Jordan Farmar: A Coaching Dilemma

Phil Jackson, the head coach of the L.A. Lakers, has a point guard problem. The problem is what to do with Jordan Farmar, his backup for Derek Fisher. Jordan Farmar has not been able to score in Game Three nor in Game Four, against the Utah Jazz. The series swings back to a critical Game Five in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 14. It seems that Phil Jackson has three options:

• Option One: Bench Jordan Farmar and not play him. Jordan Farmar has been in an offensive slump and he has been unable to stop Deron Williams. The down side of benching this young player is what it does to his confidence. Will it have long term consequences?
• Option Two: Play Jordan Farmar and see if he has learned anything from the previous four games in this series. Jordan Farmar has the speed to keep up with Deron Williams but he lacks the upper body strength. Can Jordan Farmar compensate for this lack for strength and match the physical play of Utah? The struggle that Jordan Farmar has had in this series is obvious. The Utah coaching staff will be looking to exploit it even more in Game Five. Does Phil Jackson risk his young point guard being thoroughly exposed? What will that do to Jordan Farmar’s confidence?
• Option Three: Play Jordan Farmar and key the defense to stop Deron Williams. This may mean sending a double-team to stop the Utah point guard. The risk is that the rotation of the defense has to be quick enough so that the helper for Jordan Farmar in turn receives help. It means being active and precisely aggressive on defense. Jordan Farmar will have to funnel Deron Williams into the help traffic and trust that the help will come. And on the offensive end, Phil Jackson has to trust that a Jordan Farmar shot will find the netting and that will change the mentality of the current offensive slump.

This is the type of decision for which Phil Jackson is paid millions of dollars to make. It is drama. It is the mental part of the game that goes beyond just athletic ability. - And here is where basketball fans do some ‘back seat driving’ and speculate. I would play Jordan Farmar. He is part of the what has brought the team this far. Let’s see if he has the ‘championship stuff’. There is one sure way to find out - and that is by playing him - and trusting him.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
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