Top Stories of the Week: Wizards head to the All-Star Break with momentum

Happy Valentine’s and President’s Day Weekend! Here’s what’s been going on in the past week:

Wizards are 4th place in the East

Washington has a 33-24 record and is on a two game win streak. They beat the Bulls last Saturday, 101-90 on the road. Tomas Satoransky scored a career-high 25 points but had a scary fall after Bobby Portis knocked him to the ground. Tim Frazier also got hurt in the game where he suffered a nasal fracture.

After the game, Satoransky had a big headache, but he was concussion free. In fact, he didn’t miss the Wizards’ next game against the Knicks last Wednesday when he dished 11 assists and Monsieur Ian Mahinmi scored 17 more in a 118-113 win. The Wizards were also losing by 27 at one point, making this the biggest comeback of the season.

The Wizards’ next game is this Thursday, February 22 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road.

And here are more links from the last week:

• John Wall and Marcin Gortat cleared the air recently. No one left with black eyes, but apparently things still aren’t 100 yet between the two.
• The Wizards are about to enter a new phase where they center their team around their five drafted players.
• Ty Lawson will always come to the DMV. But the next time he does, he may wear a Wizards uniform as well.
• Emeka Okafor is a starting center once again. Jake openly wondered what could’ve been if he wasn’t injured before the start of the 2013-14 season. Obviously, Marcin Gortat would have remained with the Phoenix Suns and Polish Heritage Week would have never happened. But ultimately, Okafor probably wouldn’t be the X-Factor for a championship.
• Candace Buckner of The Washington Post wrote that the Wizards had to have staffers play point guard before the Knicks game. From hindsight, Satoransky was able to play.
• Hoops Habit has some points on how the Wizards are doing as we head into the All-Star Break.

Last weekend was a special moment for the Czechs

Satoransky’s 25 point performance last Saturday was just one reason why Czech basketball fans in Prague were happy. As a matter of fact, Czech site IDNES.cz wrote a Satoransky-centric recap of the Bulls victory.

Earlier last Saturday, the Czech women’s basketball team played Belgium without Kia Vaughn, who was a three-year center for the Mystics. The Czechs beat the Belgians at home, 53-48 in a game where they essentially shut down anyone not named Emma Meesseman or Kim Mestdagh. Ceskatelevize.cz writes more about that. The Czechs lead Group G in EuroBasket Women 2019 Qualifiers with an undefeated record. The Belgians are second with a 3-1 record after beating Switzerland.

And that’s not all for Bullets Forever’s Czech readership. Former Wizards post Jan Vesely had a great night last weekend as well.

Vesely scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahçe in a 77-69 win over Basketball Bundesliga champions, Brose Bamberg on February 9 in a EuroLeague contest — just one day before the Czech women’s team and Satoransky had great performances of their own. Vesely also made 8 of 10 from the free throw line, and is making 69 percent of his shots from the line. If only he would’ve THAT for the Wizards...

Wizards make an impact on All-Star Weekend

Nope, I didn’t forget about All-Star Weekend. Bradley Beal and John Wall are the Wizards’ participants this year, though Wall won’t play due to injury. They started the weekend doing community service last Thursday and Friday in Los Angeles.

Elena Delle Donne also participated in some media events:

Beal also participated in the three point contest on All-Star Saturday. Unfortunately, he was eliminated in the first round.

And that’s what I have. If you have another link you’d like to share, feel free to do so in a FanPost or in the comments. Enjoy the rest of your weekends.