Nash pours on praise of Hinrich
LOS ANGELES -- When Kirk Hinrich and Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash squared off Thursday night, it looked as though they could share the same clothes.
They are basically the same size -- 6-feet-3 in shoes with a lean build.
For much of the Bulls' 112-102 loss to the Suns, Hinrich and Nash occupied the same space. Hinrich's defense on the two-time MVP was impressive. Nash started the night averaging a career-high 20.6 points, then hit just 3 of 11 shots for 10 points against the Bulls.
But Nash did help decide the outcome by collecting 7 of his 15 assists in the final eight minutes, when the Suns outscored the Bulls 29-17.
After the game, Nash shared his thoughts on the Bulls' fifth-year point guard.
"I think he's a little bit better athlete than me physically," Nash said. "But he's a really good player -- skilled, tough, smart. I like his game a lot."
One popular knock on Hinrich is he doesn't run a team well enough from the point guard spot. Hinrich had 7 assists against Phoenix and scored all 17 of his points in the second half.
"I don't think he was always a point guard," Nash said. "I think in college, he played a lot of two (shooting guard). So he's doing a very admirable job of being a point guard and a combo guard. Not a lot of guys can do that. You've got to give him a lot of credit for being able to be a point guard, for one. A good one, too.
"And I think one that could potentially be even better. Of course with experience, the game will get easier to him. I know he's had a slow start. But if you look at his career to date, he's having a pretty good career and can get better."
Nash dishes compliment: Following Thursday's game, Steve Nash threw another compliment toward the Bulls, saying they might have been the best team the Suns have faced so far this season.
"He's just saying that because he and I are friends," Bulls coach Scott Skiles quipped Friday. "That's a good compliment, but we can't get caught up in, 'We played a little bit better last night. Yippee.'
"Sure, we had things out there to build on. But we had things in the Detroit game to build on and lo and behold the next game there was no carryover. We need to be past that point. We were right there to win a game and weren't able to come up with it."
Barkley wants a leader: During Thursday's TNT broadcast, analyst Charles Barkley had this to say about the Bulls' team meeting called by Adrian Griffin, who has yet to play in a game this season:
"Your team has to have a leader. I like Adrian Griffin, I think he's a good player, but he can't call your team meeting. If one of your players who doesn't get in the game calls meetings, that's not good."
Bull horns: Scott Skiles said he would most likely stick with Andres Nocioni in the starting lineup for the next two games against the Clippers and Lakers. ... The Bulls kept their turnovers to 14 on Thursday, but the speedy Suns converted those into 27 points. ... Skiles on having the best opponent of the road trip out of the way: "We're 1-6. I wouldn't be ranking the teams on this trip. They're all good teams on this trip. We've got to find a way to win a game."