Farmar's adjustment period
 

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 17points at Dallas on Jan. 18, Jordan Farmar had scored just 15 total points and made 5 of 24 shots in the eight games since. And 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 or face up to it ... but when you haven't been used to playing the amount of games that sometimes they run into each other.

"It becomes tedious or monotonous and you lose the ability to focus on the immediate thing at hand."

Jordan Farmar also 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 at UCLA and Taft High of Woodland Hills.

"That's probably the biggest adjustment," Jordan Farmar said. "It's tough getting used to. Knowing in college and your whole career previously, you're in the whole game and you had plenty of time to feel the game out and pick your points. Now it's just like you're going to be in there for sometimes two minutes, sometimes four. If you get off to a good start, you might get a couple extra (minutes)."

Jackson acknowledged that he has been quick to sit Jordan Farmar recently.

"I've been a little bit shorter with him lately, trying to help him correct some of the things that I felt like he's making mistakes doing on the floor," Jackson said. "He needs a little more liberty out there. I need to let him have some opportunities to make mistakes, but right now we're trying to win ballgames."

Jackson said he was not ready to anoint Andrew Bynum and Farmar as the respective center and point guard of the Lakers' future.

"You see that the standard for excellence is very small and you really have to push yourself as a player," said Jackson, who cited Tim Duncan and Yao Ming as two players who are always on the floor before games trying to improve.

"There's not even going to be a maturity in his body, let alone mentally at the time that we have to make some big decisions," Jackson said. "He's got to show a certain sense of responsibility that really takes it a long ways."