Do you remember earlier in the week when Pau Gasol said he and Bynum were more skilled than Dwight Howard? Well last night the Bucks didn’t even have Andrew Bogut, yet the Lakers were outscored in the paint 44-42 by Drew Gooden and Luc Mbah a Moute, both under 7-feet. Gasol went 6-18 and Andrew Bynum only had 10 shots.

Outside of the paint, no one can seem to find the bottom of the bucket besides Kobe. When he goes to the bench the offense becomes stagnant, and the second unit has no pure scorers (which is why acquiring Arenas looks tantalizing). Not to mention that the Lakers are one of, if not the worst 3 pt. shooting teams. Last night they were 6-19. That’ll hardly get it done.

You’ll hear it time and time again, but the Lakers really do need a point guard. The offense has become predictable; set a screen for Kobe, or pass to Gasol (who then pumpfakes for 8 seconds before making a move). The Triangle was unpredictable since players made decisions on the fly, and Derek Fisher ran it to perfection. In this system however the Lakers need someone who can create shots for others, not just pass them the ball.

I know a lot of people will point to Kobe and blame him for the offense, but last night he had 27 points on just 20 shots, 9 assists and 8 rebounds. And at one point in the game when he went on the bench the Buck went on a 19-2 run. There just needs to be another spark for this team, especially on the road. 1-7 on the road means even if they get into the playoffs, they’re a first-round exit, and that’s a very harsh reality.

Welcome to the Jim Buss era.