{"id":69465,"date":"2024-03-21T07:27:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T11:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=69465"},"modified":"2024-03-22T04:05:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T08:05:38","slug":"wizards-reveal-offseason-olympics-plans-bilal-coulibaly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/21\/wizards-reveal-offseason-olympics-plans-bilal-coulibaly\/","title":{"rendered":"Wizards Reveal Offseason, Olympics Plans for Rookie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington Wizards rookie Bilal Coulibaly<\/a>\u2019s season has been cut short<\/a> due to a right wrist fracture.<\/p>\n

Still, in 63 games, the 19-year-old has had encouraging flashes<\/a>. On offense, he\u2019s alternated between a role as a 3-point specialist and as a connector. From the outset, he\u2019s exhibited exceptional defensive potential. He\u2019s even taken the challenge of guarding the opponent\u2019s best player.<\/p>\n

Wizards Reveal Offseason, Olympics Plans for Bilal Coulibaly<\/h2>\n

This summer, Coulibaly \u2014who prides himself on film study \u2014will likely emphasize the learning aspect of his development.<\/p>\n

Once he gets his brace taken off, Coulibaly should be able to add upper body strength. Indeed, Wizards interim head coach Brian Keefe believes that \u201che’s going to have a tremendous offseason<\/a>,\u201d per Monumental Sports Network\u2019s Chase Hughes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he can start that right away with some parts of his game and work on his body.\u201d \u2014 Brian Keefe<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, elder statesman Anthony Gill<\/a> has (and had) plenty of advice to offer Coulibaly.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old is on a path that\u2019s seen him having a standout collegiate career at Virginia before going undrafted in 2016. Unable to muster more than a Summer League invite, Gill had a three-season stint in the EuroLeague. Only afterward did Gill make it to the league. He\u2019s spent all four of his NBA seasons with the Wizards.<\/p>\n

With that experience comes a journeyman perspective. One that emphasizes the importance of discipline and determination. Though Coulibaly was drafted seventh overall, it\u2019s a viewpoint that would serve him well. After all, he was drafted so highly due to potential rather than his baseline.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s super important for him,\u201d Gill says of Coulibaly\u2019s upcoming offseason. \u201c\u2026Your rookie year, people just expect you to be a rookie. You can’t make those same mistakes as a second-year player.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s still going to be growth\u2026 an opportunity to learn,\u201d Gill continues. \u201cBut this offseason is going to be very important for him getting stronger and understanding his body more, understanding the game and getting more confident…\u201d<\/p>\n

Paris Olympics<\/h3>\n

Corey Kispert<\/a> chimed in as well. Drafted 15th overall by the Wizards in the 2021 NBA Draft, Kispert entered the league as a 3-point specialist. However, he\u2019s developed his ability<\/a> to attack the rim this season.<\/p>\n

“You’ve gotta really take charge of who you want to be as a player,” Kispert says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he’s going to play for his national team in the Olympics and that’s going to be huge for his development and his growth.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cYou’re not a rookie anymore,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what you need to work on and it’s the summertime when you can make the big jumps… I’m really excited to see what he can put together and the kind of year he will have in his second year.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kispert\u2019s mention of Coulibaly playing in the Paris Olympics is notable.<\/p>\n

The upcoming Summer Olympics will be an opportunity to check Coulibaly\u2019s developmental progress. That said, international tournaments often function as a career springboard. Multiple NBA players have left Olympic or FIBA competitions and had one of their best seasons immediately afterward.<\/p>\n

With Joel Embiid<\/a> defecting to Team USA for the Olympic Games, Coulibaly may be in position for more minutes or a larger role. The Saint-Claude native\u2019s biggest challenge will be becoming a better ball-handler and building muscle to improve his slashing ability. France offering Coulibaly a role as an on-ball playmaker goes a long way towards his development as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington Wizards rookie Bilal Coulibaly\u2019s season has been cut short due to a right wrist fracture. Still, in 63 games, the 19-year-old has had encouraging flashes. On offense, he\u2019s alternated between a role as a 3-point specialist and as a connector. From the outset, he\u2019s exhibited exceptional defensive potential. He\u2019s even taken the challenge of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":69483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1608,62,3,60],"tags":[28487,4769,49039,2844,1052],"class_list":["post-69465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wizards","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-olympics","tag-anthony-gill","tag-bilal-coulibaly","tag-brian-keefe","tag-corey-kispert","tag-olympics"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}