It’s the famous coincidence of the calendar! Drafted by the Pacers, then transferred to the Wizards, Bilal Coulibaly made his big NBA debut last night in… Indianapolis! A preseason starter, the Frenchman took his place on the bench for this first in his career since Wes Unseld Jr. chose to rely on Deni Avdija on the wing.
And we had to wait to see him on the field, since Coulibaly was only the 9th Wizards player to come into play. It will be in place of Kyle Kuzma while the Wizards defense had already conceded around thirty points in nine minutes!
“He’s going to play a few minutes,” explained his coach. “We’re going to progress it slowly. We’re not going to overload it too quickly. But his minutes will vary. »
Mom had made the trip
On arrival, the Wizards took a big spanking (143-120), and if Coulibaly played 23 minutes, it was because Unseld Jr. raised the white flag at the start of the 4th quarter. But Victor Wembanyama’s former teammate has little to reproach himself for. Under the eyes of his mother and his two sisters, he played Coulibaly with desire and defensive aggressiveness, and he finished with 3 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks!
Impressive counters
His only basket of the match, and therefore his first of his career, was a very lucky 3-pointer with a ball that bounced very high on the circle, before bursting the net.
“I feel better now that I scored” Coulibaly simply reacted, before mentioning this role of 9th man. “I just had to stay ready because you can be called at any time. It’s clear that it’s different from being a starter. »
Rightly starting in his place, Avdija appreciated the performance of his young teammate. “A first match is never easy for a rookie, and I thought he defended well. He is truly talented, and the road will be long. But everything will be fine” confides the Israeli. “He’s calm, and that’s the key for him. He knows his place, he stays disciplined and he knows what he has to do on the pitch. His potential is limitless, and he is surrounded by great players to show him the right path. »
For his coach, who threw him on the field in a “very small ball” five with Delon Wright, Tyus Jones, TCorey Kispert and Danilo Gallinari, this first was successful. “I wanted to get him involved with some core players, and he had some good chances. Especially at the end of the match, with some defensive actions. He made a few counterattacks, some of which were very impressive. But we want to include it in the rhythm, and it was slow on everyone’s part. In general, we must do better. »
