Washington Mystics General Manager Mike Thibault is an assistant coach for the USA Basketball women’s national team where he is in Antwerp, Belgium for the FIBA Olympic Women’s Qualifying Tournament. He is also familiar with several Belgian players, including Julie Vanloo, whom he just signed and 2013 draft pick Emma Meesseman, who became a 2015 All-Star and 2019 Finals MVP under his watch.
In an interview with Sporza, a Belgian Dutch language sports network, before the games began, Thibault gave his thoughts on the Belgium women’s national basketball team. He began the interview saying that Team USA wasn’t going to overlook the Cats despite their meteoric rise and winning a lot of fans worldwide along the way.