George Karl hardly looks himself these days. He has shaved off his scruffy beard and trimmed his hair. His slacks and jackets are pressed. Were he to wear a tie each night, Karl would resemble the college coach he wanted to become when his alma, North Carolina, changed coaches over the summer.

	Tim Thomas (left) makes big bucks, but isn't having a good season at all.

Funny thing, as George has cleaned up, his Milwaukee Bucks team has lost its bite, taking with it some of the luster George acquired after leading this team out of the gloom of the Mike Dunleavy-Chris Ford years to the middle ground of the playoff bunch.

There was talk, apparently serious, that U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl was about to show his appreciation for George's efforts by rewarding him with an extension of at least three seasons, although the present contract runs through 2001-02. The thinking is the Senator does not want to lose a man of George's acumen and the coach, as we all learned from his days in Seattle, requires constant stroking to remain upbeat and productive.

That was October and this is late-November. Things have changed from those giddy preseason days when one national magazine picked the Bucks to win the East and the Senator was shrugging off his humongous $58 million payroll -- around the eighth-largest in the NBA -- while the team is only marginally supported in one of the league's smallest markets. It's the price of doing business, the Senator said.

Unhappily for the Senator, for George and GM Ernie Grunfeld and the inhabitants of the Bucks roster, business stinks.

Milwaukee's a tough sell to begin with. At today's NBA prices the town wasn't ready to buy in so fast and now all loyalties are on hold.

The Bucks got off to such a lousy start the club dropped confetti from the roof to celebrate a victory over woebegone Atlanta.

The public address announcer's voice bounces off the empty seats and steel buttresses in the cold, dark Bradley arena and the team loses and loses and loses.

The Bucks can't defend and they can't score, down 10 points a game off their 101.2-points average last season. The ruinous dependence on perimeter chances has the shooting percentage down near 40 percent.

	Allen

	Cassell

The interior offensive game is not existent and the Bucks simply cannot defend the basket with the likes of rookie Joel Przybilla and Ervin (No Magic) Johnson in the middle. Johnson, a team captain, actually asked to be demoted from the lineup. Disdainful of Johnson when he had him in Seattle, George did not hesitate.

The Bucks are so fragile that the loss of marginal forwards Darvin Ham and Scott Williams has sent them a tumbling.

There are some who believe point guard Sam Cassell is brooding because league rules will not permit a contract readjustment until next summer.

There is no question Glenn Robinson is resentful over the good pub that media darling Ray Allen gets. But Robinson is a quiet loner with no special social skills and while Allen graciously has an answer for every question, Robinson frequently has nothing to say and is shunned even as he ducks the spotlight.

There also is no question that George himself is a little fed up with The Sun King of Milwaukee basketball. Privately, George says Allen frequently doesn't know what the heck he is talking about.

And more Allen: he plays atrocious defense. Incapable or unwilling to stay in front of his man he is repeatedly beaten off the dribble, a terrible flaw when the last line of defense is so mediocre. As a player he's good. As a star he's borderline top 10 shooting guard.

At 3-9, the Bucks are off to their worst start since a 57-loss season five years ago. They need to go 38-32 the rest of the way to get even.

Friday night, the Bucks trailed by a stunning 26 points in the first half after Charlotte launched a 28-2 run in Bradley, ultimately losing by 16. Fans booed. Saturday night they went 9:25 of the fourth without a basket and lost their fifth straight on the road, to Washington.

For once Allen has no answers. "I'm perplexed right now. I don't know how to say it ... It's starting to get scary."

On the eve of the season, George questioned his defense. "My good teams [in Seattle] could defend. This team hasn't shown me that it can play defense, yet."

But George thought his guys could score. Cassell, Robinson and Allen, augmented by Tim Thomas and his new $67 million deal, plus newly-acquired Lindsey Hunter.

The question, why would any of us have thought this team could contend after winning 42 games, is easily answered. The '99-00 Bucks could score. They were fun to watch. All spiffed up, not even George is fun to watch these days.

The other day George said, "There's no one in this organization that should be happy with themselves right now. And I'm the No. 1 guy. I'm the guy who put the philosophy in that isn't working. I'm the guy who brought in the offense last year that isn't getting it done. I've got to work my (tail) off to make good changes to help these guys win basketball games."

He's so upset and so shaken George doesn't even want to talk about it. "Our confidence needs to be rebuilt. You do that by keeping your mouth shut and going on the court to work."

The Bucks do the Florida Fandango Monday and Tuesday -- Orlando, then Miami. Things can get worse.

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