Hinrich doesn't start but gets plenty of court time

There was symbolism in the fact that the starting guards from the Bulls' 49-win season of 2006-07 were both on the second unit Tuesday.

The Bulls had just one player on the active roster against Milwaukee who wasn't with the team at the end of last season. But the newcomer, Derrick Rose, is the new face of the franchise.

Then, first-year coach Vinny Del Negro decided to pair Rose with Thabo Sefolosha, giving the starting backcourt a completely different look. During his first five years with the Bulls, Kirk Hinrich started 376 of the 389 games he played.

"I just thought with Larry (Hughes) being out and Ben (Gordon) missing most of training camp, Thabo gives us more size in the backcourt," Del Negro said. "I felt Kirk coming off the bench helps our second unit a little bit. Like I've said all along, we're going to have flexibility with the starting lineup."

Bringing Hinrich off the bench made sense from a strategic perspective. He could be the primary ballhandler when Rose was out of the game, plus it freed Hinrich from his long-standing duty of defending the other team's most dangerous guard.

That was all great in theory, but Hinrich's bench time didn't last long at the start of the contest. Sefolosha picked up his second foul less than four minutes in and didn't return until the final 2:07 of the half.

Sefolosha didn't last long in the third quarter, either. He was replaced by Hinrich at the 7:39 mark after Milwaukee's Michael Redd opened the second half with 3 straight 3-pointers.

One argument for starting Hinrich is he can help Rose run the offense. At times during preseason, Hinrich called out plays while Rose handled the ball. Sefolosha isn't likely to take on that type of duty.

"I think it would be smoother if Kirk was out there with him at times, because Kirk's done a good job of understanding everything," Del Negro said. "I think it calms Derrick down at times. It also calms Kirk down to know he has another ballhandler out there to help him."

Del Negro didn't rule out starting Hinrich in the future or even trying something different when the Bulls visit Boston on Friday.

"It goes back and forth," Del Negro said. "That's while we'll go with this lineup, see how things perform and progress, then make decisions going forward."