Editor's note: Each week during the NBA regular season, Dr. Jack Ramsay makes a house call with a sickly franchise.

This week's team: Los Angeles Lakers.

The Symptoms
The reigning world champion Lakers are 7-13, are last in the Pacific Division and have a 4-4 mark since Shaquille O'Neal returned to the lineup. They were held to 85 points in losses to Miami and Utah and scored 86 in a struggling home victory against Chicago. Over the season, the Lakers are averaging 93 points a game (16th in the league) and allowing just under 96 (19th). Although the Lakers score better with Shaq, the points allowed figure (97.6) is worse since Shaq returned. The Lakers led the league last season in field-goal percentage defense (.424). This year, their mark is .430, which ranks 17th in the NBA.

	The performance of Derek Fisher and the Lakers' supporting cast has gotten rotten reviews so far.

On offense, the Lakers are shooting a mere .416 -- 23rd best in the league. O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Rick Fox, Derek Fisher, Devean George, Slava Medvedenko and Samaki Walker are shooting below their field-goal percentages of last season. The Lakers are 5-4 at home, 2-9 on the road.

Those are the numbers, and they don't lie. They accurately depict why the Lakers are struggling. If a team can't score and can't stop the other team, it's in trouble. That's where the Lakers find themselves. They're the second-best team in Los Angeles right now.

The Diagnosis
When a team is struggling, analyze its defense first. When the Lakers were in championship form, they had stoppers at each position. Fisher worked hard against opposing point guards, Bryant shut down hot-shooting two-guards, Fox dominated small forwards, Walker controlled the big forwards and Shaq patrolled the paint. Off the bench, Robert Horry harassed everybody, Mark Madsen banged people around and Brian Shaw slowed down points or twos. The team defense was smothering. If a penetrator got past the front line, a second defender was always there to stop him. There were no open cutters to the hoop, all perimeter shots were challenged and nobody got a second shot.

None of that is happening on a consistent basis this season. The defense is porous and opposing teams get to the free-throw line with high frequency (28 attempts a game compared with the Lakers' 22).

The Lakers' team offense is sluggish and out of sync -- there is no crispness to the attack. Coach Phil Jackson prefers ball-control offense over the running game, but defenses jam the passing lanes against the predictable Triangle offense and clog the post area to prevent Shaq from getting his usual number of pass receptions. Occasional fast breaks arise mostly from steals and individual forays to the hoop by Bryant. In halfcourt, the only penetrations come when Bryant breaks down his man and gets to the rim or dishes to an open teammate. Because the Lakers shoot so badly from the field, opponents pack their defenses inside and concede the perimeter shot. So far, the Lakers haven't made them pay for this tactic.

The Lakers play with a complacent attitude. Only Bryant plays with a sense of urgency -- and he was criticized for doing too much on his own. The others play like they can return to their winning ways whenever they choose. Right now, the Lakers are beatable by any team in the NBA.

The Lakers are O'Neal's and Bryant's team. Kobe has been brilliant, while Shaq, who's still getting into game shape, has shown an improved free-throw touch (63.5 percent). But The Diesel is not as quick and fluid as he is when he's at his best. He'll get there. It will take more than those two, as great as they are, for the Lakers to win again. The role players -- especially Fox, Fisher and Horry -- must step up and be counted.

The Cure
The Lakers have been here before. It seems each year I write a prescription for them as they grope their way through the 82-game schedule. In the last three years, the Lakers reached their top performance level when they had to. They may do it again this year, but they're facing tougher opposition in the West. The challengers are better. Dallas is good enough to beat them now, and Sacramento and San Antonio may be good enough by playoff time. And whoever gets to the Finals will find a stronger representative from the East.

The cure for the Lakers is simplistic: 1) get Shaq in game shape and Horry, Fisher and Fox back to their best playing levels, 2) put the intensity back into the defense, 3) take advantage of every fast-break opportunity that presents itself, 4) run the offense with quickness and purpose and 5) take advantage of defenses that focus on Shaq and Kobe to get easy scores for the other players.

If those things happen, the Lakers will score more and allow less. That's the secret to winning in any sport at any level.

Dr. Jack Ramsay, who is an NBA analyst for ESPN, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.