Although Jordan Farmar's return to the Los Angeles Lakers this season was the inspirational story of the offseason, there is no doubt that Steve Blake has been much more integral to the Lakers' competitiveness this season. 

While Farmar brings tenacity and versatility to the second unit, Blake has been filling in for a hobbled Steve Nash and has been putting up big numbers despite being 33 years old. 

Averaging 10.1 points, 7.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds while playing 31.6 minutes per game, Blake has been producing the way fans were expecting Nash to produce. While he is only shooting 40.6 percent from the floor, his 46 percent shooting from beyond the arc has really helped the Lakers spread the floor.

According to NBA.com/Stats, Blake is hitting over 50 percent of his three-point shots from every area except the right corner. He is especially proficient from the left corner, hitting 58.3 percent of his threes from there. This isn't surprising given the fact that Blake has always been a good shooter throughout his career.

What is surprising is the fact that Blake looked like he was on his last legs last season. He wasn't producing well as a passer or a rebounding presence and looked like he had degraded into purely a spot-up shooter. 

The difference may be the amount of athletes on the floor this season. Despite losing Dwight Howard, one of the best athletes in the league, the Lakers were able to replace the aging veterans from last season with young talent who can really run the floor, box out their checks and really fight for those rebounds. 

Despite losing their best rebounder to the Houston Rockets, the Lakers are still in the top 10 in rebounding with 53.7 boards per game. This takes the pressure off of Blake to use his aging body to really fight his man for boards. Ironically, this reduction in pressure has helped him gather over three rebounds per game due to the excellent box-outs the Lakers are doing as a team. This is a career high for Blake. 

Not only do the athletes on the team help improve team rebounding, they also give Blake a lot of options to kick it to on the break. Blake has shown the ability to dictate the tempo of the game and really control the pace. While Nash was always masterful at doing this, Blake has never been known as a great floor general. The versatility of players such as Nick Young have really helped Blake come into his own as a point guard.

Not only have the Lakers loaded up on athletes, they're also effectively stretching the floor with shooters. Topping the league with 30.3 percent of their points coming from three-point range, it is clear that spacing and perimeter shooting is a vital component to the Lakers' game. This fits in perfectly with Blake's game.

While Blake still has troubles guarding the more athletic guards in the league, the Lakers' team defense is pretty good considering the fact that they lost Superman, one of the most imposing defenders in the league. Holding their opponents to 44.7 percent shooting from the field, the Lakers are really putting forth a team effort on the defensive end. While they aren't spectacular, they play well enough on their rotations to cover up for some of Blake's deficiencies. 

In five of his last six games, Blake has surpassed 10 assists and is distributing the basketball at a torrid pace. Three of those five games were wins, and this is no coincidence. Even if Blake can't sustain this production, his shooting and his ability to impact the tempo of the game makes him invaluable for the Lakers this season.