Jordan Farmar was by far the player of the game. Forget the fact that Bynum showed strong ability to finish. Farmar was the guy continually looking to Bynum, trying to isolate him on the low block, find him in transition, find him on dribble penetration, etc. He scored a quick 6 points in the 4th quarter to lead a 4th quarter surge. Midrange jumpers. Layups on dribble penetration from both the left and right side. Creating plays for teammates where the following swing pass led to a wide open shot. Point Guard personified. Best of all, in the 4th quarter, he came up with 2 critical stops on Kyle Lowry, denying him a lane to the basket, as well as contesting 2 3-point shots late in the game to prevent open looks for the Grizzlies to tie. I really can’t say enough about his play today. The stats don’t reveal how complete his offensive decision-making and repertoire actually is. He finished the game with 21 points on 7 of 10 shooting (mostly layups), 1 of 4 behind the arc, 6 of 8 behind the stripe, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, and 1 blocked shot.
Farmar’s understanding of the triangle offense is through the roof. I never catch him making mistakes about the offensive execution, nor can I fault him much from his decision-making with the offense. More often than not, his turnovers are due to slight lapses with quicker guards, bigger guards, or just teammates executing the triangle improperly.
Andrew Bynum showed some very strong play. He showed two post moves. One, is a spin off of his right foot to face up for a 2′ shot. The other was a drop-step for a dunk. Speaking of dunks, he’s playing with more authority, dunking with contact and from his own shot creation. He showed dramatic improvement with his ability to finish against the guy he struggled against just last Saturday. He also has only 1 recorded blocked shot, but did come out to help more effectively in the 4th quarter. He finished with 24 points on 8 of 11 from the field (among half the field goals being dunks), 8 of 15 from the stripe, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 blocked shot.
Freut mich auch, dass Tex Jordan Farmar lobt.
