Latest news with #Vanloo
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
WNBA Preview: All-Star starters and snubs; Liberty look to get back on track
There is a running joke on the internet that Mondays during the WNBA season often yield the most drama and news coming out of the league and its players. There's a reason for this: often there aren't games on Mondays, although there are some weeks this season where there are. But for the most part, Monday is typically a day when the league is dark. Well, yesterday was an example of that trend in practice. Not only did the league announce that it will be adding three more expansion teams in addition to the two more expansion teams in Toronto and Portland that will debut next season, but there was a trade, a surprise cut from the Golden State Valkyries, and the All-Star starters for the July 19 All-Star Game in Indianapolis were announced. Advertisement The league announced that Cleveland would be awarded the WNBA's 16th team which will begin play in 2028, Detroit would earn the 17th, officially joining in 2029 and then Philadelphia would become the 18th franchise and would begin play in 2030. All ownership groups of these three new franchises paid a $250 million expansion fee, close to five times what Joe Lacob and Peter Guber paid for the Valkyries back in 2023. Moments after all of that pomp and circumstance at the league office, the Las Vegas Aces traded for NaLyssa Smith which sent a Las Vegas 2027 first round draft pick back to the Wings. And as a result, the Aces had to waive rookie Elizabeth Kitley and veteran Tiffany Mitchell in order to make roster and salary room for Smith. And then the Valkyries waived Julie Vanloo, who was away from the team competing in EuroBasket. Vanloo missed her Belgian National team's gold medal celebration after winning EuroBasket to make sure she was back in the Bay Area as soon as possible. She got news of being released merely moments after landing back in California. While Vanloo struggled at times during her minutes on court with Golden State, there are questions about the timing of the franchise letting her know of their decision before hopping on a long 14-15 hour flight back to San Francisco. This all happened on a Monday and that's in addition to the day before where Angel Reese put on another career performance scoring while shooting over 52 percent from the field in addition to 16 rebounds and seven assists, nearly her second triple double. She did all of this while her former childhood idol Candace Parker was in attendance and got her jersey retired by the Sparks prior to tipoff. Who are the 2025 WNBA All-Star starters? Before I preview the week ahead, let's discuss the All-Star starters which were announced on Monday evening. The two highest fan vote getters, Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier, were named captains and automatic starters on Sunday. And then a day later, the final eight starters were announced by two different ESPN sponsored shows. Advertisement The final eight starters were determined by the weighted combination of fan votes, media votes and player votes. Fan votes were weighed at 50 percent with the media and peer votes counting for 25 percent each. What jumped out immediately in the league's weighted voting results was how Clark was ranked by her peers. The players ranked Atlanta's Allisha Gray first, New York's Sabrina Ionescu second and then Clark ninth. This shouldn't be a huge surprise especially considering that Clark has only played in nine of the Fever's total 16 games so far this season, and she's shot the ball very inefficiently (39% overall and 29.5% from three) in addition to averaging 5.9 turnovers. But this also isn't the first time a very popular player was ranked lower by her peers as Ionescu got similar treatment two years ago and was ranked 19th by the players. It's incredibly hard to argue with the eight other starters that were selected. A'ja Wilson is still putting up All-WNBA numbers even if they aren't as impressive as they were during her otherworldly 2024 MVP season. Gray has put together close to if not the best statistical season she's had since entering the league in 2017. Nneka Ogwumike earned her 10th All-Star selection on another incredibly efficient start to the season shooting 53.1% on 13.4 attempts per game. She's been even more efficient than MVP front-runner Collier. Advertisement Prior to Ionescu's recent shooting slump, she and Liberty teammate Breanna Stewart were both putting up over 20 points a game and led their team in the Liberty to a 9-0 start prior to losing Jonquel Jones to an ankle sprain and Leonie