How would you fix the Lakers?

The Lakers are getting worse, not better. And all of their flaws were on display simultaneously during a 95-83 loss to a Bulls team that was playing without its leading scorer.
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Add in another miserable shooting night from Kobe Bryant, who finished 7-of-22 from the field, including making just one of his seven attempts in the fourth quarter, and you have the game’s ultimate result.

The Gasol issue will play itself out one way or another; either he’ll come to terms with the way D’Antoni is currently choosing to use him, or he’ll cause problems to the point where the Lakers will have no choice but to deal him at the deadline.

But when peering through this mess of a season in Los Angeles, remember that these smaller issues are just a diversion from the greater one, which is this: The Lakers are getting worse, not better. And eventually, they will have to do something about it.

Instead the Lakers (at the request of Kobe) worked to bring in a Princeton-hybrid offense — something without play calls and the micromanaging Brown brought as coach. The idea was to make Steve Nash the point god and when he got the ball he could decide to fast break, or come up and call for some pick-and-roll action, or he could go into one of the Princeton sets.

When you have that many options at the top of the offense it’s going to take a long time for get guys on the same page and acting seamlessly. The Lakers never came close to that. Guys were clearly thinking and not reacting, combine that with the return just at the start of the season of Howard and other injuries and you kill any chance of the group jelling. The offense was a mess. And the defense was still worse (and supposed to be Brown’s specialty).

So the Lakers fired Mike Brown.

And went 180 degrees with Mike D’Antoni — a guy who won playing Amar’e Stoudemire at the five, flooding the floor with shooters and letting Steve Nash run the show as fast as he wanted. That was absolutely nothing like the Lakers roster, even Steve Nash is older and slower. The Lakers had two big men who want the ball in the post, plus Kobe and Metta World Peace like the post, also. “Young” and “athletic” are not words used to describe the Lakers roster.

If you learned one thing from watching Mike D’Antoni operate in New York is that the players must fit the system because the system isn’t changing to fit the players. The Lakers knew that and knew they had a mismatched roster for what D’Antoni wanted to do when they hired them — fans want to blame D’Antoni for not modifying what he does but this goes back to management hiring him knowing he was a system guy. Or at least Lakers fans need to hope management knew that

Kobe: We are playoff-bound

Kobe Bryant evidently is confident the Los Angeles Lakers will make the playoffs -- and be a factor
when they get there.

Bryant said in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he is certain the struggling Lakers will make
the playoffs. The 15-time All-Star also claimed he has "no fear" of any potential postseason opponent
in the competitive Western Conference.

"It's not a question of if we make the playoffs. We will," Bryant told Sports Illustrated. "And when we
get there, I have no fear of anyone -- Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver ... whoever. I have zero
nervousness about that."

The Lakers (26-29) have won six of their last nine games, including Wednesday's 113-99 victory over
the Boston Celtics. But despite the recent hot streak, Los Angeles trails the Houston Rockets by 3½
games for the eighth spot in the conference standings.

Bryant, the NBA's fourth-leading scorer at 26.6 points per game, cited a loss earlier this month to
the Miami Heat as one of the sources of his confidence.

The Lakers dropped a 107-97 decision in Miami on Feb. 10 to conclude a seven-game road trip. Despite
the loss, Bryant told Sports Illustrated the Lakers showed positive signs in the contest.

"We will make the playoffs," he said. "And we will compete. And part of the reason I have that
confidence is the Miami game. We had control of the game. That was no fluke. We were playing very,
very well. We were reading the defense, making the extra pass.

Kobe Bryant evidently is confident the Los Angeles Lakers will make the playoffs -- and be a factor
when they get there.

Bryant said in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he is certain the struggling Lakers will make
the playoffs. The 15-time All-Star also claimed he has "no fear" of any potential postseason opponent
in the competitive Western Conference.