Top Stories of the Week: Wizards remain inconsistent as the snow begins to pile up Friday

During Christmas Day less than a month ago, the temperatures were high, close to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, I knew that there were folks holding Christmas barbecues. But fast forward to today, January 22, 2016, and we're talking about a different story.

A major blizzard will hit the Washington area this afternoon and the snow will not let up until at least Saturday evening.or those of you in the area, we will get at least two feet of snow in most parts of the local region. You will be snowed in, so enjoy the quality time with family and stay safe out there!

Before we get to the regular roundup of Wizards stories, let's get to some snow links and tips

Snow Links and Tips

If you are wondering who I read when I check the weather, it's The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang. They do an excellent job forecasting and discussing various topics on meteorology.

The Washington Post also has a list of phone numbers of shelters you can call if you are in the immediate D.C. area and find yourself without power and heat.

If there are any tips I have during a snowstorm, it include these:

• Don't drive if you don't have to. Sure, there will be fewer people driving on the road when there's winter weather. But let the crews do what they have to do to clean the roads and make sure they are safe. I have driven ignorantly in the past during winter weather with much less snow or ice a decade ago. I paid the price with a much higher car insurance bill.
• This is a great time to catch up with family. We lead busy lives and fall in love with technology. Especially for those of you in the suburbs, you can't go anywhere when the snow is falling at the rate of two or three inches and hour. Spend that time being with your families around the fireplace or living room.
• Clean up your car/driveway at least twice when the winds aren't too bad. With the area expected to get two feet of snow, you don't want to clean two feet of snow off your car or driveway. Also, snow is frozen water that's fluffy like a 7-11 Slurpee. If a Slurpee melts and refreezes, it turns to ice. Snow melts and turns to ice, which is a pain in the butt to clean. Don't let your driveway turn into a tall ice rink.

Wizards go 2-2 over the past seven days, Saturday game vs. the Jazz still on schedule

On Friday, January 15, the Wizards beat the Pacers, 118-104 on the road. They followed that up with a close 119-117 loss to the Celtics the following day on Bullets Forever Night.

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Washington lost again, 108-98 to the Trail Blazers. Finally, the Wizards beat the Heat, 106-87 on Wednesday.

The Wizards are still scheduled to finish their five-game homestand against the Jazz on Saturday. But that may very well change because the Utah squad is playing the Nets tonight on the road, and New York City will get a dose of this storm as well.

Top News Stories of the Week

The biggest news besides the wins and losses was that John Wall was sixth in NBA All-Star voting for Eastern Conference guards. SB Nation's Mike Prada has more on that.

The Eastern Conference's starting guards are Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors. Lowry, who is starting for the second consecutive season, will be really happy for two reasons. First, he gets to play in front of a very friendly crowd since the game is in Toronto. Second, he beat out Kyrie Irving, who was second place in all previous returns.

In a very close second place, Wall won an Eastern Conference Player of the Week award this past Monday. The man has been on a tear since December.

Top Features of the Week

Let's first talk about the best BF features:

• Jake wrote this killer piece about Marcin Gortat and Nene playing together not solving anything. The strategy worked on Wednesday when Washington blew out the Heat, but let's also take into consideration that Miami was banged up heading into the game.
• The Wizards are now at the official midpoint of the 2015-16 season. We lay out a number of questions that they face with the trade deadline coming up within the next month. It's unlikely that they will make a major move, in part because they are already in too deep with this KD2DC thing.
• Oh no, I didn't forget about Bullets Forever Night. Here's a recap on that.

Finally, here are some features elsewhere that I enjoyed:

• Remember the Michigan Fab Five of the early 1990's? That starting lineup wore some baggy uniforms, which translated into the NBA over the next several years. However, it looks like those baggy shorts aren't so baggy anymore in today's NBA. Kelly Oubre is one player who wears them shorter so he can move more freely. Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post has more.
• The Wizards were a dominant team at home last season where they were 29-12 within the friendly confines of Verizon Center. This season, they have a losing record at home. Only the Nets and 76ers are worse among Eastern Conference opponents. Wiz of Awes' Ben Mehic writes that while a fickle crowd may be partly to blame, Randy Wittman isn't doing enough to motivate or prepare them to be consistent each and every night.

Mystics news and features

It's midseason in the NBA, but we're about to hit a major time in the WNBA as free agency and trade season is coming upon us. I had this huge mind dump here where you can read about how it works in their league. It's similar to the NBA, but generally speaking, there's less movement of superstars from one team to another.

Speaking about superstars, I've also compared how Emma Meesseman stacks up against the likes of Elena Delle Donne, Maya Moore, and Candace Parker. Meesseman shows considerable promise, but she's also a passive player when you see that she isn't taking many shots per game. That has to change next season.

Finally, Mystics assistant coach Marianne Stanley was inducted to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. She was once the head coach of the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball team, who won the 1979 and 1980 AIAW titles, and the 1985 NCAA national championship.

In other words, she was the Geno Auriemma or Pat Summitt before they became the big folks on campus later on in the 1990's and the 21st century. Congratulations to Coach Stanley for this accomplishment. Read more from this feature by The Daily Press. One of the other inductees was long-time NBA veteran Charles Oakley, who played for the Wizards in the 2002-03 season.

And that's all I have. Stay warm and safe!

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