SEATTLE — Jordan Farmar's ankles hurt. They're sprained and swollen and when Farmar isn't limping around in an air cast he's soaking his feet in ice water.
"And that's hard," UCLA Coach Ben Howland says. "Putting your feet in ice cold water? That's not fun."
And so it was that Farmar, the Bruins' point guard, their emotional leader, their main warrior, was shocked, stunned, amazed and, most of all, furious. His right arm was bleeding in the second half because one of the Washington Huskies had slashed it when several players tumbled while scrapping for a loose ball. A whistle had blown, a foul was called.
On Farmar!
For all the things Farmar does right -- the floating layins from the key, the jump stop in the lane, the quick passes inside to his freshmen centers -- Farmar still has one bit of immaturity to his game.
He can't help talking to officials.
Not that the ones in the Pacific 10 Conference don't deserve it.
The crew for Saturday's nationally televised game between UCLA and Washington at the Bank of America arena here spent more time conferring among themselves trying to figure out who did what, when and where than police detectives on the scene of a crime.
UCLA assistant coach Ernie Zeigler pulled Farmar off the court, but even during the timeout, while the rest of the Bruins were huddled around Howland, Farmar was stalking the perimeter and any time one of the officials dared glance toward the UCLA bench, Farmar would hold up his bloody arm.
\o7See! Blood! On me!
\f7It was a frustrating afternoon for the Pac-10's best point guard. His team lost, 70-67. He was two for 13 from the field. When he had a chance to make a three-pointer to send the game into overtime, no dice. He had more turnovers (seven) than assists (five).
There was no rhythm to the game and Farmar couldn't create one. When Farmar is at his best, he makes a rhythm, with his quick baseline drives or his little jump shot or his whizzing passes.
But on this afternoon, in front of a frantic crowd, whistles were always blowing. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, UCLA's best rebounder, spent most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble. Center Ryan Hollins fouled out early in the second half of a game Howland said was his best of the season.
Poor, off-target shooting Arron Afflalo, who was exhausting himself while defending Washington star Brandon Roy, had three first-half fouls and got the fourth quickly in the second half as well.
