Bruins in the NBA Report

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

Jordan Farmar, Los Angeles Lakers: Farmar has continued his solid play from the preseason into the regular season.  He's averaging 10.3 points and 3.3 assists in almost 20 minutes a game.  Farmar is gaining the trust of Lakers Coach Phil Jackson who no longer hesitates putting Farmer into key spots during the game.  He only has committed two turnovers in his first three games of the season.

Arron Afflalo, Detroit Pistons: Afflalo has found a good match in the Detroit Pistons. The rookie guard has impressed teammates with his toughness and intensity which matches well with the blue-collar ethic of the team and city.  Afflalo started the first two games of the season filling in for Richard Hamilton, but with Hamilton returning and veteran reserve guard Flip Murray playing well, Afflalo may only see minutes if there are injuries to players in the rotation.  Still, Afflalo has made quite an impression in his short time in the league.

Matt Barnes, Golden St. Warriors: The Warriors have started the season very slowly and now will be without one of their team captains.  Barnes dislocated a finger on his shooting hand yesterday and will be sidelined for an undetermined time.  He was averaging 6.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 18 minutes of play.  The Warriors are already without Stephen Jackson, another team captain, who was suspended for the first seven games of the season.

Baron Davis, Golden St. Warriors:  Some think that Baron Davis is pressing too hard at the start of the season.  With the departure of backcourt mate Jason Richardson and the suspension of Stephen Jackson, the Warriors are missing a lot of their offensive fire power.  Although Davis is averaging 21.8 points a game, he is shooting a miserable 37.2% from the field including just 12% from three-point distance.

Trevor Ariza, Orlando Magic: Ariza struggled through much of the preseason with injuries and now he finds himself battling for playing time in new coach Jeff Van Gundy's rotation who is looking on settling on eight primary players to play in a game. Right now, Ariza is on the outside looking in - he played just 32 seconds, one minute if you round up, in the Magic's last game.

Dan Gadzuric, Milwaukee Bucks: Gadzuric has been playing solid back-up minutes at center for the Bucks.  He is averaging 3.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 13.4 minutes a game.

Ryan Hollins, Charlotte Bobcats: The Bobcats had shortly considered starting Hollins at center due to injuries at the position but decided they needed more experience and have gone to primarily Primoz Brezec and Emeka Okafor.  Hollins has averaged 8.5 minutes a game; however, he played 17 minutes against Philadelphia in a losing effort on Wednesday grabbing a career-high 7 rebounds.

Jason Kapono, Toronto Raptors: After winning the starting small forward spot in the Raptors line-up during preseason, there is now some concern about Kapono's defense and his ability to guard high-scoring shooting forwards. While he is averaging 8.5 points on 58.3% shooting and 62.5% from beyond the arc, his opposite numbers Richard Jefferson scored 27 points and Andre Igoudala had 23 points against Kapono in the first two games of the season.

Darrick Martin, Toronto Raptors: The 13 year veteran is starting the season on the Raptor's inactive list.

Earl Watson, Seattle Supersonics: Watson has not been shooting well and may be replaced in the starting line-up by Luke Ridnour if his shot doesn't improve. Watson is shooting just 25.9% from the field although he is averaging 6.8 assists a game.

(photo credit: NBA)