Five years ago this week, the Milwaukee Bucks were a very different team in a completely different place.

Fresh off a thrilling, seven-game throwdown with the erstwhile Charlotte Hornets, the Bucks found themselves in a winnable, though difficult Eastern Conference finals series against the Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers. And behind George Karl and his "Big Three" of Ray Allen, Sam Cassell and Glenn Robinson, it was the most exciting Bucks team since the Marques Johnson era.

The names were different, but the style of play shouldn't be too foreign to current Bucks fans. Karl's team thrived on the jump shot, and when the jump shots were falling, the Bucks were the most lethal team in the league. But then, as now, Milwaukee had little in the way of inside presence, over-relying on center Ervin Johnson and forward Scott Williams, with some occasional help from sparkplug Darvin Ham and reserve Jason Caffey. As a result, Karl was content to let his Big Three do most of the work, and a developing Tim Thomas provided a fourth weapon off the bench.

Milwaukee dispatched of Tracy McGrady and a solid Orlando team in the first round in four games (first-round series were still best-of-5 back then) before the classic seven-gamer with Charlotte, an unsung team featuring Baron Davis, Jamal Mashburn and Elden Campbell (not to mention rookie reserve Jamaal Magloire). Fiddling away a 2-0 series lead, the Bucks appeared to be finished after a lackluster 94-86 home loss in Game 5 left them down, 3-2.

But a gritty performance (33 points, 11 assists) by a banged-up Cassell helped the Bucks rebound on the road in Game 6, setting up a memorable Sunday afternoon Game 7 back at the Bradley Center. With the Milwaukee fans roaring unlike any time since, the Bucks closed out Charlotte with a 104-95 victory.

The series with Philly was just as memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. Allen's 38-point night in Game 2 evened things at 1-1 as the teams headed back to Milwaukee. Iverson was nursing a tender tailbone and sat out Game 3, providing the Bucks with a golden opportunity to steal home-court advantage. In an ugly game, the Bucks won, 80-74, to take a 2-1 series lead.

What happened next was the Bucks equivalent to the 4th-and-26 nightmare that haunted Mike Sherman and Green Bay in the 2003 playoffs. Iverson returned and helped the Sixers grind out a Memorial Day victory in Milwaukee in Game 4 to tie the series. And then Robinson missed a 10-foot baseline jumper in the final seconds of Game 5 as the Bucks fell, 89-88 -- a game the Bucks led by 16 in the first half. A triumph in either eminently winnable game would have allowed the Bucks to close out the series at home in Game 6.

The Bucks did force Game 7, but it was never really close -- the Sixers winning 108-91. Williams was suspended for the game and Allen missed time with an injury, making the loss all the more difficult to swallow. Worse, it was the end of a great era of Bucks basketball, however brief.

After reaching the cusp of the team's first Finals berth in nearly three decades, what happened to that great Bucks team?

The following season saw the addition of Anthony Mason and the implosion of the Bucks. A first-place team for much of the year, the Bucks tanked down the stretch, finished 41-41 and missed the playoffs. They were widely derided as the most disappointing team in basketball.

Big Dog was the first one sent packing, getting dealt to Atlanta for Toni Kukoc and Leon Smith in the summer of 2002. Despite Robinson's departure, locker-room feuding increased during the 2002-'03 season and Allen was eventually shipped to Seattle at the trading deadline in a package deal for Gary Payton and Desmond Mason. Karl was losing the locker room as well as games, but he insisted that the 42-40 Bucks could make a run at the NBA Finals with Payton in tow. He was wrong: New Jersey eliminated the Bucks in 6 games in the first round.

That was it for Karl, who was replaced by Terry Porter for the next season. Meanwhile, the mercurial Cassell was dealt to Minnesota over the summer in a deal that netted Joe Smith. Thomas hung around a bit longer but was eventually dealt to the Knicks in return for Keith Van Horn. Neither team won that trade. With that, an impressive (though brief) era in Milwaukee Bucks basketball was finished.

With Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut, a new era may is again dawning, but it's too early to determine if the Bucks are headed for success or continued mediocrity. But there is one reason to take heart: the 2000-'01 Bucks showed just how quickly times can change in professional sports. Unfortunately, that team changed for the worse.