The Official Site of Jordan Farmar

Tue, May 12th 2009, 15:05

Jordan's Playboy.com blog: Farmar Five on 5 - May 12, 2009

Hey guys, what’s up? It’s a big week for us and also for two cool movies opening this week, Angels & Demons, the much anticipated Da Vinci Code sequel and director Spike Lee’s documentary Kobe: Doin’ Work. So bring it all on!

After our two games in Houston, we wrested back homecourt advantage and now it’s a winner-take-all, 3-game series. I started game three when Fish was suspended and it felt great to get my first playoff start this season, and just being able to play a complete game, contributing a little bit of everything (33 minutes, 12 points, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 block). It was also my career high in minutes. You play the game a little differently, more patient, more selective on how to get my teammates involved. I really felt like a point guard out there, in control of the game. It was good not having to come in and feel I had to hurry up and do something. I got to be calm, let the game come to me, when I needed to be aggressive and when I needed to maybe pull back, try and get Pau, Lamar and Trevor involved by spreading the wealth around. I feel I had a lot to do with the reason we won. One of our best playoff games so far. My favorite play was when I was battling on the floor for a loose ball and getting it over to Trevor for a dunk. It was a hustle play that gave us a lot of energy on the road.

Coach Jackson said I had a “stellar performance” but that there’s still more in me. My downtown shots feel good but they’re still coming up a little short or going in and out. Whereas if I was really sharp, those shots would be going down for me. Those are little things that come with playing and getting into a rhythm. I’m still being aggressive, trying to attack the basket, put pressure on the defense. Just doing all the things I know I can do. I’m not worried about it, they’re going to fall for me. And, I know I can play even better than that, much better. That was a solid game but not anything really special.

The key for me, personally as a point guard and as a team, is to control the tempo of the game, and that keeps the road crowd out of it a little. I wasn’t thinking about scoring, just controlling the game as a point guard should. Everything worked out from there. We worked really hard to earn the best road record during the regular season, we know the challenges and we want to control the tempo to take the crowd of it. Everywhere we go on the road, it’s loud but fun. The crowd is actually part of the game, they have something to say about every missed shot, every call, every rebound. Some fans will say some things that are unnecessary at times but it’s just because they love their team, and they’re trying to get into your head, upset your game. They really help the home team which makes it tough on us. There’s 20,000 road fans plus their team all trying to “beat LA.” Even the Rockets’ cheerleaders had mini-t’s saying “Beat L.A.” But it’s a lot of fun, a great challenge. Using that energy and antagonism is what coach Jackson preaches, to use the crowd’s energy for ourselves.

I’m really looking forward to The Da Vinci Code sequel Angels & Demons. I really liked the first one, all the action, intrigue and speculation involved. And I’m expecting the same with the sequel. And there’s also Spike Lee’s new documentary about Kobe. I’m a big fan of Spike’s work—BTW, he’s a huge Knicks’ fan and he’s always talking it up from his courtside seat. Coach Jackson used clips from Spike’s war movie Miracle at St. Anna as a motivational tool, explaining that it takes special circumstances to win an NBA title, that you also have to have good fortune to battle through it all and win. Coach likes to change it up. There’s a lot of comedy in there, so you’re not just sitting there watching game film for hours, and then he ties in the movie clips with the story of what we’re trying to accomplish overall. And it’s a lot of fun.

Many of the NBA’s foreign players have played soccer. Every now and again, the soccer playing guys on our team like Pau and Sasha will juggle the ball, show us some sick soccer moves. I actually played soccer first before organized basketball—it’s a good pre-cursor to basketball. You dribble, look for the open man, pass and shoot in both games. They have a give and go in soccer, same thing in basketball, pass to someone, drive into the lane and get the pass back. Defense is very important in soccer, you’re not going to score a lot of goals usually, so there’s a lot of teamwork involved, not individual play. One key in soccer is what you do when you don’t have the ball, what moves or runs you make. Similarly, in basketball we call it “doing your work early“—what you do before you get the ball. Whether it’s moving into the lane, coming off screens, going way down and being ready to catch and shoot.

There are a lot intricacies to soccer that are really cool like seeing guys or gals—‘cause you know how big women’s soccer is becoming—winning the ball in the middle of the field, or making a great defensive stand, plays that some observers might not see but are crucial to the overall game.

BTW, I truly appreciate the fans’ and readers’ support. Times get tough for everybody, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing in the NBA and are well off—there are some of my teammates who’ve lost children or younger siblings to tragedy. We all have to stick it out sometimes, so it’s always good to have support. As for the playoffs, we’ve got 10 mo’ to go but there are no gimmes and no teams are rolling over.

Check back next week and see where we’re at.

—JFarm