Belgium beat Poland 100-63 on Saturday in a EuroBasket Women 2017 qualifying match in Namur, Wallonia. In that game, Emma Meesseman scored 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. But sometimes, you need video to show just how good it was.
If you're someone who must literally see how good Meesseman's and the Cats' performance was before you believe it, look no further. Here's a video of ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS, via Basketfeminin.com's YouTube channel.
Here are just some of the best plays they made, with a focus on Meesseman:
- (2:18) Meesseman blocks a three-point attempt by a Poland's Aleksandra Pawlak at the 2:18 mark, gets the ball and then starts a fast break.
- (2:20) Meesseman is on the receiving end of a spectacular hustle play. To be fair, this wasn't just Meesseman's doing. Poland's Julie McBride and Dominika Owczarak lost the ball which Belgium's Marjorie Carpreaux stole, but she dove in the process to secure the ball. At that point she passed to a sprinting Meesseman for the layup. Excellent play.
- (4:17-4:21) This fast break no-look pass to Julie Vanloo who takes and makes a wide open corner three is almost John Wall-like. We're still in the second quarter too by the way.
- (6:18-6:30) Former Colorado State guard and Belgian Cat Kim Mestdagh was the leading scorer of the game with 30 points. I'll show a couple of her threes here. Mestdagh made two of them in the left corner WITH POST PLAYERS DIVING IN HER FACE. AND SHE DRAINED THEM LIKE IT MEANT NOTHING. SHE WAS LIKE STEPHEN CURRY OUT THERE! After the first three, Mestdagh just ran down the court to play D, not unlike the way Meesseman is all the time. But after the second three, Mestdagh just showed her swag by just walking slowly and keeping her shooting hand up in the air ... just see below.
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- (7:13-7:15) Meesseman makes a mid-range fadeaway with defenders in her face. Now she's playing like Dirk Nowitzki. I haven't seen her do that in a Mystics game!
So in summary, that was one hell of a game the Belgian Cats had in front of their home fans in Namur. Even if you're a skeptic of Meesseman, the bottom line is that this performance shows exactly why she is a player who makes stat-crazed basketball fans go bonkers over.
Whether it's her shooting, timing when she cuts to the basket or blocking a shot, Meesseman has the skills to be a great WNBA player. All she needs to do at this point is assume that every team she plays this summer is the Netherlands or Poland and we're cool.
(h/t to ElleLovesTennis for tweeting this video. Finally, as a bonus, if you need to watch the whole game, here's the link.)