Top stories of the week: Wall's an All-Star, Wizards in snowday mode, Mystics schedule released

There's a ton of stories we covered, even with a big snowstorm that hit us last weekend.

Top Wizards stories

Three straight losses after Snowzilla and Beal suffers another injury scare

The Wizards lost three in a row after getting snowed out on Saturday - We had a big blizzard on Friday, January 22 and January 23. It dumped two to three feet -- or 61 to 91 cm -- of snow across the Washington metropolitan area. It ultimately canceled a Saturday home game against the Jazz.

While many of us were stoked that we were able to sit back at home and do nothing at home -- and the Federal Government closed on Monday and Tuesday -- the Wizards unfortunately weren't so lucky. They still hosted the Boston Celtics on Monday, and lost badly. Bradley Beal suffered a broken nose and concussion in the game.

At the time however, people didn't know that, and Twitter was quick to judge.His brother, Brandon was not pleased:

I have so much to say about all the #BradleyBeal haters out there. But honestly I need more than 140 characters to say what I need.

— Brandon Beal (@BigDealBeal88) January 26, 2016

I personally am a big Brad Beal fan. I'm not questioning his mettle at all, though many others do.

Anyway, the followed that up with another horrible loss to the Toronto Raptors the very next day. Naturally, those #FireWittman chats grew louder and louder.

Finally on Thursday, the Wizards came back to Verizon Center, and Beal was back. However, his return wasn't enough as the Wizards lost to the Nuggets. After the game, there was a players'-only meeting, apparently before media went into the locker room.

Three losses, two blowouts that ended up in season sweeps against us. Life sucks right now.

John Wall is an All-Star again!

Wall is arguably the most valuable NBA player to his team. This honor is no surprise and well-deserved.

So many #FireWittman Takes

I wrote a list of candidates who could be the next Wizards head coach if and when Randy Wittman is no longer with the team. L.W. also gave analysis on a recent podcast that ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Zach Lowe gave when they were discussing what may happen in the nation's capital sooner rather than later.

Jake -- being the voice of reason that he is (when it's NOT INVOLVING KD2DC OF COURSE) -- also wants to elt you know that no matter how much you want Wittman outta D.C., it's just not gonna happen. Though I think a midseason change isn't unwarranted, that is probably what's going to happen.

Best FanPosts

DCStones wrote this take that the Wizard should tank the season and gave a player and coach analysis on how strong of a contributor he could be to a playoff caliber-Wizards team.

ThePGPhenomenon wrote this FanPost that Beal should be the Wizards' permanent sixth man in light of his injury woes despite his high ceiling.

Since I am the one who is fronting most of your FanPosts, let me state that I don't necessarily agree with everything or even most of what you're writing. That said, both FanPosts are examples of well-thought out analyses on where the Wizards stand. Both pieces have also been among our most read pieces this week. If you have a longer take, you should write a FanPost. If it's well-thought out, it may very well make it on the cover!

Top Mystics stories

The 2016 regular season schedule is out with a twist

The WNBA released the Mystics' 2016 regular season schedule on Thursday and announced some changes to the regular and postseason schedule. Every team will play each other three or more times a season now. And the postseason will now be based solely on overall regular season record alone, NOT on conference seeding.

I have written a take on what those changes mean for the Mystics in the link above. For more reading around the network, Eric in Madison of Canis Hoopus has his on the Minnesota Lynx, Jeffrey Brown of Sonics Rising has another on what this means for the Seattle Storm, Colin Davenport has a general league-wide analysis on Swish Appeal, and Mike Prada adds what this means for the NBA on SBNation.com.

Best FanPosts

ElleLovesTennis wrote not one, but two FanPosts on the Mystics. In one, she writes about how Emma Meesseman's Russian team and the Belgian national team are putting her in a better situation to be a superstar than the Mystics. In another, she wrote about how the Mystics' players overall are doing in European play.

I know that the Mystics' season will not start until mid-May, but that is not stopping us from writing about them when news strikes. If there's a topic you want to write about them, you are more than free to do so here, just like you do with Wizards FanPosts.

International Basketball Stories

Big Mama Stef is on Team USA's radar

Stefanie Dolson was named a 2016 USA Basketball women's national team finalist on Monday. This is significant news because of the 25 players on the list, she is one of four true centers which include Tina Charles, Sylvia Fowles, and Brittney Griner.

I don't think she'll make the final team because the other three players are clearly a step ahead of her. However, she's the youngest in this group, and there's a good chance she will be on Team USA when she's in her prime.

Please play more games overseas, NBA

I didn't have time to get to this when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver first talked about it. However, the Commish wants to experiment with weekday morning games, presumably stateside.

Considering that he played a part with the WNBA's innovative postseason format change and is receptive to change, this is something I don't want.

If the NBA wants more games to satisfy the basketball itch of overseas fans without expanding to Europe or Asia, then more games should be played overseas. This piece just hits the tip of the iceberg, but I have an idea that could be a compromise.

How are you doing Aaron White?

Quentin Rosborough focused on the Wizards 2015 second round pick, who is playing for Telekom Baskets Bonn in the Basketball Bundesliga and FIBA EuroCup in Germany.

If you don't know where Bonn is, all you need to know is that it is the birthplace of this uber-famous classical music composer. Perhaps you've heard this tune, among many.

Really, I wonder if Ludwig van Beethoven is the mascot of the team.

Anyway, Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League and FIBA EuroLeague tried to buy White's contract out.

That scared the hell out of Telekom Basket Bonn's management like this:

Unfortunately for Maccabi, they were unsuccessful. White stays with Bonn, at least until he feels that it's time show what he can do for the Wizads in the NBA.

So, this is how Telekom Basket Bonn and their fans feel:

I guess it wasn't a bad week for me after all. I never thought I'd ever talk about Classical Music. But this is where I've come to. :)

That's all I have in this long roundup and this can't be all the news that happened with the pro basketball teams in town. If you have another link to share, feel free to do so in the comments or in a FanPost.