Fiebich to EuroBasket. The Mercury's Satou Sabally has also put up a career season so far and took the brunt of the scoring load when Alyssa Thomas was out for two weeks with a calf injury. Aliyah Boston has the highest field goal percentage (59.7) among players who play over 25 minutes a game. And last and certainly not least, Paige Bueckers leads all rookies in points and assists per game and is third amongst rookies in field goal percentage for first-year players who play over 25 minutes a game. She is scoring the eleventh-most in the league and seventh most among guards sitting right below Ionescu and right above Clark. Who Are The WNBA All-Star Starter Snubs? The point is, it's incredibly hard to make an argument against any of these players starting in the All-Star game. The one that maybe there's an argument against might actually be Clark. Who could have replaced her just based on statistical output alone? Advertisement Skylar Diggins comes to mind immediately just based on the fact that she's the 7th best in scoring and third in scoring among guards. Also, she's averaging the fourth most assists and is fifth in win shares ( 2.5) via Her Hoop Stats. She's fourth in field goal percentage among guards that average over 30 minutes a game ( 46.3 ). Another guard that could have been an All-Star starter is Kelsey Plum who has put up an impressive statistical season so far even as her Los Angeles Sparks continue to struggle in their journey to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Plum leads all guards scoring 20.6 points a game and is sixth among guards in average assists with 5.6. In a league dominated by versatile forwards, it's not a surprise that there wasn't enough room for maybe one of the most versatile in Alyssa Thomas. Thomas has put up some of the best numbers of her career, leading the league in assists (9.3) and averaging more points than she did during her 2023 season, the one where Stewart beat her out in the MVP voting. The reason Thomas missed the boat is probably because of the two weeks she missed. The final player who I think there's an argument for to be an All-Star starter is Brionna Jones who while she doesn't score in the 20s like her peers, she's accumulated 2.3 win shares , the same amount that A'ja Wilson has and a bit more than Thomas and Sabally. She and Diggins are the only players within the top seven in win shares who didn't become All-Star starters. Advertisement It would be shocking if any of these players who weren't named starters don't make the final All-Star team. Right now reserves are being voted on by the WNBA's head coaches and those results will be revealed this Sunday July 6 at 12 pm et. Just a disclaimer, head coaches cannot vote for their own players. The Week Ahead Since this week features the Commissioner's Cup Championship game on Tuesday night, there are fewer games to choose from. The league goes on a mini hiatus on Wednesday before picking up again on Thursday. After the Commissioner's Cup Final takes place in Minneapolis, the majority of the games to watch out for are rematches of recent matchups. Can the Fever get revenge on the Aces and can the Liberty redeem themselves against the Storm with Fiebich back from EuroBasket? Commissioner's Cup Final: Indiana Fever @ Minnesota Lynx (Tuesday July 1 at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video) Advertisement Now that Clark has been ruled out officially , do the Fever have a shot at winning? It's going to be a tough hill to climb for a team that almost fell to the Dallas Wings on Friday without Clark. This is the right move for Indiana looking at Clark's long term health, but what makes this matchup worth watching is the very fact that these two teams haven't played each other yet. The Lynx's two losses this season came in games where they were outworked by their opponent and allowed at least 20 opponent points off their own turnovers. If the Fever play hard, they have a shot. But if the Lynx value their possessions, this should be a very winnable game and Minnesota would become the first back-to-back Commissioner's Cup Champions in league history. Las Vegas Aces @ Indiana Fever (Thursday July 3 at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video) Even if Clark misses this game as well, it will be fascinating to see how much run newly acquired Aces forward NaLyssa Smith gets. The Aces won this matchup the first time around on June 22 with Clark on the floor for the Fever. But this will be the first test the Aces have to see if by adding Smith defenses actually guard her, which could open up more space on the floor. Las Vegas has often struggled