<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jordan Farmar was enmeshed in the fall quarter at UCLA a year ago, taking in Bruins football games and preparing for a basketball season that eventually ended in the NCAA championship game. He's now starting over, in a big way, leaving the comforts of Westwood after his sophomore season and becoming the 26th player taken in the NBA draft, property of the Lakers. UCLA still tugs at him ? he stopped by campus recently ? but his present-day status almost leaves him in awe. "I still have friends that are there," Farmar said. "I do miss it at times, but I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world. I can't even put into words how good it feels to be here. It's good to have someone like Kobe [Bryant] watching, and when you do something right and wrong, give you advice on how to improve. It makes it a great situation." Farmar, 19, has demonstrated decent knowledge of the triangle offense and has shown some fire defensively, but he joins a crowded backcourt and could be a candidate for the Development League. He is the least experienced of the Lakers guards, falling in line behind Bryant, Smush Parker, Maurice Evans, Sasha Vujacic, Aaron McKie and Shammond Williams. "It's certainly possible," General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. "Training camp will give us a gauge. He had a good summer. He did work on his body so he's stronger. It looks like he's held his own [so far], but the D-League is there for a reason. It's going to depend on training camp, the health of our players and coach's decision." Players in their first two seasons can be assigned to the Development League up to three times a season. If Farmar were assigned to the Los Angeles D-Fenders ? the Lakers' Development League team ? he would continue to be paid his NBA salary and would still be considered part of the Lakers' 15-man roster. He'd rather not talk about it, understandably. "I haven't thought of it," Farmar said. "I'm sure they're going to want to do what's best for their organization and for me as well. If they feel that I can get experience down there ? it's not the end of the world. I would love to be on the court with these guys, that's definitely what my goal is, but I'm professional now and I have to act like one."</div> Source
No way. Farmar is going to be our best draft pick to provide in the short run in a long time. I seriously want to see him get playing time this season. It's the only way he's going to learn. I like his attitude though, it shows he's a team first point guard.
<div class="quote_poster">Laker_fan Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">No way. Farmar is going to be our best draft pick to provide in the short run in a long time. I seriously want to see him get playing time this season. It's the only way he's going to learn. I like his attitude though, it shows he's a team first point guard.</div> Keep in mind, the Lakers own their DLeague team and it will be running the Triangle offense. It might not be a bad idea to have him log minutes for the Defenders and gain experience running the Triangle instead of watching from the bench.
Yeah I think a small amount of time at the D League would be good because as said practice the triangle and he should be able to control the games at that level playing in that system and hopefully take that way of playing to the real league.
I think the DLeague would be a possibility. We'll see how he performs when the preseason starts up here in a week. Beyond that, we'll see if Smush and Shammond are ready to handle the PG duties this year. If they struggle, I think Farmar will be kept around as an insurance policy for them.
I don't think the Dleague is going to be necessary with him. He is a gym rat, he's willing to learn. I'd rather him learn from watching from the bench, getting playing time on occassions, and learning in practice rather than playing in the Dleague.
<div class="quote_poster">TheBlackMamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I don't think the Dleague is going to be necessary with him. He is a gym rat, he's willing to learn. I'd rather him learn from watching from the bench, getting playing time on occassions, and learning in practice rather than playing in the Dleague.</div> I'm not sure how the logistics work, but the DLeague team is going to play in Anaheim, so technically Farmar could be at Laker practices during the day, and a Laker DFender at night. Maybe this is a motivation tactic by the organization to get Farmar fired up for preseason games. Forcing him to earn it and exceed anyone's expectations instead of just handing him a spot on the bench.
Vic the Brick on 570 was going crazy over this article, he's claming these are all lies and questioning the integrity of the writer. I dont see why however, it makes complete sense to me. At this point, Farmar is still pretty green and at this point, there isn't anything he brings that another laker guard can't IMO. Let him develop at his own pace and not compromise our team.
I don't know how much better the Dleague will be for a rookie, even with the Lakers owning their own team. I remember reading a lot of quotes from players in the Dleague last year that said it was worthless. They didn't play team ball. Players would try to build stats and show off their game so they get picked. I don't like the fact of Farmar being in teh Dleague, until our team is proven. I'd rather have him watching on the bench and picking up the triangle in practice.
<div class="quote_poster">TheBlackMamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I don't know how much better the Dleague will be for a rookie, even with the Lakers owning their own team. I remember reading a lot of quotes from players in the Dleague last year that said it was worthless. They didn't play team ball. Players would try to build stats and show off their game so they get picked. I don't like the fact of Farmar being in teh Dleague, until our team is proven. I'd rather have him watching on the bench and picking up the triangle in practice.</div> It was only worthless to the guys whose objective was to get picked up by an NBA team but ultimately didn't ... if anything, that's just their bitterness talking .. You have to look at the guys who already had guarenteed contracts who were sent down there to hone their game the way Farmar would be ie Gerald Green , Dorrell Wright etc.... those guys had good things to say about the experience and I remember specifically Green saying it was a huge boost to his confidence and really, that ultimately helped him play the way he did at the end of the year.
One of the reasons I see Farmar going to play in the D-League is Phil Jackson. It's quite apparent the Jackson does not like playing younger kids. I'm guessing that if the decision came down to Jackson he'd be pro D-League. We'll just have to wait to see what happens.
If Jackson has to however, he'll play him. If Smush and Shammond are both struggling, I don't think Jackson would be hesitant to play Farmar.
