This is when the Milwaukee Bucks were supposed to make their run. With the fourth-easiest second-half schedule in the league, Milwaukee was supposed to take charge after the All-Star break and secure a high seed for the upcoming playoffs.

So how did the Bucks start? 0-3.

In these losses, nothing epitomizes Milwaukee’s season more than the fourth quarter of its 116-111 loss to Philadelphia.

The quarter began with the Bucks trailing 94-80, which would almost be acceptable; at least we knew what we were in for. Instead, they got our hopes up, making various runs at a comeback, only to fall short. This is how it has been all year.

Two minutes into the quarter, the Bucks have it down to 12. Iverson misses a lay-up and Milwaukee's running with it.

We have hope again.

Mo Williams dishes to Jamaal Magloire under the basket for the easy dunk. The fans at the Bradley Center are ready to stand up from their uncomfortable plastic seats and cheer its team to a late rally.

Only Magloire fumbles the pass and the ball creeps out of bounds, making everyone wish the trade deadline would be extended a few days. On the Sixers' next two possessions, Kyle Korver and Iverson both sink open jumpers.

We lose again.

With about 5 minutes left, another run. Ford converts on a three-point play and Redd hits a three to cap a 12-0 run, putting Milwaukee back in the game and giving us hope again. Five Sixers points later, that hope is crushed.

It turns out Milwaukee still has one more comeback attempt in them. With the deficit at three and 25 seconds left, the Bucks have the ball, and for one last time, we have hope. That is, until Redd comes up short on a deep three; we lose again — this time for good.

This loss proves that it hurts more to watch your team when they are mediocre than it does when they just plain stink. It's almost comical when they're awful — like the Brewers of the '90s, or the inevitable next 10 years for the Packers (which began with a hilariously dreadful 2005).

It's when they're average that kills you, because there's that hope, that chance that maybe they'll be able to pull it together. And in these cases, hope is a terrible thing.

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