when opposing defenses don't even guard Kiah Stokes and load up on their other players. Washington Mystics @ Minnesota Lynx (Thursday July 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET on League Pass ) Advertisement The Mystics will be looking for a win after dropping their latest 79-71 against the incredibly shorthanded Dallas Wings. But also the Lynx's second loss of the season came to the Mystics on June 24. While both teams were without their best players in Napheesa Collier and Brittney Sykes, the Mystics still defended aggressively and earned that win by forcing 19 turnovers and scoring 26 points off those turnovers. Can the two-way play of versatile center Shakira Austin stifle Collier at all? If Collier struggles and the Mystics' defense stays aggressive, I'd say this has the potential to be a really competitive game to pay attention to. Golden State Valkyries @ Minnesota Lynx (Saturday July 5 at 8 p.m. ET on League Pass) The Lynx have a ton of fascinating matchups this week including one against the Valkyries. While Minnesota beat Golden State convincingly around a month ago, the Valkyries have somehow gotten better since they lost players to EuroBasket. (Presumably another reason why they waived guard Vanloo.) Following some New York Liberty struggles, the Valkyries now have the second best defense in the league which has powered them to a 2.7 net rating . Compare that to the -10.7 net rating that Golden State had when the Lynx last played the Valkyries. Seattle Storm @ New York Liberty (Sunday July 6 at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS) The New York Liberty have been going through it lately, losing four of their last five games as they continued to adjust to playing without 2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones and German wing Fiebich. One of those losses came to the Storm on June 22 when they only lost by 10 points 89-79. While Fiebich will most likely be available for this game and should provide more shooting and defense, it will be interesting to see how the Liberty continue to wade through their schedule before Jones returns presumably after the All-Star break. Can defeating a streaky Storm team get the defending champions back on track?
NBC Sports
a day ago
- Business
- NBC Sports
WNBA Preview: All-Star starters and snubs; Liberty look to get back on track
There is a running joke on the internet that Mondays during the WNBA season often yield the most drama and news coming out of the league and its players. There's a reason for this: often there aren't games on Mondays, although there are some weeks this season where there are. But for the most part, Monday is typically a day when the league is dark. Well, yesterday was an example of that trend in practice. Not only did the league announce that it will be adding three more expansion teams in addition to the two more expansion teams in Toronto and Portland that will debut next season, but there was a trade, a surprise cut from the Golden State Valkyries, and the All-Star starters for the July 19 All-Star Game in Indianapolis were announced. The league announced that Cleveland would be awarded the WNBA's 16th team which will begin play in 2028, Detroit would earn the 17th, officially joining in 2029 and then Philadelphia would become the 18th franchise and would begin play in 2030. All ownership groups of these three new franchises paid a $250 million expansion fee, close to five times what Joe Lacob and Peter Guber paid for the Valkyries back in 2023. Moments after all of that pomp and circumstance at the league office, the Las Vegas Aces traded for NaLyssa Smith which sent a Las Vegas 2027 first round draft pick back to the Wings. And as a result, the Aces had to waive rookie Elizabeth Kitley and veteran Tiffany Mitchell in order to make roster and salary room for Smith. And then the Valkyries waived Julie Vanloo, who was away from the team competing in EuroBasket. Vanloo missed her Belgian National team's gold medal celebration after winning EuroBasket to make sure she was back in the Bay Area as soon as possible. She got news of being released merely moments after landing back in California. While Vanloo struggled at times during her minutes on court with Golden State, there are questions about the timing of the franchise letting her know of their decision before hopping on a long 14-15 hour flight back to San Francisco. Belgian star Emma Messeman — who some believed the Valks had interest in — commented this on the post about Vanloo's release. Vanloo flew to the Bay to come back in the 48 hour window while Belgium was still celebrating the EuroBasket win. This