Daily Bruin: Jordan Farmar isn't wasting any time proving he belongs in the NBA.
The new Los Angeles Lakers guard shined in his first two professional games over the weekend at the Long Beach Summer Pro League.
In a Lakers loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday in front of a sold-out Walter Pyramid crowd of 5,000, Farmar wowed the Lakers-fan-dominated crowd, scoring 17 points in 30 minutes on the floor.
Farmar's follow-up game wasn't too shabby, either. He scored 13 points, dished out six assists, and had four steals in a 97-69 Lakers rout of the Mavericks.
Lakers summer league coach Kurt Rambis was impressed with what he saw of Farmar.
"He has good instincts; he makes good reads, good decisions," Rambis said. "I appreciate the fact that he's out there trying to run the offense. He, as well as anybody, has picked up the offense the quickest. He seems like he's been studying it or something. He knows what he wants to do."
From the looks of the first two games, the Lakers' offense seems to be a great fit for Farmar, who scored most of his points inside on drives to the basket and set up open shots for others on similar drives. Picking up the offense has been no problem for Farmar so far.
"It's not that difficult," Farmar said. "If you know how to play basketball, its pretty basic right now. I'm sure there's more stuff down the road, but what we're doing right now is pretty easy."
Rambis, though, couldn't stress enough how difficult it is for young players to thrive in the Lakers' offense right away, when discussing some of the Lakers' other younger players, namely Von Wafer and undrafted San Diego State rookie Marcus Slaughter.
"It's always difficult for kids to come in and pick up this offense," Rambis said. "We've only had five or six practices, and most guys don't pick up this offense for a year or two."
The Lakers team Farmar is playing on this summer has three players on the roster – Wafer, Devin Green and Andrew Bynum – who actually saw playing time last year. The other players are mostly undrafted rookies vying for a spot at Lakers training camp.
Bynum, the Lakers' 7-foot first-round pick in last year's draft, was one of Farmar's favorite targets this weekend.
"(Farmar) has made a really good impression," Bynum said. "I like the way he looks to pass to the big man. A lot of guys don't do that. I like his floater coming down the paint – it's a really good shot to have."
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