Brazenly playing the respect card, the Milwaukee Bucks challenged the networks last year to ignore market size and display their hidden talents for a national audience, says Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal.

NBC and Turner complied, giving the Bucks 13 appearances this season.

The Bucks are 1-9 so far on national TV - 0-5 on TBS and 0-4 on NBC - with their only victory coming way back on Dec. 6 against Toronto on TNT.

The Bucks have three national appearances remaining, all of them vital to their staying in the playoff race. Next up is the rematch tonight against the 76ers, who beat the Bucks on Sunday in Philadelphia on NBC to vault past Milwaukee into sixth place in the East.

A second consecutive loss to the Sixers would likely consign the Bucks to the nether regions of the playoffs, with the possibility of completely falling out of the eight-team picture with five more games to play.

The Bucks have already abdicated their Central Division throne and have almost no chance of getting home-court advantage in the first round. And the idea at the moment is just staying alive.