The Cats are riding off their momentum after barely getting out of the group stage. If they are going to win the gold medal, they need to beat the home team, and their arch rival on the court.
The Belgium women’s national basketball team plays France on Tuesday in the semifinals of the 2024 Olympic tournament.
Game Info
When: Friday, Aug. 9 at 9 p.m. ET
Where: Accor Arena, Paris
TV: USA Network. You can also stream on Peacock.
What to watch for
This is a match that pits off one of the world’s best women’s basketball players* in Emma Meesseman and her Cats team, facing off against their arch rivals from the South, Marine Johannes, Gabby Williams and Les Bleues. Furthermore, the French are one of Europe’s best teams, right along with Belgium.
To this point, the Cats have played to a very friendly crowd. First they were in Lille, and only had to make short road trips from Kortrijk — not to mention that a disproportionately high percentage of the Cats’ players are from West Flanders, the province that borders Lille, including Washington Mystics guard Julie Vanloo. So far, Vanloo has averaged 11.8 points and 6 assists per game as their starting point guard.
On Friday, the Cats aren’t just playing their top rival in France. They are playing Les Bleues in Paris for the chance to go the championship and the once friendly crowd … won’t be so friendly, at least this once. Williams and Johannes are the top two players for the French, and they are capable of beating the Cats. In fact, France won three of the last four head-to-head matches, including friendlies. However, the Cats have won two of their last three matches in Women’s EuroBasket or the FIBA Women’s World Cup competition.
This match will not be easy for Vanloo, Meesseman and the gang. But given that the Cats have more momentum and the best player on the court, if they have tunnel vision, Belgium should be more than capable of advancing to the Gold Medal game on Sunday.
*Just wanted to add that some FIBA reporters believe she IS the best player in the world.
Also, Washington Mystics General Manager/Team USA assistant Mike Thibault believes Meesseman could be a Top 4 player (article in Dutch from Sporza), and can’t exactly say WHO is truly better than her. He also jokingly said “I want to take [Meesseman] home with me,” implying that he may want to sign her the after the break. That said, I wouldn’t read too much into a possible signing because it was a joke.