all happened on a Monday and that's in addition to the day before where Angel Reese put on another career performance scoring while shooting over 52 percent from the field in addition to 16 rebounds and seven assists, nearly her second triple double. She did all of this while her former childhood idol Candace Parker was in attendance and got her jersey retired by the Sparks prior to tipoff. Who are the 2025 WNBA All-Star starters? Before I preview the week ahead, let's discuss the All-Star starters which were announced on Monday evening. The two highest fan vote getters, Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier, were named captains and automatic starters on Sunday. And then a day later, the final eight starters were announced by two different ESPN sponsored shows. The final eight starters were determined by the weighted combination of fan votes, media votes and player votes. Fan votes were weighed at 50 percent with the media and peer votes counting for 25 percent each. What jumped out immediately in the league's weighted voting results was how Clark was ranked by her peers. The players ranked Atlanta's Allisha Gray first, New York's Sabrina Ionescu second and then Clark ninth. This shouldn't be a huge surprise especially considering that Clark has only played in nine of the Fever's total 16 games so far this season, and she's shot the ball very inefficiently (39% overall and 29.5% from three) in addition to averaging 5.9 turnovers. But this also isn't the first time a very popular player was ranked lower by her peers as Ionescu got similar treatment two years ago and was ranked 19th by the players. It's incredibly hard to argue with the eight other starters that were selected. A'ja Wilson is still putting up All-WNBA numbers even if they aren't as impressive as they were during her otherworldly 2024 MVP season. Gray has put together close to if not the best statistical season she's had since entering the league in 2017. Nneka Ogwumike earned her 10th All-Star selection on another incredibly efficient start to the season shooting 53.1% on 13.4 attempts per game. She's been even more efficient than MVP front-runner Collier. Prior to Ionescu's recent shooting slump, she and Liberty teammate Breanna Stewart were both putting up over 20 points a game and led their team in the Liberty to a 9-0 start prior to losing Jonquel Jones to an ankle sprain and Leonie Fiebich to EuroBasket. The Mercury's Satou Sabally has also put up a career season so far and took the brunt of the scoring load when Alyssa Thomas was out for two weeks with a calf injury. Aliyah Boston has the highest field goal percentage (59.7) among players who play over 25 minutes a game. And last and certainly not least, Paige Bueckers leads all rookies in points and assists per game and is third amongst rookies in field goal percentage for first-year players who play over 25 minutes a game. She is scoring the eleventh-most in the league and seventh most among guards sitting right below Ionescu and right above Clark. Announcing your 2025 WNBA @ATT All-Star Starters... 🌟 Caitlin Clark (C), @indianafever 🌟 Napheesa Collier (C), @minnesotalynx 🌟 Aliyah Boston, @indianafever 🌟 Paige Bueckers, @dallaswings 🌟 Allisha Gray, @atlantadream 🌟 Sabrina Ionescu, @nyliberty 🌟 Nneka Ogwumike,… Who Are The WNBA All-Star Starter Snubs? The point is, it's incredibly hard to make an argument against any of these players starting in the All-Star game. The one that maybe there's an argument against might actually be Clark. Who could have replaced her just based on statistical output alone? Skylar Diggins comes to mind immediately just based on the fact that she's the 7th best in scoring and third in scoring among guards. Also, she's averaging the fourth most assists and is fifth in win shares (2.5) via Her Hoop Stats. She's fourth in field goal percentage among guards that average over 30 minutes a game (46.3). Another guard that could have been an All-Star starter is Kelsey Plum who has put up an impressive statistical season so far even as her Los Angeles Sparks continue to struggle in their journey to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Plum leads all guards scoring 20.6 points a game and is sixth among guards in average assists with 5.6. In a league dominated by versatile forwards, it's not a surprise that there wasn't enough room for maybe one of the most versatile in Alyssa Thomas. Thomas has put up some of the best numbers of her career, leading the league in assists (9.3) and averaging more points than she did during her 2023 season, the one where Stewart beat her out in the MVP voting. The reason Thomas