MILWAUKEE – So what’s a day without crisis and distraction? Certainly, not a typical Nets’ day – they are becoming downright accustomed to chaos.

The latest distraction in a season littered with debris from buyout demands, surgeries, trade requests, actual trades, angry agents, upset players, travel horror stories plus more defeats than victories, was Jason Kidd’s blistering rebuke of the team following a dreadful 100-82 trouncing by the Raptors in the first game after the All-Star break.

“If this is the way we’re going to play and just go out and get our stats, then I’ll sit down and watch the young guys, give the young guys some time,” said an outwardly calm Kidd after Net defense took a holiday Tuesday, “because there’s no need to waste our energy if everybody’s not going to show up.

“We all want to play in the playoffs. But if you’re going to play like we did,” Kidd continued, “this season will be over before April even comes. We have to find a way to stop people, even if we’re not making shots.”

Before the game with the Bucks here last night, Kidd stressed that he was trying to convey a sense of urgency because, “we can lose control very fast. In two weeks, it could be over.”

Coach Lawrence Frank, calling last night a “gut-check game,” agreed.

“There’s nothing stronger than your captain communicating a sense of urgency of where we’re at,” Frank said, “and what it’s going to take for us to achieve our goal.”

Kidd never named names, so everything was open to interpretation on a night when everybody stunk.

“I think he was disappointed, obviously, that we just didn’t play better than we did,” said team president Rod Thorn. “He’s just a competitive guy and he can’t accept the way we played, which was awful. We just didn’t show up. And I don’t know how anyone could point out individual guys. It was the whole team. We didn’t guard anybody.

“Nobody played well,” Thorn stressed. “It looked like we hadn’t played in days. But then, neither had Toronto.”

So the Nets were desperate to get back on track last night against the Bucks here, where victory rarely has been a companion. The Nets had lost their last nine games in Milwaukee.

The defeat against Toronto was doubly disheartening because the Nets failed to take advantage of a Boston defeat against the Lakers in Los Angeles. So the Nets remained four games behind the Celtics in their quest for the Atlantic Division title, which might be their best chance for a playoff berth.

“We all know what the picture is,” Kidd said, noting the Nets’ defensive struggles. “Hopefully, this is not a warning sign for the rest of the season, because if that was the case, we might as well let the young guys play and get ready for next year.”