibility to go out there and do your job. But at the same time, if someone's not doing theirs, tell them about it and work it out as a team."