Five ways to fix the Lakers’ offense

1. Mike Brown needs to strike a balance involving Kobe Bryant’s scoring. Let’s face it. Without Bryant’s league-leading 28.7 points per game, the Lakers would face a bigger offensive mess right now. That’s saying a lot, considering that the Lakers are averaging their lowest points-per-game total (93.97) since before the beginning of the 24-second shot clock in the 1954-55 season. But Brown’s heavy reliance on Bryant has both stunted the offense’s development and worsened Bryant’s energy level. Ride Bryant’s hot hand when he’s going. When he doesn’t have it, hold him accountable for getting others involved.

2. Draw up more plays for Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. During his introductory press conference, Brown spoke about wanting a system similar to the one San Antonio ran when Brown was an assistant from 2000 to 2003. That would mean substituting Gasol and Bynum for the roles played by Tim Duncan and David Robinson, involving receiving touches in the high post and running pick-and-rolls. That’s been nonexistent this season. Part of that points to Brown’s reducing his playbook to avoid information overload. But the production from Gasol and Bynum can’t solely hinge on their just establishing post position. Brown should hold players accountable in ensuring that maximizing the inside game remains a top priority.

3. Have better ball movement. The Lakers remain inconsistent in this area. Considering their declining athleticism, it’s one of the only ways they can score at a faster rate. It will ensure more looks inside. Quicker and more efficient passes will give the Lakers better looks behind the perimeter, which would likely improve their numbers on spot-ups (37.9%) and from three-point range (30%).

4. Run fewer isolation plays in the fourth quarter. Two common myths contradict each other. When the game is on the line, give the ball to Bryant. He isn’t clutch. Yet these two arguments provide a more unsettling picture. The Lakers’ offense breaks down in the fourth quarter, mostly because they suddenly stop running their offense and resort to isolation sets. Part of this relates to Bryant’s wanting the ball in crunch time. The other part involves his teammates’ suddenly not playing with purpose on offense. Add it all together, and the Lakers shoot only 36.3% from the field on isolation plays and average 22.7 points in the fourth quarter.

5. Add bits and pieces of the triangle. The Lakers should’ve done this at the beginning of the season to help mitigate the transition. But they didn’t. Even if many initially liked going away from the triangle offense, that points more to their initial enthusiasm for trying something new. The roster still has instincts for it and is more familiar with running it. This will help mitigate some of the gaping holes the Lakers’ lack of speed and a quality point guard can’t overcome.

RELATED:

Lakers need to be cautious about dealing Pau Gasol

Five things to take from Lakers’ 106-101 loss to Washington

Mike Brown’s criticism of Kobe Bryant’s shot selection overdue

E-mail the Lakers blog at [email protected]. Follow Mark Medina’s L.A. Times Lakers blog on Twitter and Facebook.