Gil returns, defense flees, Bullets lose

Gilbert Arenas made a surprise return to the lineup tonight and scored 17 points in less than 20 minutes, but also committed 4 turnovers and the Bullets lost at home to the awful Milwaukee Bucks on a last second shot by Ramon Sessions. Charlie Villanueva and Andrew Bogut badly outplayed Brendan Haywood and Antawn Jamison and the Bullets reverted to form by playing absolutely no defense at all.
I’m not sure if the Bullets are capable of playing defense with Gilbert in the lineup, but there certainly was no evidence of it tonight. Gil left Ramon Sessions alone on the final play to double team Andrew Bogut and Bogut, a great passer, hit Sessions with a perfect pass. It was, I’m afraid, typical of Gil’s defense and the way Washington has played defense with Gil in the lineup. Which brings me to the obvious question: Why was Gil in on that play to begin with? Everyone knows he can’t play defense. Why play Gil on a play when you must have defense? He’s the worst defensive backcourt player on the team. Why not play Daniels and Mason or — well — anyone aside from Arenas. I’m not sure why Eddie Jordan had Gilbert in the game in that situation and I rather doubt there is a decent explanation for it.
The Milwaukee Bucks are a team that is playing out the string of another depressing season and coming off a game last night. They should have been easy pickings for Washington, a team fighting for its playoff life. However, in a scenario that has become familiar to Bullets fans, Washington played no defense and allowed a bad team to take a must-win away. The Bullets had no excuse and no reason to lose this game at home. They lost anyway.
The Bullets shot over 55% from the field, but allowed Milwaukee to shoot almost 55% from the field and the Bucks also outrebounded the Bullets 41-34. Washington led most of the game, but permitted the Bucks to score 32 points [9 more than Washington] in the 4th quarter. All in all, a completely disgraceful loss.
Washington has now lost 3 in a row and falls to 38-37 on the season. More importantly, they fall from 5th to 6th in the conference with the loss tonight. Philadelphia takes over the 5th spot. Toronto lost in overtime to the Hawks and remain in a tie with the Bullets, though Washington owns the tiebreaker.