The New York Sun’s John Hollinger hears Pat Riley’s cries for help and surmises, “it’s hard to fathom Kurt Hinrich as a danger to other players’ safety ” well, unless his barber is involved.”
Watch out Mardy Collins, there’s a new goon in town. He comes from the mean streets of Sioux City, Iowa, and doesn’t weigh 200 pounds soaking wet. But if you believe Pat Riley, this menace to society is going to claim another victim soon if he isn’t stopped.
The villain Riley speaks of is none other than Bulls bully Kirk Hinrich. Miami’s coach claimed it was a dirty play by the Chicago guard that resulted in a wrist injury to Dwyane Wade in the first quarter of the Heat’s loss in the Windy City on Wednesday.
“Hinrich pulled his hand. He does it all the time,” Riley told reporters afterward.”That’s what he does. Anytime Dwyane comes off screens, they will always grab his shirt or grab his hands. It’s a tactic down below the body ” the official can’t see it. He had Dwyane’s hand, and [when Wade] tried to pull it out of there, I think something happened.”
The footage of Wade’s injury has been replayed far and wide, and it is an innocuous-looking play. There was some hand fighting byWade and Hinrich away from the ball, and then Wade’s pulling up and grabbing his wrist at the top of the key. This kind of hand-to-hand combat goes on away from the ball all the time in the NBA game, particularly between wing players trying to get into position to receive passes.
Hearty congratulations are in order for the D-League’s Austin Toros, who earned their first win of the season with Thursday’s 96-85 decision over Sioux Falls. The Toros (1-12) were led by 24 points from former Georgia Tech G B.J. Elder, while Brock Gillespie — recovering from a miserable shooting performance Tuesday against L.A., sank 3 of his 5 three-point attempts. This victory puts Dennis Johnson’s side a mere 8 1/2 games behind Fort Worth in the race for the NBDL’s Eastern Division crown.