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Catching Up with Jordan Farmar
by Nick Kioski & Ty Nowell
September 28th, 2007
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What are your goals for this season?
Just to come in and contribute, to help the organization any way I can, doing whatever the coaching staff and the front office want me to do. Just play my role.
Have you spoken with Phil about what you specifically need to do this season?
Not into specifics yet. We have spoken casually on and off over the summer, but nothing specific. I look forward to getting into training camp.
Do you have a role that you're targeting, at least in your mind? Something that you want to do?
It tends to be a little different from what they want, so I try to keep that loose and just roll with it. I've worked on my game a lot and run really hard this summer so I am just ready to help out.
What have you specifically worked on over the summer?
A lot of catch and shoot and defensive stuff. In this offense, the triangle, you get a lot of opportunities to just catch and shoot, but you don't get a lot of time to play with the ball and do stuff off the dribble. So I've really been working on my shot, making it more consistent and more efficient. We'll see how it works out.
Have you worked with Fisher at all?
We've played a few times this summer. He's a great guy, going to be a great addition to this team.
Have you learned anything from him thus far?
Just a level of professionalism. How he carries himself, how he comes to work everyday. That's something that can rub off on all of us.
How does entering this season's training camp feel different from last season's, when you were the rookie?
No substitute for experience. Just being here a year, knowing what to expect, knowing how long the season here and the grind. Knowing that you really need to focus to get through the season definitely helps.
Off-the-court, what did you do this summer?
Just hung out. Spent a lot of time with my family here in LA enjoying the weather and enjoying being home. Otherwise just working hard, this is my job and I have a certain window of opportunity to play professional basketball. So it's pretty much an all year-round thing for me.
Given what you learned from Ben Howland at UCLA, how difficult was it guarding pro point guards last season?
I think Ben Howland helped me in that aspect. He's a great defensive coach, but defense is a team thing and the hardest part for me was going from our defensive concepts at UCLA as a team to the totally new defensive concepts here at the Lakers. Just learning the new concepts and trying to get on to the same page with the guys here has been the toughest challenge.
How did you know you wanted to play basketball professionally?
Ever since I picked it up. I started playing basketball when I was 4 years old and my dad was a professional athlete, he played professional baseball, and I knew from the moment that I started playing basketball that this is what I wanted to do.
How has your game changed from the way you played in college?
Trying to be a lot more efficient. In college you're the man, you have a lot of time to go out there and do what you do, but here, in order to be on the court, you have to produce in a short amount of time. And that comes with efficiency, working hard and keeping your game tight, cutting out all the wasted motion.
