It was only two seasons ago that the Milwaukee Bucks were the toast of the Eastern Conference, the exciting new team on the NBA powers' block who advanced to within a hair of an NBA Finals appearance against Shaquille O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers.

But considering his current team can rightfully hail a two-game win streak against Chicago and Detroit as a serious accomplishment, it's no wonder Sen. Herb Kohl is officially shopping his fourth-place Bucks.

As the season grinds along toward the midway point, it is starting to look more and more like the 2000-01 season was the anomaly, not last year's 41-41 disappointment.

After all, the Bucks have generally hovered around .500 for all but one of George Karl's four full seasons in Milwaukee: 28-22 in '98-99, with 42-40 and 41-41 seasons sandwiching the memorable, 52-win '00-'01 campaign. Why should this year be any different?

Some may point to the absence of Glenn Robinson, but that doesn't explain away last year's underachievement. Still, it'll make for good nacho-line banter when Robinson and the Hawks pay the Bucks a visit Tuesday night. "Yes, I'm saying they were better with Robinson. No, I don't think Toni Kukoc and some clean jerseys were equal value in a trade. Yes, I would like an unhealthy amount of extra cheese with that."

When Atlanta and Robinson take the Bradley Center floor, the Bucks will once again be on the precipice of re-gaining that all-important something which could lead them on a second-half playoff run: confidence. Checking off each item on the list, the C-word seems be the major difference between the Bucks of two seasons ago and today.

Shooting (the Bucks still have it), defense (the Bucks still lack it), coaching (Karl is Karl is Karl) and bench play (Kukoc, Kevin Ollie and Michael Redd are at least comparable to Darvin Ham, Lindsay Hunter and Tim Thomas) are all generally a wash compared against the Central Division title team.

But for whatever reason, the Bucks just don't believe in themselves anymore. That's evident when they treat a win at Detroit -- a team with a much better record than theirs, but arguably less talent -- like the stepping stone to mediocre things.

"We're taking small, little steps in the right direction," Allen said after the Pistons' win, and his description was literal. But for every small, little step forward, the Bucks tend to take two leaps back, sometimes falling down entirely in the process.

A blowout win over Boston in November was followed by a loss to Miami; a 23-point win over Detroit on Nov. 30 was chased by a 25-point spanking from Washington; a 22-point win over Portland in December was followed by consecutive losses to Chicago, Toronto and Memphis; and the season's signature win at Dallas on Dec. 30 was followed the next night with an illerate scrawl in Houston. {INSERT_RELATED}

Why should the most recent two-game streak be any different? After all, the Bucks haven't won three consecutive games all year. Did an OT win Friday night against the worst road team in the league (the Bulls) really signfiy much?

If Karl's team is ever to gain its confidence and make a playoff push in the East, now is the time. The Bucks' next 10 games are vs. Atlanta, at Toronto, at Philadelphia, home/home with Boston, vs. Denver, at New Orleans, vs. Philadelphia, vs. Washington and vs. New York. With the Sixers and Hornets in early-winter freefalls, seven wins should be the goal -- that would put the team at 23-23 with the last five games of an eight-game homestand still on tap.

So, yeah, it could happen. Kukoc is back and clearly gives the team an extra dimension offensively; Allen seems determined to play with whatever ankle pain he has and doesn't appear outwardly hobbled; Anthony Mason has played several decent games in the pivot and been more willing to let Karl do the lambasting after poor team efforts; the defense had a couple good outings in Cleveland and Detroit in the last week; and even Thomas -- a bigger X-factor than North Korean foreign policy -- has made some big plays (the 3-point winner in Dallas, the tip on the Allen prayer Saturday night in Detroit) of late.

Not that I'm foolish enough to predict it will. But I can say that in today's NBA, which is only slightly more predictable than today's NFL, it certainly is possible. And for how bad the Bucks have been, here they sit at 16-20, just 2.5 games behind Philly, New Orleans, Washington and Orlando for the fifth playoff slot, which is just one peg below home-court advantage in the first round. Not to mention only a half-game worse than the Lakers.

For Sen. Kohl, it isn't exactly a seller's market. But with each win, his bargaining position improves, assuring that his commander-in-chief's stimulus plan isn't the only economic situation he'll have on his mind for the next couple months.