THE BOX OUT PICK AND POPS 1. Fans in Cleveland have a reason to scoreboard-watch and worry. The Cavaliers' first back-to-back wins in almost a year pulled them within a game of Denver for the best lottery position for the can't-miss kid from Akron. Keith Smart can't win either way. 2. "Playing out the string" is a baseball term, but the phrase perfectly describes the Clippers after watching their listless play in Monday's loss to Houston. That's 5-16 since the All-Star break, Clippers fan(s). QUOTE OF THE DAY “I'm the M.D. I'll be the M.D. for 10 years." —Shaquille O'Neal telling the Los Angeles Times on his unwavering status as the game's "most dominant" player. NUMBER OF THE DAY 41 The age of John Stockton, Utah's living legend who celebrated his birthday Wednesday. TRASH TALK You had your say. So here are the best comments: Sam Cassell is an idiot who can't play and can't keep his mouth shut. His comments are going to fuel the Wizards, who are already motivated to make the playoffs for Michael. I'm a Bucks fan, but I am still wondering why we couldnt have gotten Latrell from the Knicks for him. The Bucks would be better off without him. Bryan, Milwaukee, Wis. The Bucks will not make the playoffs, Sam Cassell. I guarantee it. Your entire team underachieves, not to mention no one plays defense. You guys continually find ways to lose and blow leads. You're shooting yourself right out of the playoffs like last year. Robert O'Neil, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. Cassell, I'd definitely try to rally my defenseless (literally) Bucks into shape because he knows we can beat the current No. 1 seed (Detroit). Kirk Bickham, Milwaukee, Wis. I think Gary Payton is a good defender. However, I feel that Ray Allen was underrated for his defensive presence. Every team in the East needs some reliable big men. Ben Wallace, at 6-10, dominates on the defensive end, but other than that the East needs help at the 4 and 5 positions. Bill Marks, Ann Arbor, Mich. Yeah, right now Shaq is M.D. (Most Dominant), but if the refs M.D. (Made Decent calls) against him for the same offensive fouls as every other guy that goes into the post, drops his shoulder and runs over the defender, he would be just another big guy that can't make a shot outside of two feet. M.D. (Mark it Down). Kevin Carr, Philadelphia, Pa. Shaq, if the NBA called the rules like they're supposed to, you would be average. You charge, you travel, you palm the ball. You would be average. Jared Brown Dallas, Texas Shaq's not the M.D. ... Kobe is. Gelbie, New York, N.Y.

Sorry Michael Jordan, but if your Wizards wish to send you off with the perfect going-away present, they'll have to steal Orlando's playoff spot. The Milwaukee Bucks aren't about to give up theirs. Not if Sam Cassell can help it.

Cassell has guaranteed it.

"We're going to make the playoffs," Cassell said after the Bucks' last stop through New York. "(Gary Payton) and myself will find a way for this team to make the playoffs, so I'm not worried about that."

Nothing suggests that the Bucks should feel so confident about their tenous eighth-place standing in the East. They're only 7-10 since acquiring Payton and Desmond Mason and cutting ties with Ray Allen, the second one-third of their old Big Three to be shipped off. The faces have changed, but the problems remain the same for coach George Karl.

The Bucks have no viable big man in the middle, with or without a healthy Joel Przybilla. Subsequently, they can't defend very well around the basket -- only the Grizzlies (.461) and Raptors (.463) have worse defensive field-goal percentages than Milwaukee (.458) -- and when the Bucks do protect their own hoop, opponents are likely to punish them with a 3-pointer. Only the Raptors (.374), Warriors (.378) and Lakers (.391) have a tougher time than the Bucks (.374) making defensive rotations on the perimeter.

Karl can't bear to watch his team find new ways to blow defensive assignments. "If it was the same thing, it'd be different. But it seems like we get beat different ways on different nights," Karl said. "Sometimes, we get beat by the isolation game. Sometimes, we get beat by the pick-and-roll game."

What's most troubling about Milwaukee's D is the fact that Payton, who's made a Hall of Fame career out of disrupting defenses (and his own team, for that matter, but that's another story), has yet to have the impact as a defensive catalyst. In fact, the Bucks' defense has gotten worse since Payton joined the team.

Without Payton - or Mason - on the Bucks, opponents shot 45.1 percent from the field and 35.9 percent on 3-pointers. With the ex-Sonics on Milwaukee's roster, teams have made 48.0 percent of their shots, including 42.4 percent of their threes.

"We're not punishing people when we should. We're not playing good defense and we're not executing at the right time," Payton said. "One night we play well. The next night we play like crap. We're up and down."

With so many scorers, you wouldn't expect the Bucks to go into prolonged and untimely droughts on offense. But they have. Most glaring was the eight-point third quarter that enabled the Lakers to escape an 18-point halftime hole and leave the Bradley Center with a 98-94 win.

There's an adjustment period after every major change to a team's makeup. But over a month has passed since the Bucks' trade-deadline shakeup. Time is running out for them to coalesce into the Team Nobody Wants To Face In The Playoffs, as many projected when they brought Payton and Mason aboard.

"It's more than an adjustment. It's an urgency right now," Payton said. "We only have (11 games) to work things out now if we expect to make the playoffs."

Relax, GP. The playoffs are in the bag.

The other bald-headed guy playing next to you says so.

Joe Lago, the NBA editor for ESPN.com, writes the Morning Shootaround every Wednesday.