missed the boat is probably because of the two weeks she missed. The final player who I think there's an argument for to be an All-Star starter is Brionna Jones who while she doesn't score in the 20s like her peers, she's accumulated 2.3 win shares, the same amount that A'ja Wilson has and a bit more than Thomas and Sabally. She and Diggins are the only players within the top seven in win shares who didn't become All-Star starters. It would be shocking if any of these players who weren't named starters don't make the final All-Star team. Right now reserves are being voted on by the WNBA's head coaches and those results will be revealed this Sunday July 6 at 12 pm et. Just a disclaimer, head coaches cannot vote for their own players. The Week Ahead Since this week features the Commissioner's Cup Championship game on Tuesday night, there are fewer games to choose from. The league goes on a mini hiatus on Wednesday before picking up again on Thursday. After the Commissioner's Cup Final takes place in Minneapolis, the majority of the games to watch out for are rematches of recent matchups. Can the Fever get revenge on the Aces and can the Liberty redeem themselves against the Storm with Fiebich back from EuroBasket? (Tuesday July 1 at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video) Now that Clark has been ruled out officially, do the Fever have a shot at winning? It's going to be a tough hill to climb for a team that almost fell to the Dallas Wings on Friday without Clark. This is the right move for Indiana looking at Clark's long term health, but what makes this matchup worth watching is the very fact that these two teams haven't played each other yet. The Lynx's two losses this season came in games where they were outworked by their opponent and allowed at least 20 opponent points off their own turnovers. If the Fever play hard, they have a shot. But if the Lynx value their possessions, this should be a very winnable game and Minnesota would become the first back-to-back Commissioner's Cup Champions in league history. (Thursday July 3 at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video) Even if Clark misses this game as well, it will be fascinating to see how much run newly acquired Aces forward NaLyssa Smith gets. The Aces won this matchup the first time around on June 22 with Clark on the floor for the Fever. But this will be the first test the Aces have to see if by adding Smith defenses actually guard her, which could open up more space on the floor. Las Vegas has often struggled when opposing defenses don't even guard Kiah Stokes and load up on their other players. (Thursday July 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET on League Pass ) The Mystics will be looking for a win after dropping their latest 79-71 against the incredibly shorthanded Dallas Wings. But also the Lynx's second loss of the season came to the Mystics on June 24. While both teams were without their best players in Napheesa Collier and Brittney Sykes, the Mystics still defended aggressively and earned that win by forcing 19 turnovers and scoring 26 points off those turnovers. Can the two-way play of versatile center Shakira Austin stifle Collier at all? If Collier struggles and the Mystics' defense stays aggressive, I'd say this has the potential to be a really competitive game to pay attention to. (Saturday July 5 at 8 p.m. ET on League Pass) The Lynx have a ton of fascinating matchups this week including one against the Valkyries. While Minnesota beat Golden State convincingly around a month ago, the Valkyries have somehow gotten better since they lost players to EuroBasket. (Presumably another reason why they waived guard Vanloo.) Following some New York Liberty struggles, the Valkyries now have the second best defense in the league which has powered them to a 2.7 net rating. Compare that to the -10.7 net rating that Golden State had when the Lynx last played the Valkyries. (Sunday July 6 at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS) The New York Liberty have been going through it lately, losing four of their last five games as they continued to adjust to playing without 2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones and German wing Fiebich. One of those losses came to the Storm on June 22 when they only lost by 10 points 89-79. While Fiebich will most likely be available for this game and should provide more shooting and defense, it will be interesting to see how the Liberty continue to wade through their schedule before Jones returns presumably after the All-Star break. Can defeating a streaky Storm team get the defending champions back on track?
