Kirk Hinrich on elite U.S. list

[Pierzynski 12]

Here's the profile of the ideal 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball player from the guidelines USA Basketball czar Jerry Colangelo seems to be using: The player should be talented, invaluable to his team yet unselfish, one of the team's hardest workers, versatile and with good character.

 

In other words, no Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce and Stephon Marbury this time. But there should be a Kirk Hinrich, and there might be.

 

NBA sources confirmed Hinrich is one of the players on Colangelo's elite list of about three dozen players he is contacting to gauge their interest in playing for the 2008 team in the Beijing Games. Colangelo plans to talk to all the players by the All-Star break and have a group of 20 narrowed down by March. Then 12 will be selected for the team, a potential three-year commitment starting with the summer world championships in Japan.

 

Players such as Pierce, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Michael Redd, Lamar Odom, Dwight Howard, Elton Brand, Carmelo Anthony and Richard Hamilton have expressed interest in playing. Hinrich declined to comment about the selection process as players have been asked to keep contacts confidential. Colangelo is not believed to have talked with Hinrich yet, but several players said they have met with Colangelo.

 

Hinrich would seem to be the perfect candidate for the team that hopes to erase the memory of the 2004 bronze medal. It was a miserable experience during which U.S. players complained, played selfishly and acted immaturely away from the basketball court.

 

In addition to being a team leader, Hinrich is back to leading the Bulls. He has had two brilliant efforts after missing a game because of a concussion. He had 26 points on 10 of 17 shooting and seven assists in Friday's loss to the Lakers (and held Kobe Bryant to 23 points), then had 22 points on 9 of 15 shooting, 13 assists and seven rebounds in Saturday's win over the Wizards.

 

After the Bulls' first win in Washington in four years, Hinrich joked that maybe the concussion Monday in the Dallas game "knocked some sense into me." But it also may have helped a struggling Hinrich.

 

"I got a chance to sit back and watch the Orlando game and think about what I was doing out there," Hinrich said. "It was helpful. I realized I need to lose myself in the game and not worry about missed shots. The main thing was I was pressing offensively at times and that took away from my aggressiveness."

 

Hinrich came into the season determined to raise his shooting percentage, which has been under 40 percent in each of his two seasons. He did, hitting better than 50 percent of his shots in four of the first five games. But he had fallen to about 40 percent by the Dallas game after failing to shoot 50 percent in 10 consecutive games.

 

"I felt a lot more relaxed [saturday]," Hinrich said. "I'd been missing a few [shots] and for whatever reason I was becoming a little hesitant with everything I was doing. It's something I had to get away from."

 

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