Farmar on upward arc for Lakers



Phil Jackson looked down recently from his office window and saw something on the practice court that made him pause.

Jordan Farmar was shooting three-pointers, over and over, after practice had ended.

"It's certainly paid off," the Lakers' coach said.

Farmar, like Sasha Vujacic, has been torrid from long range, making 14 for 28 from behind the arc in the Lakers' last six games before Friday.

Jordan Farmar isn't exactly the tall triangle-offense type historically preferred by Jackson, although he reeled off a two-game stretch in which he totaled 45 points.

"I have never had a guard quite like that," Jackson said. "As Jordan would tell you, I have an aversion to small guards."

Wait, what about B.J. Armstrong? Steve Kerr?

"B.J. was 6-2, maybe 6-3," Jackson said. "Those guys were bigger than you thought. Steve Kerr was 6-3. Jordan, when I stretch him out, he's 6-1, but he's got tremendous athletic skills. He just feels very confident in what he can do."

Farmar has two more years in his contract, but two other key reserves are restricted free agents after this season.

Vujacic, who makes $1.8 million this season, and Ronny Turiaf, who makes $770,610, can expect raises, be it from the Los Angeles Lakers or another team.

"We really haven't thought about it," Jackson said. "At the start of the season, you think about those things. You think about who's going to come up and what qualifications you have to make on your roster. But that's not my role. My role is to get them out there to play and hopefully they succeed and it puts a problem on our organization to figure out how we're going to do it."

Both players have said they don't want to think about their contract status until after the season.

TNT couldn't have been too happy when the Lakers-Miami game rolled around Thursday.

It was supposed to be Shaquille O'Neal's annual game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center, but the Heat's ineffectiveness led to O'Neal's being traded to Phoenix last month.

Just the same, TNT analysts were unanimous in their effusive praise of the Lakers, who won, 106-88.

"If I'm [General Manager] Mitch Kupchak and Phil Jackson, I'm laughing because [Pau] Gasol made this all happen," Reggie Miller said. "When you envision [Lamar] Odom, Gasol and Andrew Bynum as a frontline unit, everyone started to scratch their head, not necessarily panic, but scratch their head."

Said Kenny Smith:"The best team in the Western Conference is the Los Angeles Lakers. They're playing great now and the addition of Andrew Bynum is going to be positive. . . . And it's not going to be on the offensive end, it's going to be on the defensive end because the layup drill against them will be over. They'll have three 7-foot guys and they'll be difficult to score against."

Vladimir Radmanovic said he might play Sunday against Dallas after missing four games because of a strained right calf muscle.

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