Time of India
a day ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Julie Vanloo gets heartbreaking news from Golden State Valkyries right after international flight touches down
Julie Vanloo. Image via: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Veteran guard Julie Vanloo landed in San Francisco with excitement, ready to reunite with the Golden State Valkyries after helping Belgium win the EuroBasket championship. But just moments after stepping off an 18-hour flight, she received devastating news as the team had waived her. The announcement came without warning, catching Vanloo completely off guard and leaving fans stunned at the Valkyries' timing. The emotional fallout played out in real time on her Instagram Story, painting a picture of heartbreak that spread quickly across WNBA circles. Julie Vanloo was left speechless after the Golden State Valkyries waived her just after stepping off the plane Julie Vanloo had every reason to feel proud. Just one day prior, she helped Belgium secure another EuroBasket title and was named to the All-Tournament Second Team after averaging 9.8 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.0 rebounds. She chose not to celebrate back home in favor of returning early to her WNBA team, only to be blindsided. 'Literally just touched down in the Bay,' Vanloo wrote. 'I need some time to process all of this man and put my feels into words. I can't right now.' Golden State confirmed the roster move shortly after Vanloo's arrival. 'Roster Update: The Golden State Valkyries have waived guard Julie Vanloo,' the team posted on social media. 'Thank you, Julie.' The Valkyries' decision drew widespread criticism online, especially since Vanloo had been part of the team's inaugural roster and made notable contributions both on and off the court. Fluent in four languages, she also served as the team's interpreter and was beloved by teammates and fans alike. During her nine-game run with Golden State, Vanloo averaged 4.6 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.9 rebounds. With the team going 5-2 during her absence and rookie guard Kaitlyn Chen stepping up, the Valkyries opted to make the move permanent. Also Read: Paige Bueckers gets exciting WNBA news from Curt Miller ahead of All-Star night Still, the timing couldn't have been worse. From circling Chase Center mid-flight and posting 'Back in fog cityyyyy,' to discovering her release less than an hour later, Vanloo's journey turned from triumphant to traumatic. For now, she's left without a team and without the celebration she rightfully earned. Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Valkyries waive guard Julie Vanloo, a WNBA expansion draft selection
When Golden State Valkyries players departed for EuroBasket earlier this month, the team temporarily signed five players to cover their absence, expecting their permanence on the team would be short-lived. But in a surprising roster move, one of those whose time with the team ended Monday was point guard Julie Vanloo, a member of the original roster who had been selected in the expansion draft. Also let go were recent signings Chloe Bibby and Bree Hall. The Valkyries selected Vanloo in the expansion draft from the Washington Mystics. Vanloo was one of four Valkyries who played with their national team at EuroBasket. She came away with a championship as Belgium repeated at the tournament winner. Vanloo's roster spot with Golden State had been considered secure. She, along with Veronica Burton and Cecilia Zandalasini, received a qualifying offer early in January. The offer gave the Valkyries retention of Vanloo's rights, and she signed at the league's minimum contract for her experience level. In May, Vanloo earned a formal spot on the final 12-player roster. In nine games (two starts) for Golden State, she averaged 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists while playing 20 minutes per game. Bibby and forward Laeticia Amihere, also among the Valkyries' temporary signings, each had better scoring and rebounding averages than Vanloo. Less surprising were the decisions to waive Bibby, Hall and Aerial Powers. When Temi Fagbenle returned from EuroBasket after Great Britain lost to Germany, Powers was waived. The decisions to waive Bibby and Hall made room for the returns of Janelle Salaün and Vandalasini and the arrival of center Iliana Rupert. Bibby came hot off the bench to make a case for a spot on the team. Against Caitlin Clark and the Fever, Bibby racked up 12 points, three rebounds and a block and assist in 24 minutes. Continuing her quality shooting streak, Bibby scored 11 points against the Connecticut Sun, while adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals. In five games, Bibby averaged 6.4 points and 2.8 rebounds. Hall saw action in two games for Golden State, playing eight minutes and scoring three points with two rebounds. 'We need more roster spots. I'm going to probably keep saying that over and over again,' head coach Natalie Nakase said before Sunday's game against Seattle. 'Everyone that we have been able to pull in, all our players that are at EuroBasket, they have surpassed my expectations. Not only, you know, being a great teammate and a great person, but their skill set of just being ready.' Vanloo being waived also signals the possibility that fan favorite Kaitlyn Chen or Amihere — or both — have earned the opportunity to stick with the team.
