Kirk Hinrich labelled day to day after suffering groin injury in preseason game against Oklahoma City Thunder – NBA News
Chicago Bulls starting point guard Kirk Hinrich has been labelled day to day after he strained his groin during Tuesday night’s preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Hinrich, who is expected to handle point guard duties next season till the time Rose returns from his ACL injury, sat out the entire second half of the game against the Thunder, but the Bulls still went on to win the game.
Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau did not seem too worried about his starting point guard on Wednesday when the team did some practice and watched some game film. Thibodeau said that Hinrich’s injury was just a small tweak and that he would be back in no time.
"He should be OK. Just tweaked it, so we'll see. He said he felt better,” said Thibodeau.
Hinrich has already missed one preseason game with a thumb injury. He was signed as a free agent in the summer after the Bulls lost Derrick Rose for eight to ten months. The player is still a game time decision for the Bulls preseason finale against the Indiana Pacers on Friday. However, the team would be hoping that he is ready for the Bulls season opener next Wednesday at least.
Bulls guard Rip Hamilton knows a thing or two about groin injury, after suffering from the injury himself last season. He had some words of advice for Hinrich, explaining how it can be difficult to come back from.
"It's tough, because you want to be careful with it. A groin can last you (a while). It can linger. You just want to jump on it as quick as possible, and the one thing that was good with (Hinrich) was he didn't come back and play the second half. I think (the trainers) did a great job of really jumping on it early and saying, 'All right, shut him down and let's jump on it and hopefully get him right, right now,” said Hamilton.
Chicago have had a relatively good preseason, winning four out of six games. However, they will require their entire roster to be healthy and in playing form next season, when they attempt to remain in playoff contention in an even tougher Eastern Conference and without star player Derrick Rose, who is scheduled to be out for at least the first half of the season.
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