Critique of the NBA often surrounds the narrative of one player dribbling around then shooting. But when you have a 20-year old athlete whose combination of speed and size is already superior to most at his position, you take advantage of his one-on-one skills. And when that player loves to pass and relishes in the assist while always being a threat to score, it’s called basketball. Flip Saunders is a basketball coach and he often knows exactly what to do with John Wall.

Spread sets usually seem reserved for late-clock situations, and mostly true for the instances in the video below. Still, with Wall they can be implemented at just about any point of the game, depending on his surrounding personnel and the defensive match-ups the Wizards might want to exploit, of course. This clip of four plays all occurred in two games against the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz on the Wizards’ late March west coast road trip, and all came with around 70 seconds or less left in a period. Let’s watch…

Earl Watson, Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis… Sure, intimidating defenders they are not. But also, this is the NBA. Not many rookies can make these moves look so easy — an attack of the rim through trees, finding Yi Jianlian for a bounce pass in the paint, throwing the perfect lob to JaVale McGee, getting to the rim through a big man, making the basket, drawing a foul, and finishing with a muscle flex.

It’s a simple game that can be made even more simple with supreme athletes. And the spread set out of which these plays were run — sometimes with a man in the far right corner (Nick Young), but mostly with the guard extended on the right wing (Jordan Crawford)… depending on the shooting comfort spots of the respective players, I suppose — certainly has some more intricate options. But I won’t blame Wall’s teammates too much for standing around to watch him operate sometimes (as long as the guards remember to cover on defense, and as long as they’re always ready to receive the pass).

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[Editor's note: Ryan Gracia is majoring in sports communication and journalism at George Mason University and freelances for local sites of Patch.com. Some of his previous work for TAI can be found here and here. Below, Ryan recaps the droughts of let-down for the Wizards against the Warriors on Wednesday night.]

It’s safe to say the Wizards have been inconsistent this year. They lost at home to the Phoenix Suns by 18 points back on January 21, then bounced back the next night to pull out arguably one of the best wins of the season against the Boston Celtics (thanks to some missed shots that Celtic vets don’t miss often — but hey it was a win nonetheless). I’ll also remind you that the Wizards actually boasted a winning record at home (13-10 leading up to February), while nearing an unbelievably embarrassing feat of setting an NBA-record 30 straight losses to begin a season away from the friendly confines of the Verizon Center, going 0-25 before their first win against the Cleveland Cavaliers — who had just ended a 26-game overall losing streak of their own.

I know, that’s a lot to take in, but those inconsistencies throughout the season were on display Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors, and it set up quite an interesting matchup against the seventh-highest scoring team in the NBA this season.

Barely three minutes into the game, the 13-4 Washington advantage showing on the jumbotron must have been shocking even to the five Wizards players walking toward the bench following a timeout. Here’s why: Flip Saunders (or Randy Wittman in the case of Wednesday night’s game) wasn’t the pissed off coach calling the timeout following a big run.

Things then went back to normal when those players stepped back on the court. The Wizards allowed Golden State to make what was supposed to be an uphill battle of coming back from nine point deficit much too easy. They turned the tide to lead 18-16 from the time Stephen Curry hit a 3-pointer 12 seconds after the timeout to the point when Curry finished the run by hitting the free throw to complete a 3-point play barely two and a half minutes later. A 13-4 run in just over three minutes to start a game is nice — very nice after knowing that the Wizards were the team that completed the feat. But a 14-3 run (scored by only two players, Curry and Dorell Wright) in two and a half minutes? Well, I’d say that more than counters the run from the Wizards. Those three Wizard points, by the way, all came from the free throw line.

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[Editor's Note: For all of you sneaker heads out there, Adam Douglas, Truth About It.net photographer, got some shots of what the Wizards and Warriors were sporting last Tuesday night. Also check out Adam's previous edition of NBA Kicks, Wizards vs. Bulls.]

{Stephen Curry}

{Anthony Morrow}

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{Andray Blatche vs. Gene Banks}

{Don Nelson … heartburn or tummy want scotch?}

{The ball waits for Earl Boykins}

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flickr/Antonio Rull

Amongst claims the Washington Wizards hold an “enviable” spot in Thursday’s draft, (they seem to be the only team apathetic towards the keep vs. trade scenario), the Memphis Grizzlies hold an even more enviable spot … because well, two is better than five. The argument on which team has the most enviable spot starts and ends with the L.A. Clippers, of course.

The Grizz don’t know what they want to do. ESPN’s Ric Bucher tweeted that Grizzlies scouts want Hasheem Thabeet, GM Chris Wallace wants Ricky Rubio, and Coach Lionel Hollins wants Stephen Curry. However, according to reports, Thabeet (insinuated by a cancelled workout) and Rubio might not want Memphis back. Wallace says he could care less about a ‘Spanish-Stay-Away’ order, but probably really does.

During his meet-n-greet with fans, Flip Saunders said, “I still think [Rubio] is going to get taken two. I think someone will make a trade when it comes down to trying to get him because he has that type of impact.”

Flip is exactly right. Rumors of Rubio slipping to the Wizards at the five spot are out-of-touch, especially with the reduced buyout from his contract with DKV Joventut potentially allowing him to join his NBA for the Las Vegas summer league. But hey, that hasn’t kept the Blazers from getting excited about the possibility.

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flickr/kris247

When the San Antonio Spurs asked Ernie Grunfeld what it would take to get the 5th pick in June 25th’s draft, Grunfeld simply responded, “Manu Ginobili,” or so goes the purported story relayed by the Washington Post’s Michael Lee.

Despite Ginobili’s old age and injury issues, sounds like a pretty absurd counter request (assuming only expiring contracts/low value players would accompany the pick) for one of the top gamers in the NBA. Spurs brass certainly would not expect to give up one of their top three stars for a pick in what most are saying is a down draft.

Grunfeld is not ridiculous, nor is he stupid. He’s just playing hardball knowing the pick will only increase in value heading up to the draft. Case in point would be the hype surrounding Stephen Curry and interest from the Knicks to possibly trade up to get him (amongst Wizards’ threats to draft Curry themselves). Whether Grunfeld’s old team would deal with him might be another story.

Forget what you’ve heard about this being a down draft. Even the worst drafts produce hidden gems, and every GM, with their egos, confidence, and scouting reports think they can mine the next one. A pick’s value is in the size of the target on a slotted player’s back placed there by interested parties.

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I’m a huge Antawn Jamison fan. He’s a classy dude, I’ve nicknamed him ‘The Gentlemen’ (hasn’t caught on), and the women folk say he’s got eyebrows for days.

Jamison is the current patriarchal cornerstone of the franchise. This year’s team MVP? Unquestionably. He possesses the never-quit attitude that should be infecting the locker room via leadership by example … Jamison is quite the opposite of past clubhouse cancers, like Christian Laettner.

But sometimes, everyone needs to be questioned, Jamison being no exception.

Jamison’s struggles on defense are no secret. He has aging lateral movement, and as discovered this year, he’s not an adequate substitute for Brendan Haywood‘s post defensive communication. Are we to just accept Jamison’s “unique” scoring ability, rebounding numbers, and minimal turnovers as big pluses? Or should Flip Saunders seek improved defense out of the starting lineup?

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