Gutted or Glutted
Two years ago, Mike Miller, a 6-foot-8-inch college sophomore, hit an improbable off-balance buzzer-beater to advance Florida in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The video of Miller’s game-winning shot became the signature of Florida’s run to the championship game, which the team lost to Michigan State.
Miller didn’t start for Florida during the NCAA tourney, but NBA scouts noticed his long-range shooting touch and his clutch play during the Gators’ six-game run. Miller declared himself eligible for the NBA draft that summer and is now averaging sixteen points a game for the Orlando Magic.
Kirk Hinrich reminds me a lot of Mike Miller. Their bodies and games may differ, but both have talents not immediately appreciated by the average fan. Quin Snyder, the University of Missouri’s second-year coach, is not your average fan. “Kirk Hinrich — in my opinion, I think he’s the best player in the league,” Snyder told the media after watching Hinrich dismantle his Tigers in Lawrence.
Veteran NBA play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Harlan told 810 WHB earlier this year that NBA scouts like Gooden and Collison, but the 6-foot-3-inch Hinrich is the Kansas player that has them excited. Danny Ainge, the former NBA all-star and Phoenix Suns coach, thinks Hinrich has a great pro career ahead. Will Hinrich leave Kansas early for the NBA draft this May? “I don’t know if I’ll be ready,” Hinrich told CNNSI.com recently. “I kind of thought in the beginning of the year it would be nice to have to make that choice.”
With each Kansas romp, Hinrich faces more pressure. May 12 is the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NBA draft. The more success Hinrich and the Jayhawks experience in the NCAA tournament this March, the better the chance of Hinrich’s following Miller’s path to the NBA before graduation.
That means Kansas, despite starting a young lineup with tremendous potential, might have no more chances this decade to make a run at the elusive Final Four and NCAA title after the next four weeks. Almost every NBA draft forecast picks junior Drew Gooden somewhere in the top five. “I’d like to see him get that diploma, but I’m not Drew Gooden,” Andrew Gooden, Drew’s father, told ESPN. No diploma can guarantee the millions an NBA lottery pick will garner Gooden for just signing his name.
Collison could bolt for the pros after this season as well. Senior Jeff Boschee’s clutch three-point bombs will be missed next season. But it’s Hinrich who holds the key to the Jayhawks’ future.
Only a year ago, Kansas was floundering through a 1-3 record in four consecutive ESPN Big Monday broadcasts. Roy Williams’ teams had acquired a reputation for less-than-physical play under the boards and early exits from postseason play. In years past, Williams hadn’t let his players play — frequently benching his starters or jumping from the bench and overcoaching his leaders on the floor.
Hinrich has taught Williams that he’s a much better coach sitting quietly on the bench watching his team ring up triple-digit numbers on the scoreboard. Williams is as demanding as any coach, but he has trouble criticizing Hinrich. “If you’re trying to find faults with Kirk, you’ve got to search really hard,” says Williams. “He’s one tough sucker.”
Hinrich’s toughness comes from being a basketball coach’s kid in Sioux City, Iowa, where he heard a lot of pregame speeches. “Kirk was always in the locker room,” says Jim Hinrich, Kirk’s dad and high-school coach. “He heard me talk all the time about making your teammates better and playing within the team framework.”
The NBA has always been a goal of Hinrich’s, but his family has not focused on it. “We probably haven’t said three sentences about the NBA,” Jim says. “It’s all in somebody else’s hands.” Then Coach Hinrich states the basketball credo that every Kansas fan is all too familiar with: “In basketball, you’re only as good as your last game.” The question is, when will Hinrich’s last game be?
