Published on Winsidr on September 20, 2019
No one would have thought that the Washington Mystics were missing anything heading into the playoffs. The team had reeled off 12 wins in the last 14 games of the regular season. They dominated over that stretch as DC won by a margin of 17 points on average. But after the Mystics took a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Las Vegas Aces, a lot of the team’s statements focused on what was missing: Kristi Toliver and Emma Meesseman. Toliver missed the last 13 games of the regular season with a bone bruise in her right knee while Emma Meesseman missed all of last season to rest and regroup mentally. With both these missing pieces back, the Mystics might actually be unstoppable.
Meesseman going off
Winning in the WNBA playoffs obviously takes a team effort. But Emma Meesseman really pushed the Mystics to wins in the first two games in this Semifinals series. Over the last two games, the Belgian big scored 57 points (!!!) while shooting 62.2% from the field and 63.6% from deep. She is also averaging eight rebounds per game and almost four assists per game. Those are numbers that even newly-minted MVP Elena Delle Donne would be proud of.
Meesseman did a lot of her damage by just drilling open shots. The Aces have to pay so much attention to EDD that it gives Emma open looks. And you should not give Emma any open looks because she will make you pay. Liz Cambage summed it up in her curt post-game interview when asked what Meesseman did well: “She ain’t missing shots.” For her part, Meeseman also boiled down her performance to just making buckets.
“It’s easier to take my shot when it goes in,” joked the 26-year old. “When you have the hot hand, just keep shooting. That’s what I did. The eleven assists [for Natasha Cloud] were probably all to me. So, they left me open and I’ll take [the open shots] now.”
Gabe Ibrahim 