Kim Mestdagh talks about adjusting to the WNBA and Belgium’s goal in Women’s EuroBasket

From Colorado State to the Belgium women’s national basketball team to the WNBA, Washington Mystics guard Kim Mestdagh is no stranger to different styles of play. Not believing she would make the WNBA when she graduated from CSU in 2012, Mestdagh was shocked and jumped at the opportunity to join the league seven years later as she grew professionally on European professional teams.

After the Mystics’ 103-85 victory against the Chicago Sky on Wednesday, I spoke to Mestdagh about that transition. You can watch the entire interview above.

In the first three games of the 2019 season, Mestdagh averaged almost five minutes of playing time per game making a three in each game showing her long range.

As much as we want to see the added depth she can bring off the Mystics bench, we’ll have to wait a little over a month before we see Mestdagh again. That’s because Mestdagh plays for the Belgian team along with forward Emma Meesseman.

The Belgian Cats, as they are known, will play in Women’s EuroBasket 2019 later this month. Mestdagh and Meesseman will train with the Cats before the actual tournament starts on June 27.

Though Belgium won the bronze medal in EuroBasket Women 2017, they will try to remain afloat this year in one of the hardest groups of the tournament. Belgium is in Group D along with Russia, Serbia, and Belarus who are highly ranked. All of these teams will be difficult to face.

Mestdagh also talked about Belgium’s chances in Women’s EuroBasket. She stated that Russia figures to be their toughest opponent in the group stage and their short-term goal is to earn a Top-6 berth in the tournament. If they do, Belgium will play in next year’s Olympic qualifying tournaments.

That said, it still won’t hurt for us to see Belgium win the Gold!