Farmar’s Motivation Is Rooted in History

UCLA freshman point guard Jordan Farmar wears No. 11 in honor of Isiah Thomas, the little Detroit Piston point guard who stood up to everyone and became as famous for attitude as for his assists.

Farmar also adores Oscar Robertson, the Hall of Fame guard who made averaging a triple-double a matter of course. He understands history and that what came before affects what comes next.

“That’s part of why Jordan is at UCLA,” said Jordan’s father, Damon Farmar. “He knows how it would matter if he helped UCLA get back to being UCLA.”

This weekend trip for the Bruins to California tonight and Stanford on Sunday will just be part of the story “Growing Up Jordan.” A Pacific 10 Conference sweep of the sixth-place Bears and third-place Cardinal by the fourth-place Bruins wouldn’t be a shock. Neither would two losses.

“We could make a statement,” Farmar said. “We could also fall far out of things. But the thing is, I don’t see us losing any more conference games. We just shouldn’t.”

During games when Farmar was throwing too many passes to the opponent or when he was being pushed around by bigger, older players who understood that in college basketball a little shove to the chest or elbow in the gut was overlooked by referees, it was important to remember a few things.

Such as:

* Farmar didn’t turn 18 until after this season began.

* Farmar has had no one at his position to practice with or against, no older, wiser teammate to teach him moves and shortcuts that make life in the Pac-10 easier.

* Farmar is part of an all-rookie backcourt and has unreliable post players who might be older but have not proved any wiser or quicker to the ball or stronger to the basket than some of his high school teammates.

All of a sudden, it seems Farmar has gotten it. He became the talented leader and scorer that he was at Woodland Hills Taft High. He has found his shot and his patience. In his last three halves -- starting in the second against Arizona State last week -- Farmar has scored 45 points, distributed 10 assists and had only two turnovers.

“I really wish I had another year with Jordan,” senior Dijon Thompson said. Thompson, UCLA’s leading scorer and rebounder, has come to appreciate Farmar’s willingness to learn where Thompson likes the ball and willingness to move ahead after mistakes instead of beating himself up.

Part of the thanks goes to Coach Ben Howland, who has been a calming influence. Howland hasn’t jumped up screaming or yanked Farmar to the bench, even in games when he was making eight or nine turnovers and missing most of his shots.

“It’s definitely a learning process you have with a freshman point guard,” Howland said. “It’s a time to be patient.”

Damon Farmar, a football and baseball star at Los Angeles University High and a former minor league baseball player, also has been a place where Farmar can find calm and reason.

“When I’m a little down or have some struggles,” Farmar said, “I can talk to him and he knows what feelings I have because he’s had them himself.”

Farmar said he admired Thomas for “his demeanor, his drive, his fight, the way he turned Detroit into a really tough team. I want to turn UCLA into a really tough team too with a little bit of that swagger.”

As the concerned father, Damon has worried about his son. Farmar wasn’t supposed to be the only point guard on the roster. Senior Cedric Bozeman was going to be his mentor, a great practice partner, a man to split minutes with and someone to push Farmar no matter who was the starter.

But when Bozeman suffered a season-ending knee injury during preseason practice, suddenly a slightly built kid who was still 17 was the leader.

“Jordan has played so many minutes at a much higher level than he was used to,” Damon Farmar said. “I can see it’s worn on him physically. Mentally, he’s a tough kid. He’s such a student of the game, so I think he’s learned what to expect.

“Last week I told Jordan how proud I was of how he’s handled himself. He plays tough and keeps fighting.”

On Saturday, Farmar scored a career-high 27 points and kept the Bruins in the game in the first half against 12th-ranked Arizona.

When Farmar and Howland watched film of the loss to Arizona, Howland pointed out a couple of times when Farmar should have taken an easy shot instead of passing off.

“Almost before I saw it Jordan noticed the same thing,” Howland said. “So he won’t make the same mistake again.”