After signing Steve Nash and bringing in Dwight Howard in the offseason, the Lakers became the outright favorites to win not only the Western Conference but also the NBA Championship.
However, the Lakers started off the season losing all seven preseason games and only won one of their first five games.
Mike Brown was then fired, and speculation circled that Phil Jackson was on his way back once again.
Shockingly, Mike D'Antoni was hired, and things began to look much better in Los Angeles. The team has since won six of its next 10 games and appear to be trending upwards.
Despite the recent wins and promise shown with D'Antoni taking over the coaching reigns, the Lakers still have a few issues that need sorted out quickly.
Foremost, they need to find a way of making everyone fit into D'Antoni's offense.
The biggest thing that drives D'Antoni's offense is a point guard who can distribute and score when necessary. Most recently, Darius Morris started at point guard and had a stunning one-point and three-steal stat line.
Yawn.
Kobe could theoretically be the guy to bring the ball up the floor, but that just allows the opposing defense to focus on him and make him work much harder to score. Kobe's abilities are much better utilized when he is getting the ball from others and creating a shot from there.
Also, Pau Gasol has not quite found his place in the offense yet.
His ability to shoot the mid-range jumper is an asset that the Lakers need to utilize, and it is something they have not been able to do of late. Against the Pacers on Tuesday, Pau shot just 2-of-9 from the field and scored just 10 points.
The final thing the Lakers must do is figure out a way to score more points.
Mike D'Antoni is known for having teams that score a ton of points, and...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
