The Summer League has confirmed the Wizards in their choice to have bet on Bilal Coulibaly in the Draft. DC’s new “front office” could only be satisfied with the Summer League achieved by the 18-year-old Frenchman, who experienced a linear progression between his first and last game in Las Vegas, a fairly rapid progression that reminded his meteoric rise at Boulogne-Levallois last season, his very first with the pros.
Guest of the “Off The Bench” podcast, the new GM of the franchise, Will Dawkins, confided that this confrontation at the highest French professional level had played a role in their choice to bet on Bilal Coulibaly.
“That’s partly why we chose him. For a young man like him who is still athletically developing, his defense will always be ahead of his offense. He has a mindset, a competitive mindset to succeed, he is fine, he goes over the screens, he defends in several positions., explained Will Dawkins. “Discussing with the coaching staff, we said to them, ‘Let’s put it to the test, let’s put it on the pitch, on the best full-backs, the best wingers, on a few greats, and see what we have.’ He understood what he had to do and really wanted to go. But like I said, when you’ve played against professionals, the transition isn’t as difficult for him as it can be for guys coming straight from college.”
A good working basis
If he appreciated what he saw on the ground, Bilal Coulibaly having been able to show many things, whether in defense or in attack with even a “clutch” shot against Boston, Will Dawkins especially loved his rookie’s steel mind and willingness to learn. A maturity that portends very good things.
“He has great strength of character. He has a lot of toughness in him. He knows that in order to give, one must sometimes also receive. He’s not afraid of that. I like guys who are fighting, competitive and confident. But he is a humble boy. He will work, keep working, keep fighting,” added Will Dawkins.
Even if he did more than reassure his new management with a line of stats at 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.5 steals, and 2.3 blocks in 30 minutes on average over four games, Bilal Coulibaly knows despite everything that it is far from having arrived. But the basics are there, and they are quite encouraging.
“He knows he has a lot to work on and I expect his game to be at a different level than it is now. But for the most part, we want him to go out there, have fun, play hard and watch what’s going on.” thus finally concluded the leader.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Bradley Beal | 50 | 33.5 | 50.6 | 36.5 | 84.2 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 23.2 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | 65 | 32.6 | 49.8 | 38.5 | 85.1 | 1.8 | 6.6 | 8.4 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 23.2 |
| Kyle Kuzma | 64 | 35.0 | 44.8 | 33.3 | 73.0 | 0.9 | 6.4 | 7.2 | 3.7 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 21.2 |
| Rui Hachimura | 30 | 24.3 | 48.8 | 33.7 | 75.9 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 13.0 |
| Corey Kispert | 74 | 28.3 | 49.7 | 42.4 | 85.2 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 11.1 |
| Monte Morris | 62 | 27.4 | 48.0 | 38.2 | 83.1 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 5.3 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 10.3 |
| Deni Avdija | 76 | 26.6 | 43.7 | 29.7 | 73.9 | 1.0 | 5.4 | 6.4 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 9.2 |
| Daniel Gafford | 78 | 20.6 | 73.2 | 0.0 | 67.9 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 5.6 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 9.0 |
| Will Barton | 40 | 19.6 | 38.6 | 37.7 | 77.8 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 7.7 |
| Kendrick Nunn | 31 | 14.1 | 44.7 | 39.2 | 90.0 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 7.5 |
| Delon Wright | 50 | 24.4 | 47.4 | 34.5 | 86.7 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 7.4 |
| james huff | 7 | 13.6 | 60.0 | 50.0 | 93.8 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 7.3 |
| Jordan Goodwin | 62 | 17.8 | 44.8 | 32.2 | 76.8 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 6.6 |
| quenton jackson | 9 | 15.0 | 45.2 | 8.3 | 77.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 6.2 |
| Johnny Davis | 28 | 15.1 | 38.6 | 24.3 | 51.9 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 5.8 |
| xavier cooks | 10 | 12.6 | 60.7 | 0.0 | 40.0 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 3.8 |
| Taj Gibson | 49 | 9.8 | 52.0 | 33.3 | 71.4 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 3.4 |
| Anthony Gill | 59 | 10.6 | 53.8 | 13.8 | 73.1 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 3.3 |
| Isaiah Todd | 6 | 10.2 | 15.8 | 10.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| Jordan Schakel | 2 | 3.1 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Vernon Carey, Jr. | 11 | 2.6 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Devon Dotson | 6 | 8.9 | 10.0 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| Jamaree Bouyea | 1 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
