Los Angeles Lakers: Offense Is a Mess, Crucial Adjustments Needed

They might be 10-6, but you know we can't allow the Los Angeles Lakers to get off that easy without finding something to criticize.

Actually, they're not doing too bad. Considering the circumstances of Kobe Bryant's injured wrist, a new coach in Mike Brown and the absence of Lamar Odom contributing to an overall lack of depth, this start is really all they could ask for. They even got a few quality wins out of the young season with victories over Dallas, Utah twice and Denver.

As for that talk of the Clippers being the new No. 1 team in Los Angeles? I'd still hold off on that. There are plenty of fatal flaws beginning to get exposed about that team, specifically dealing with Blake Griffin who is utterly useless on offense outside of 15 feet.

The Lakers have been supported by Kobe Bryant's recent scoring onslaught and the maturation of Andrew Bynum.

Bryant is currently averaging 30 points per and is coming off a brief stretch where he scored 40 or more in four consecutive games. That's an impressive feat, but the Lakers are probably more excited to see that Bynum is actually playing like the guy that they drafted him to become. He's averaging 16 points on 53 percent shooting, 14 boards and two blocks per.

Besides Pau Gasol, however, everything else has been pretty disappointing. They're not getting the help they need from their bench, definitely suffering without the versatility of Lamar Odom and seeing little to no production stem from the point guard and small forward position.

Perhaps the biggest problem, however, has been the lack of offense. The lack of scoring and consistency has been an obstacle all year for the Lakers as they continually find themselves scoring well under 100 points. At 93 points per game, the Lakers currently rank 19th in that category, despite having the league's leading scorer.

They've scored over 100 points only one time this year and under 90 points three times. While many teams also happen to be struggling with their scoring due to the lockout cutting into training camp and preseason, the Lakers offense should still be performing better when you consider that they have the third highest scoring trio in the NBA.

Even with the lack of resources off the bench and at two positions in the starting lineup, it feels as if the Lakers could still be doing a lot better with what they have. They have the best power forward and center combination in the league by far and that should easily assist them on their way to a high seed in the Western Conference standings.

Aside from the Oklahoma City Thunder who could possibly neutralize them with defense, the duo of Gasol and Bynum should be constantly fed. Kobe, or whoever else has the ball, should always be looking to run the ball inside to outside. Those two are extremely difficult to defend in a one-on-one setting, will attract constant double teams and will find open teammates.

Bynum has a little trouble finding teammates when passing out of double teams, but Gasol doesn't seem to have that problem.

Still, the Lakers aren't taking enough of an advantage with the two stars they have in their backcourt. The two are combining for only two more points than what Bryant is averaging. There are only so many players on this team that can consistently go out every night and score and those two are the few that can give you 20 points and 10 rebounds per night.

The only problem is that they have to start getting more looks. There aren't many centers in the league that can defend Bynum one-on-one and there aren't too many power forwards that can defend the jump shot of Gasol, as well as his elite post work. Those two give the Lakers a huge advantage and it's time that the Lakers began to feed them.

Kobe Bryant has been exceptional. When considering the ailments, the new coach and the lack of a bench, he's been absolutely amazing and is the MVP thus far. Averaging 30 points per at the age of 33 with a bum wrist and a few fingers is a feat that only so many NBA players have accomplished and will ever accomplish.

However, it's early in the regular season, so why is Kobe working as hard as he is now? The Lakers should be allowing him to get all the rest he needs for the postseason. This tight schedule is arduous on old legs, as it has already proven with the likes of Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett.

Bryant is the exception to the rule, but he's not going to be able to maintain this type of consistency for the duration of the season.

The Lakers are in a weak enough division to make changes to their offense. It certainly wouldn't hurt anyway. A team with three players as volatile as Bryant, Gasol and Bynum should not be averaging only 93 points per game. Those three give the Lakers tremendous advantages over nearly every opponent they take on.

Big men that can hold their own are a rare commodity in this league and the Lakers happen to have two of them. They need to use that to their advantage. Work the ball down low to Bynum when he's matched up against a guy like Joel Anthony and give the ball to Pau Gasol when he's matched up against a player like Ryan Anderson.

It's a simple concept and the Lakers need to get with it. If Kobe's going to continue averaging 30 points per game, he's not going to have enough left in the tank for the postseason run that follows these dreadful 66 games.

The bench isn't going to help out. Sadly, there's nothing the Lakers can do about that. Troy Murphy and Steve Blake are solid shooters with a few intangibles, but there's nothing else on the bench to look at and feel positive about. Jason Kapono is too one-dimensional, Metta World Peace is becoming an enforcer and nothing else, while Josh McRoberts sits back and throws down a few dunks and grabs a few offensive rebounds.

The Lakers won't get too much help from their bench at any time this year unless they make a trade. They'll have to make due with what they got, which there is nothing wrong with because they still have the same three-man core that's won two titles in the past three years. Right now, they just need to utilize the limited resources to their fullest potential.

Feed the big men down low and allow Bryant to take a break from scoring. We know that he loves doing it, but it's not fair to the Lakers who are going to need that same effort three months from now. For now, the Lakers need to allow Pau and Andrew to do the majority of the scoring, which they can easily do considering their size and versatility.

The Lakers have two tremendous advantages. It's time that they used them.