When the Milwaukee Bucks are winning, their practices might be less intense.

On Saturday afternoon, however, the practice was a beastly affair.

“It was one of those days where you’ve got to get better,” center John Henson said.

This was the Bucks' answer following a three-game losing streak: A trip home to Milwaukee, a 40-minute film session in the morning and then about 80% of practice – which ran 2 hours 7 minutes – on defense, specifically the pick and roll.

The players said it was a pretty typical day at the office, but from behind closed doors, it sounded like a game.

Coach Jason Kidd liked the level of intensity.

“The guys were mentally and physically in to it, which is good,” Kidd said.

There is really only one way to correct everything from the defense to the bench production to the inconsistency: get back to work.

“We’ve got to win the next one,” Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon said of the game Tuesday night at Cleveland. “You’ve got to stop the streak. That’s sort of where we’re at now.

“We’re walking in to an arena against one of the best teams in the NBA with the best player in the NBA right now so it’s going to be tough. Especially going in on a three-game losing streak.

“But we can do it. We can definitely go in there and win that game.”

So no big speeches, no crazy talk of urgency. Just a collective effort.

"We had a great film session where we talked things out," forward Khris Middleton said. "Film was a little longer than usual – but we needed it. You lose three straight games, you’ve got to figure out some things.”

Here are some highlights from the practice:

Pick-and-roll defense

The Bucks have to work on their communication, timing and big-man-to-guard teamwork on this defense. Opponents have just been throwing it down the middle of the paint, so that was a huge focal point.

“All the sets we ran had pick and roll drills and then everything we ran usually involved the pick and roll,” said Henson.

Too many fouls

The Bucks are putting the opponent on the line too much. It's that simple. This is not a team whining or complaining about the calls from the referees.

“No. A lot of them are fouls,” said Kidd. “They’re right, so we’ve got to do a better job of playing without fouling. I thought we did a better job there in that first half (at Detroit).

“But as the game goes on and guys are playing a lot of minutes, you start to pick up some silly fouls. So we’ve got to do a better job with that.”

But for Brogdon…

Well, maybe we can make an exception for Brogdon. On one call against Detroit, it looked like he just kept up with his man but drew the whistle.

“Of course it’s up to the ref’s discretion, and sometimes I’ll have my hand on their hips, but I think as a bigger, stronger guard, a lot of times I get called for fouls that other guys don’t get called for,” said Brogdon.

“A lot of times it’s just hard for me, playing defense, because I’m a physical defender and I’m stronger. So I don’t give up space, I don’t give up ground. And I don’t change the way I defend based on the refs.”

Day off? No way

One might have thought players would get at least one day off over weekend, but Kidd said the Bucks are expected to practice again Sunday before flying to Cleveland on Monday.

“We had our day off in Detroit,” said Kidd, referring to Thursday.