The problems the Lakers needs to address.

We all saw the game last night and it was ugly. If you didn't catch it, consider yourself lucky. The Lakers were just out hustled in every single way possible. You would think that a Mavericks team without the German Assassin Dirk and Huntsman Kaman, would get blowout by Kupchak's own version of the Avengers, but instead they put on an embarrassing debut.

The Lakers might have lost to the Maverick by a small 8 point margin, it was still in no way a close game. This game exposed all of Los Angeles's problems and surprising it took one shorthanded team to do it. If they want to get somewhere in June, they need to start addressing them now.

The Problems:

1. Dwight Howard's free throw shooting. Let's face it this will never get better, hopefully they don't meet the Spurs, other wise coach Popovich will be having the time of his life.
2. Having Steve Nash and not using his nashabilities. You can not have Steve Nash on your team without having him dominate the ball. Pick and Rolls need to happen and everyone on the team has to run.
3. This leads to another problem, if the Lakers decide to run and abandon the Princeton offense, how are they going to sustain their energy, with a aging and injury plagued roster, they can't really afford to run every possession. Going to the bench early is not an option, they will give up leads in a flash if they are relied on. The Mavs's bench outscored the Lakers 37 - 17.
4. Despite having so much height over the other team, they did not abuse it. The bigs need to put up at least 20 shot attempts every night. If they can't even put up big numbers against skinny Brandon Wright and undersized Elton Brand, what will they do against taller teams in the West.
5. The Back Court defense was just as horrible as I predicted, Collison and Beaubois torched Nash just by shooting jumpers, and if I am not mistaken most guards in this league on a playoff team can make a jump shot or two. Dwight and Gasol does their job just by being in the paint altering shots and lowers the confidence of players who dare to attack the basket.
6. This is not an actual problem, but Dwight Howard should never wear those sleeves again, those look absolutely ridiculous.

Until Mike Brown finds the answers, his future, along with the Lakers are facing imminent doom.