Also, in our most recent SB Nation Reacts survey, Mystics fans believe she will be starting for most of the 2024 season.
Since Emma Meesseman led the Belgium women’s national basketball team to Women’s EuroBasket 2017 and turned the Cats from an international afterthought into a world power, it affected her availability to play for the Washington Mystics. Because of Meesseman’s lack of availability, many Mystics fans have become cynical or get outright negative reactions about Europeans playing on the roster. I will admit that this feeling has hit me too. It’s hard for WNBA fans to appreciate European players when they have near-annual summer commitments for EuroBasket in odd numbered years, and potential world competition in even numbered ones.
Anyway, it should be no surprise that current Mystics guard Julie Vanloo, who is also Belgian, made the Cats’ preliminary Olympic roster earlier this week.
Training camp begins on June 21 with Media Day in Kortrijk. There will then be two friendlies there on June 28 against China and June 30 against Serbia. Then there are two more friendlies in Charleroi agains Spain on July 12 and Canada on July 14.
Now … is Vanloo going to Belgium in just a mere three to four weeks? She won’t. Instead, she will be staying with the Mystics until July 16 when the WNBA Olympic break begins.
In a column by Patrick Ceulemans of Het Nieuwsblad (link in Dutch), Vanloo said, “I’ve prepared enough [for Olympic preliminaries]. No seriously, I think that this [my Mystics experience] is a “win win” for both me and the Cats. I’ll be playing at a high level here for two months. I’m learning with every game and take that with me to the Cats.”
Jenn Hatfield of The Next also reported on Media Day that General Manager Mike Thibault didn’t expect to see international players like Vanloo or Canadian rookie forward Aaliyah Edwards to miss time for these kind of preparations.
Some news from Mystics practice today: General manager Mike Thibault doesn’t expect any players to miss time for national team obligations ahead of the Olympics. That’s significant because the Mystics have many players who could be Olympians for various countries. @TheNextHoops
— Jenn Hatfield (she/her) (@jennhatfield1) May 12, 2024
So, in short, Vanloo is locked in for D.C. So is Edwards. And that’s a good thing.
Our SB Nation Reacts results also indicate that many fans believe she’ll be Washington’s starting point guard for most of the season
With Brittney Sykes recently missing games due to injury, Vanloo quickly got a starting role and has continued to be a consistent assister and scorer. She is averaging 9.4 points and 6 assists per game. Sure, the Mystics are 0-5 now, but Vanloo has kept this team competitive every game. The wins will be coming soon enough.
So in our SB Nation Reacts survey earlier this week, most of our 200 plus respondents (though just 53 percent) believe Vanloo will start for most of the 2024 WNBA season.
Also, the results of this question were divided.
But most of you believe that Julie Vanloo will start most of the season. She’s one of the top 10 assisters in the WNBA this season, even considering their really bad start. pic.twitter.com/rffJr7nS4L
— BF_Mystics (@BF_mystics) May 24, 2024
In our other question, 78 percent of respondents believed that team wide player sponsorships like the Las Vegas Aces’ put them at a disadvantage.
Our Mystics @sbnreacts results are back.
First, most of you believe that teamwide player sponsorships like the Aces’ put the Mystics at a disadvantage. pic.twitter.com/iWGlAUDXh9
— BF_Mystics (@BF_mystics) May 24, 2024
How do you feel about Vanloo staying in D.C. even while the rest of the Cats make their preparations for the Olympics? And how do you feel about those league sponsorships, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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