So many questions.

Those are what Bucks' fans have left after their favorites lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals Sunday night.

Would the outcome have been different if Ray Allen had not hurt his knee and Scott Williams had not been suspended for that final game? Was Williams' suspension the final blow in a conspiracy between the NBA and NBC to get Allen Iverson and the big market Sixers into the championship series rather than the small market Bucks?

How could the Bucks have responded better to what they perceived as an imbalance in officiating? How can the Bucks ever gain the respect of the NBA?

Here are one writer's answers. If Ray Allen had not hurt his knee in the third a quarter, the Bucks might have kept it closer. Williams' presence Sunday night might have given the Bucks a little more muscle to go against the Sixers' Dikembe Mutombo, et al.

But, winning a Game 7 on the road at any level of playoff competition is very difficult. It's doubtful the Bucks could have pulled it off, even with Allen and Williams for the whole game.

What about the conspiracy theory, believed by many fans and further fueled by some area media? I wrote in one of my first Bucks' playoff columns that we should monitor NBC and the East Coast dominated media for biased coverage.

Certainly it existed. Certainly NBC would rather see the bigger audiences of the Philadelphia-NYC-Washington corridor join the large L.A. audience for the finals. The network is in the business of delivering an audience for advertisers.

Certainly, the NBA is the biggest prostitute of any pro sports league to TV. As I write this column, I need to be careful not to type NBC when I mean NBA.

But, to claim that the NBA, NBC and the refs conspired to screw the Bucks is carrying things too far. In fact, it smacks of the ranting of a paranoid.

Any disparity in fouls was as much due to different styles of play than to any conspiracy. The Sixers drive to the basket and push the ball inside. The Bucks live and die on the perimeter.

Besides, the refs' calls do not determine basketball games. How you respond to them, as well as other adversities, determine outcomes. The Bucks did not respond very well at times during the series.

Glenn Robinson drawing two technicals and getting ejected was not a smart response. Big Dog pushing Tyrone Hill into the photographers in front of the cameras and refs was even dumber. Williams' blatant elbow to Iverson in the opening minutes of Game 6 was not smart and was what contributed to his suspension.

If the Bucks were going to respond to what they thought were cheap shots by the Sixers, they had to pick their spots, in less obvious ways. Hopefully, they have learned that and will respond smarter next season.

Sam Cassell's constant whining about calls does more to turn the refs against Milwaukee than it does help. The Bucks simply let the calls, and taunting by some of the Sixers, get into their heads. George Karl might not like reading this, but the Bucks lost their composure in some key situations and did the same things to blow leads they did during periods of the regular season. They fell into 1-on-1 basketball and poor percentage shots, which led to one shot and no rebounds.

Basketball teams, and communities as a whole, do not get respect by claiming conspiracy theories, stomping their feet and whining, or making overt, dumb moves. They get it the old-fashioned way. They earn it.

Certainly, the Bucks, and their fans, gained respect this season. The Bucks showed they are talented players who form an up-and-coming team. The fans, who were known around the NBA as dead heads a couple years ago, showed they are among the most avid in the league.

Let's build on those things. Let's scrap the conspiracy theory complaints and get the respect of the NBA, NBC and the nation through playing great basketball, and backing the team in a partisan, yet class way.

The Bucks seemed to understand what was just written at the end of Game 7. You could see that any frustration and animosity that might have been built up during the series was gone, as Allen, Robinson, Cassell, Karl and the rest of the team sincerely congratulated the Sixers. It was a great display of sportsmanship and class.

George Karl, in this writer's opinion, was the NBA coach of the year, but I have to question what happened to Mark Pope in the playoffs. All season, Karl played Pope and talked about what he contributed to the team in hustle, physical play and intangibles.

Then, when the Bucks were confronted with a team built on hustle, physical play and intangibles, Karl buried Pope on the end of the bench. Why? George said "hustle players" tend to burn out in the playoffs, and teams' rotations tend to shrink.

Since when did George Karl follow any book other than his own? Mark Pope could have helped in all three of the playoff series, and especially against the Sixers.

Ray Allen, who led the Bucks in scoring and responded to refs' calls and other adversities with composure and class. Allen also showed guts when he returned to action Sunday night after bruising his knee.

Allen Iverson, who had an unbelievable final quarter in Game 6 for the Sixers and a great Game 7. Dikembe Mutombo, whose play inside took that part of the basketball court completely away from the Bucks.

When Iverson came back off the bench in the fourth quarter of Game 6 and drained his first 3-pointer, he was off to the races for the rest of that period and all of Game 7. From that play on, the Sixers seemed to know they could win and advance to the finals.

Herb Kohl: "This (the Bucks team) is a wonderful group of people, just extraordinary. George (Karl) has done a magnificent job of bringing the team together, challenging it, bringing it through all the perils of a long season that a team can stray. A great coach prevents that, and George has prevented that. I'm really pleased with what we've done."

George Karl: "In Seattle when I lost, there was a lot of pain for me. I was feeling sorry for myself, but now I feel great because I'm a team guy. When we lose now, I feel bad for Sen. Kohl and Ray Allen. I want to help them. I've gotten control of my ego a little better."