Kirk Hinrich tweaks his groin

Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich deflects a pass by Thunder guard Eric Maynor in the first quarter of the Chicago Bulls-Oklahoma City Thunder NBA game Tuesday October 23, 2012 at the United Center. | Tom Cruze~Sun-Times

Updated: November 26, 2012 7:19AM

Tom Thibodeau called the injury to Kirk Hinrich’s right groin more of a “tweak’’ than a concern, but then again, the Bulls coach always likes to leave a cloud of mystery hovering over the specifics of player injuries.

Either way, Hinrich was on the court Wednesday, shooting around in what was more of a watching-film practice than a run-up-and-down grind.

“Yeah, just a tweak,’’ Thibodeau said of the injury that forced his starting point guard to miss the second half of the victory against Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

As for the preseason game on Friday, Thibodeau said Hinrich was a “game-time decision.’’

Beyond that, with the regular season set to start next Wednesday?

“He’s better [Wednesday] than he was [Tuesday],’’ Thibodeau said. “We’ll see where he is [today].’’

Teammate Rip Hamilton hopes that Hinrich will let the injury heal, rather than feeling pressured to get back and possibly suffer further damage. Hamilton knows about groin injuries, missing 10 games with one last season and having to battle with it longer than that.

“It’s tough because you want to be careful with it,’’ Hamilton said. “A groin can linger. You just want to jump on it as quickly as possible.’’

Then there were 13

The Bulls have until Monday to finalize their roster, but they likely won’t need it. After practice Wednesday, they announced that guards Ryan Allen and Marko Jaric had been waived. Allen played in two preseason games, while Jaric played in four. The roster stands at 13.

Staying the course

While the Bulls backcourt is thin, it’s a group that Thibodeau feels good about. He was asked if the organization would shop around to make changes to the backcourt, and even if they had the cap room, Thibodeau didn’t seem interested.

“I’m not concerned about that at all,’’ Thibodeau said. “If they’re here, they can play. We’re confident in the guys that we have.’’

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