After a rough start this season, the Los Angeles Lakers are starting to show some promising signs.

They've pieced together a respectable 6-4 record in their last 10 games. Despite being below .500 and having dropped two straight games, they're keeping their heads above water. And most importantly, their franchise star, the legendary Kobe Bryant, is back in action. Things are starting to look up.

The problem is, even with all those things in their favor, it still doesn't mean that the Lakers are going to be any closer to winning the NBA title this season or even the next-the latter which might be Bryant's final season in the NBA.

Earlier this week, Bryant made some telling comments when asked whether he was happy with the Lakers going 10-9 without him in the starting lineup: "It's not like we were gangbusters before."

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Keep this in mind: that wasn't Bryant deciding to bury his entire roster of teammates or questioning their ability. Those comments aren't rooted in arrogance. They're rooted from the mind of a man accustomed to winning. In Kobe's 17 seasons, he has lead the Lakers to five NBA world titles and seven NBA Finals appearances. The Lakers have been constantly in the championship hunt for years, and have been the class of the West for a long time, the standard bearer for excellence. For Bryant, a 15-time All-Star and the 2008 league MVP, being good isn't good enough, and being just okay or less is unacceptable.

However, like any coach worth their salt would do, Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni quickly stepped up to defend his team:

"I have to disagree with that," D'Antoni said Tuesday after a team shootaround. "We were 6-2 in the last eight [games before Bryant's return] and I thought we played extremely well, winning three [in a row] on the road. ... So, that's not quite right. I'm really proud of what the guys did."

On his team's strengths and flaws, D'Antoni said this:

"Our defense is fairly good," he said. "We can be better, always be better, but in the paint we're awful and we've got to get tougher."

Ignoring for a moment the obvious need to point out the potential for tension between the head coach and the Lakers' franchise star, here's the problem-contrary to what D'Antoni said, the reality is, the Lakers are not a very good defensive team. The numbers speak for themselves. On points allowed, the Lakers are the second-worst team in the NBA, allowing 101.3 points per game. Regarding defensive efficiency, the Lakers are ranked low at No.19, allowing 103.0 points per 100 possessions. They're holding their own as far as not turning the ball over and team rebounding, but, as is the case with most of D'Antoni's teams, the Lakers are not excelling in an area crucial to any championship team-defense.

The Lakers have been continuously torched in the paint when it comes to stopping centers and other giants from scoring against them. New Orleans' Anthony Davis torched them for 32 points Nov.8, Nene Hilario took 30 points against them Nov. 26 and even Timofey Mozgov, Denver's strong, but offensively-challenged center, scored 33 points on the Lakers recently. Dwight Howard was their best defensive player, in the paint or otherwise, before he decided to split for Houston, meaning that mantle is now bestowed upon an aging Pau Gasol, who has struggled this season on most fronts. That's not exactly a situation that stirs great confidence in the Lakers' chances regarding making the playoffs.

Making the playoffs. Again, it has to be disheartening for Lakers fans to realize on some level that just making the playoffs is the most they can hope for.

NBA title? Not with Miami, Indiana, San Antonio and, amazingly enough, Portland in the mix.

Western Conference champions? Not with the Spurs, Memphis, Houston and Oklahoma City in the running. And with the Clippers up and running, the once-mighty Lakers can't even compete for dominance in their own city, let alone in the Pacific Division standings. So, it's playoffs or bust for this injury-marred squad, which are now far cries from the Kobe-led title teams of 2009 and 2010.

The fact remains as this: ex-coach Phil Jackson led the Lakers to five championships during his time with the Lakers and Kobe because he understood there had to be a balance, having as good a defense as you had an offense. During the 2008-09 title run, the Lakers were ranked 6th in defensive efficiency with 104.7 points per 100 possessions allowed. They improved on that in their 2009-10 title campaign when they were ranked 4th with 103.7 points allowed. It goes back to the simple premise: offense gets the glory, but defense wins the game. And defense is not something that D'Antoni's teams have ever been about.

Even in the glory days of D'Antoni's Phoenix Suns with a younger Steve Nash and a more vibrant Amar'e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson and Shawn Marion, defense was never their strongest suit. In the 2004-05 season, when Phoenix went to the Western Conference Finals, the Suns were ranked No.1in points scored with 110.4 points per game, but were ranked dead last in points allowed, allowing opponents to score 103.3 points per game. The following season, marking another return to the Western Finals, didn't change anything, the Suns once again finishing first in points scored (108.4 points), but No.28 out of 30 in points allowed (102.8 points). But the big difference between those D'Antoni-coached Suns teams and this Lakers squad was their offensive firepower and youth. D'Antoni has the horses capable of running opponents ragged with his perpetually running "7 seconds or less" offense. They were a young team, athletic, filled with energy. This Lakers squad is simply not as capable and not as talented, even with arguably the greatest player of his generation in Bryant. Offensively, the Lakers can't pound their opponents into submission, the way a team like the younger Houston Rockets, a team after D'Antoni's own heart, is able to. The Lakers are 14^th in scoring with 101.3 points per game, yet allow opponents to score 103.5 points--not a winning combination by any stretch of the imagination.

Time has brought the Lakers and D'Antoni to a crossroads. This team isn't getting any younger, and help could be at least a season or two away in the form of any prize free agents they could lure to Los Angeles. Even then, it might be time for D'Antoni to finally embrace the fact that defense is the cure, not offense, for his team's woes in the standings. But chances are more than likely that he won't-meaning it will be quite some time before the Lakers have another championship to add to their collection. And one thing that Lakers fans and management, both long accustomed to winning and excellence, are not known for is their patience.