After weeks of chronically complaining about the state of his first-place team, Milwaukee coach George Karl was finally pressed to name a time when he thought the Bucks would begin to play to their potential.

"Feb. 1," Worrying George said.

Reading that comment, a San Antonio writer last week asked Karl how he arrived at that date.

"I made it up," Karl said.

Always accommodating to his friends in the media, Karl's insightful comments come from a quick mind, not a crystal ball. Eager as he is to get this team to the Finals, he has legitimate concerns about the progress of the Bucks' growth: Anthony Mason's ongoing indoctrination, the early schedule, complacent stars not always committed to his visions of grandeur, and now Ray Allen's health.

Still, there are signs that this thing might be coming together quicker than Karl had hoped. Although he probably wasn't sandbagging as much as feeding his own ravenous anxieties, even Karl would have to agree that the Bucks are not that far from being difficult to beat.