Bulls believe Kirk Hinrich's value is greater than his numbers

Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau came to the defense of Kirk Hinrich, after the production of his starting point guard was called into question.

While the Bulls hope to have Derrick Rose return at some point this season, Hinrich remains the starter for the Bulls as they try to work through recent struggles. Heading into their game on Saturday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Bulls had dropped four of their last five games.

Hinrich has struggled in a starting role this season, averaging a career-low 4.8 points per game through ten games. Hinrich has only scored in double figures once this season, logging 12 points against Oklahoma City. In the six games prior to playing Milwaukee, Hinrich only made a total of five field goals and no 3-pointers.

But according to reports, Thibodeau is not giving up on Hinrich this early in the season. Of course, with Rose out, the Bulls coach doesn't have much choice, but he still likes what the veteran guard brings to the Bulls while expecting his offense to come around.

"The challenge I think for the point guard with running the team he has to be obviously much more concerned with the team than his own individual plight," Thibodeau said after Saturday's shootaround at the University of Marquette. "I've evaluated him on how the team is functioning with him on the floor. His ability to execute the offense has been very good. His defense has been outstanding."

Backup point guard Nate Robinson is averaging nearly 13 points per game while playing comparable minutes off the bench.