18-06-2025
- Sport
Valkyries guard Julie Vanloo is expansion team's go-to interpreter for international players
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Julie Vanloo smiled as the memory came back to her and the nursery rhyme words from her childhood became familiar again and just flowed. A short phrase in French from her days as a schoolgirl in Belgium. Vanloo's ability to communicate in multiple languages has been crucial as the expansion Golden State Valkyries develop chemistry and find ways to make sure everyone can understand a given play or defensive set. Her teammates are often in awe. Part of an international roster on the Valkyries, Vanloo's language skills have helped everybody get comfortable on a team that has been changing by the week. Vanloo, Temi Fágbénlé (Great Britain) and Janelle Salaun (France) are currently competing for their countries in the EuroBasket 2025 tournament. That has led to much mixing and matching for coach Natalie Nakase, who has counted on players like Vanloo making key assists on and off the court. The Valkyries (5-6) will host Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Thursday night in their sixth home game — all of them sellouts — at Chase Center. Vanloo will miss the fanfare of that matchup as she plays for Belgium — and she'll certainly brush up on her language skills while away. For Vanloo, a commitment to building her speaking skills became as important as her basketball talent as she dreamt of reaching the WNBA. She speaks English, French, Italian and Flemish, the dialect of Dutch spoken in her home country. 'Slowly you step up to the next level and when we go to high school and we're 12 years old, we really start to drill it, we start to learn it, both English and French,' she said. 'It's like six to nine hours per week we really learn English and French in Belgium. All of our series and even our cartoons are in English, we use subtitles for French so that's how we actually learned the accent and everything. 'So that's for all the kids out there, language is important, it's an advantage. I think you are rich when you know multiple languages because it's just easy to communicate and to create a bond with people.' She didn't always love it and she's not always perfect. But Vanloo has remained vigilant about learning. 'My goal was to come play professionally, to come to the league one day. If I have a goal, nobody's going to stop me," she said. 'For basketball, I was very, very motivated to learn languages.' Vanloo was selected by the Valkyries from Washington in the expansion draft last December. She is one of eight non-American players on Golden State's roster representing six countries — Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Kayla Thornton played in Korea and realizes the challenges of trying to live in a place where she doesn't speak the language. She tries to use a few words with her teammates when possible. 'I do pick up on some of the stuff because we do have Italians and we do have French,' Thornton said. 'When I do hear it I kind of do catch on, I do know a few phrases. Most of the time they teach you their lingo, and that's the bad lingo.' Vanloo's ability to share her basketball expertise and the basics takes pressure off Nakase. 'I think what's really helped is Julie can translate for all of them. Julie speaks everyone's language so that's kind of been really key, just how we can connect that way,' Nakase said. 'Imagine going to another country and you have no idea. When I played in Germany I really wasn't understanding but I made sure I paid attention. So it's been nice to have Julie because she's listening, she's doing extra for a teammate.' Laeticia Amihere of Canada, a native French speaker who didn't make the opening game roster but has since re-signed with the team, counts on Vanloo. So does rookie guard Carla Leite, who's from France and is working to gain confidence speaking English. 'A lot of us speak French and a lot of us speak different languages so to be able to use that on the court to our advantage I think it's been great,' Amihere said. 'And she's obviously helping out the French and the French are helping us all just work cohesively and try to find a way we can communicate easily. It's been cool hearing different languages in the locker room. I'm used to it. Some people may not be used to it but I think it's dope.' Kyara Linskens is also from Belgium. She can relate to Vanloo's drive to reach the WNBA and do all the little things — like learning multiple languages — to get there. 'I realized (the importance), because I wanted this,' Vanloo said. 'I'm telling you, when I want something I'm going to do it until I can't.'
