I don't know if we will ever get over this football season and the world championship won by the Green Bay Packers, but the world does move on, and it's now time to give our sole focus to our beleaguered basketball team, the Milwaukee Bucks.

To say that their season, born with such high hopes, has been a disappointment is an understatement. Last year we got a taste of the good life with a surprising run to the playoffs and a strong showing against the Atlanta Hawks. Then general manager John Hammond went to work and added pieces that made the Bucks everybody's choice to be a contending team this season.

But like the old Jewish saying goes: "Man Plans, God Laughs."

I don't want to suggest that some kind of weird divine intervention has derailed the Bucks' express train to the playoffs. Truth be told, it's not too late for another late season run to a playoff berth. The second half of the season begins after the All-Star Game this weekend.

One thing that is obvious is that injuries can be much more harmful to a basketball team than to a football team. No team was harder by injuries than the Packers and they won the Super Bowl. The Bucks have been hit hard and their record has taken a turn south.

Three of their most important players, Andrew Bogut, Brandon Jennings and John Salmons, have all been absent for significant amounts of time. They've also missed Carlos Delfino and Drew Gooden for extended stretches and now, Corey Maggette is hurt, too.  All this without mentioning Michael Redd, who may return as early as next week.  

It's gotten so tough that last week the Bucks had a players-only meeting. If I had dollar for every players' only meeting I've seen, I wouldn't have to buy lottery tickets.

There are two reasons for having a meeting that only includes players. One is that the players themselves actually realize that it is largely their responsibility that things aren't going well. The other is that they blame the coach and are waiting for him to be fired (not unheard of in the world of pro sports) and are talking about how to protect themselves.

Scott Skiles isn't going anywhere soon so you hope that the players wanted to get together to talk about their role in righting their ship. If you listen to the players, it seems to start with increased energy.

The Bucks slogan is "Work Hard, Play Hard." The players, especially Bogut, seem to think they are having problems living up to that slogan.

I don't know Bogut. But I can't count on my fingers the number of times I've seen him on TV or read online or in a newspaper about him complaining about the effort his team puts forth. To his credit, he doesn't excuse himself from the malaise. But it also doesn't seem like everybody realizes this problem.

Friday night I was watching the game at Memphis. The Bucks dropped way behind and trailed by five at the half. On his way to the locker room, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was asked by a TV reporter why the bench players had been able to close the gap.

"The starters didn't have any energy," he said. "They had the wrong attitude, so we had to bring the energy to the floor."

Makes you want to slap your forehead and say, "huh?" Bad attitudes? No energy?

These Bucks clearly have problems. For example, they rank dead last in shooting percentage and dead last in assists, two not-unrelated and very important statistics.

Let's hope a player's only meeting can change those attitudes that Prince Mbah a Moute and Bogut see on the court.

It's not too late. A playoff run would be thrilling and would fill the Bradley Center to the rafters and make it shake with the noise. Nothing is as immediately exciting as a winning run for a professional basketball team.

If that meeting doesn't work, this season will go down as a year of shattered dreams.