Bench could be a key factor for Bulls

Is it too early to begin a campaign promoting Kirk Hinrich for the NBA's sixth-man award? He produced 15 points and 7 assists off the bench in the Bulls' season-opening victory over Milwaukee.

At this point, one day into the regular season, Hinrich's only real competition is teammate Ben Gordon, who scored 18 on Tuesday. The race is wide open, since last year's winner, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, is supposed to miss the first two months of the season with a foot injury.

And since the Bulls are 1-0, there is no reason to change the starting lineup for Friday's trip to Boston. So expect to see Thabo Sefolosha back at two guard against the Celtics.

Gordon is used to coming off the bench and still is the only rookie to win the sixth-man award. But Hinrich started 376 of 389 games during his first five seasons with the Bulls.

"I wouldn't say it's something I'm totally comfortable with," Hinrich said following Wednesday's practice at the Berto Center. "I just try to stay into the game when I'm over there and be ready to go when he calls my name."

There were a variety of reasons why first-year coach Vinny Del Negro chose to start Sefolosha next to rookie Derrick Rose in the backcourt. It gives Hinrich a break in defending the other team's most dangerous guard, allows him to play the point when Rose is out of the game, and supplies Sefolosha with some built-in quality minutes.

Asked if the players were OK with his starting lineup, Del Negro didn't believe they had a choice.

"It's just the first game, so they have to put the team first," Del Negro said. "We have a long way to go and how that all comes together, we'll see. But so far it's worked out well."

The Bulls broke open a close game late in the third quarter with their four longest-tenured players - Hinrich, Gordon, Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni - on the floor. With all the excitement about Rose, it has been easy to forget that the Bulls' veterans are eager to bounce back from last season's disappointment.

"When you have a year that you had last year, I think people are definitely not going to think as highly of you as they did in the past," Deng said. "Then when you get the No. 1 pick in the draft and he's from Chicago and he is that good, I think fans and everybody have a right to be excited. We are excited just to play with him."

While Deng hit 8 of 13 shots and led the Bulls with 21 points Tuesday, Hinrich and Gordon each played 26 minutes off the bench. Sefolosha, the Bulls' tallest guard at 6-feet-7, saw just 12 minutes of action against the Bucks.

But that's 12 minutes of Hinrich's life that he didn't spend chasing Michael Redd around the court.

Rose appears to be the Bulls' best weapon, but maybe bench strength will become a legitimate challenger this season. The Bulls' reserves outscored Milwaukee's bench 46-30.

"In the past we've had times where we start well, but we don't finish well," Deng said. "Those guys did a good job of coming in last night and not only picking up the scoring, but making sure we stay on top of things.

"Hopefully we'll do a better job of paying attention to detail this year than we did in the past."

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