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Bilal Coulibaly ready for Summer League ‘test’ as play-maker originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
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WASHINGTON — Bilal Coulibaly and Wizards Summer League coach Landon Tatum said it themselves at Wednesday’s mini-camp, that Coulibaly’s best strengths are currently on the defensive end and that defense is likely to be his path to minutes early on in his NBA career.
They hope that will be on display in the upcoming Las Vegas Summer League, as Coulibaly will be tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best players. But the annual showcase will also give the Wizards an opportunity to test Coulibaly in areas he isn’t quite as advanced to see what he needs to improve on the most.
That process should be easy to notice on the offensive end where Coulibaly is expected to take on a larger ball-handling role than he was accustomed to at his last stop, with the Metropolitans 92 in France.
“As best we can, we’re going to try to put Bilal in a lot of different situations,” Tatum explained. “Since he’s been here, he’s been great on the floor. He asks questions and does everything you [want]. You can see why he was drafted. He’s got great length and a lot of versatility on offense to handle the ball and come off [dribble hand-offs] and stuff like that.”
Coulibaly, 18, had to play a role on his pro team in France and that often meant taking a backseat offensively with 2023 No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama also on the roster. Coulibaly says he was able to show more of his on-ball skillset while playing for the French national under-18 team.
With wins and losses not of concern, the Summer League should allow him to spread his wings and play through mistakes.
“I’m going to play more with the ball, create some actions and play-making. I’m just looking forward to playing with the ball more,” Coulibaly said.
The Wizards will play five Summer League games with the first on Saturday against the Pacers. Coulibaly is expected to play a central role on the team after joining the Wizards as the seventh overall pick in the NBA Draft just two weeks ago.
Coulibaly will likely be one of the team’s primary scoring options along with Johnny Davis, the Wizards’ 2022 first-round pick. Davis has been helping Coulibaly pick up the Wizards’ playbook and terminology.
“He knows a lot about the game after last year,” Coulibaly said. “We’re helping each other, talking a lot about the game offensively and defensively. Just the principles of the team because he’s used to it.”
Coulibaly said the Wizards’ offensive approach in Las Vegas will be to move the ball and play a less selfish brand of basketball than is common in the Summer League where many players are trying to collect stats and stand out in hopes of earning NBA contracts. As for his individual game, he is looking forward to adapting to NBA spacing, as he believes there will be more lanes for him to drive to the rim.
Coulibaly also said he has been adjusting his shooting mechanics lately, not only to improve his percentages but to speed up his motion. That should help him develop his off-the-dribble shooting and prevent it from getting blocked against faster, longer NBA defenders.
Coulibaly’s time in Las Vegas should provide an interesting baseline test for where he is offensively. The Wizards hope he will develop into a dynamic two-way player.
Still, make no mistake about it, his bread-and-butter is on the defensive end. As much as he and Tatum talked about his offense on Wednesday, Tatum also said Coulibaly’s success in the Summer League will be largely based on his performance on defense.
“If we go out there and Bilal is locking up the best guy and he’s forcing the other team’s offensive player to take a bunch of shots to get a bunch of points, he’s done his job. For us, we want to make sure we’re emphasizing that with him; defense first,” he said.
