Farmar experiencing growing pains
 

ATLANTA - A half-hour after the team bus had left the morning shootaround, Lakers guard Jordan Farmar was still on the court at Philips Arena, taking jumpers in front of 19,000 empty seats.

Jordan Farmar shot at both ends of the court, sometimes with only one hand to get his form and follow-through correct. By his own admission, Jordan Farmar just wanted to see the ball go in the basket after three consecutive scoreless games.

After scoring a career-high 17 points at Dallas on Jan. 18, Jordan Farmar had scored just 15 points and made 5 of 24 shots in the eight games since. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the games are starting to add up for Jordan Farmar in his first pro season.

"He's at the proverbial wall as far as rookies go," Jackson said. "I know kids don't want to admit it, but when you haven't been used to playing this amount of games, sometimes they run into each other. It becomes tedious and you lose the ability to focus on the thing at hand."

Jordan Farmar bounced back Monday against Atlanta, hitting two 3-pointers and playing 18 minutes. Jordan Farmar came through with a big 3 to put the Lakers up by 11 immediately after Smush Parker was called for a technical foul late in the second quarter.

Jordan Farmar talked about how difficult it is to maximize a 16-minute window of opportunity in the NBA when he was used to playing nearly the entire game in college at UCLA and in high school before that.

"That's probably the biggest adjustment," Jordan Farmar said. "It's tough getting used to."

Jackson acknowledged that he has been quick to sit Jordan Farmar recently. He said the Lakers' 21-turnover game against Indiana was "not acceptable" and Jordan Farmar has been forcing things: seven turnovers against four assists the last five games.

Jackson said he was not ready to anoint Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar as the respective center and point guard of the Lakers' future. In Bynum's case, Jackson again mentioned wanting to see Bynum's competitiveness and work ethic.

"You see that the standard for excellence is very small and you really have to push yourself as a player," said Jackson, citing Tim Duncan and Yao Ming as two players who perennially improve their games.

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