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
FlyingHamster

In the old Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Marion Ravenwood was talking about the years and age. Indiana Jones’ reply was “it’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.” And the mileage on some L.A. Lakers may be a concern as the regular season draws to a close.

The last game that the Lakers played was against the Golden State Warriors. It was a 123-119 win for the Lakers, in a game which required an overtime session. Lamar Odom played fifty three minutes. He played the entire game, including the overtime. Kobe Bryant was five seconds short of fifty two minutes. That is putting a load of miles on the legs of two Lakers starters.

link: Lakers / Warriors game

The impact of this accumulated mileage may be evident if the Lakers advance far into the playoffs. With tired legs, shots tend to fall short. And the other significant concern is injuries. It is a long regular season and long minutes expose a player to injuries. Undoubtedly, Phil Jackson, the Lakers coach, knows the risks involved. However, in the highly competitive division in which the Lakers play, each win now is crucial for home court advantage.

On the positive side, the injuries to Pau Gasol, Chris Mihm, Trevor Ariza and Andrew Bynum have forced these Lakers to the sidelines. They will have ‘fresh legs’ when they return. Pau Gasol will not have been away too long and may be not have lost a significant amount of his conditioning. All injured Lakers are expected back during the post season play. That they return rested may be one of the advantages of having an injury plagued regular season.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster