Feb 26, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe (17) dunks the ball over Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

What Wizards Bilal Coulibaly Learned vs. Blazers

Originally posted on Washington Wizards on SI
By Tyrone Montgomery | Last updated Feb 27, 2025 5:00 PM ET

In the NBA, progression is essential to the game. Having a high basketball IQ is important in today's game. Will you make the right play? Do you understand where you need to be on the court? However, physical progression is important too. To have physical progression, a player must look to be aggressive. Bilal Coulibaly may just have realized that against the Portland Trailblazers.

To be the best, you have to continue to work at your game. That is what Lebron James and Michael Jordan did to become legends. As each season passed by, their numbers improved. They grew as a player and their aggression on the basketball court grew as well. Teams are looking for players to take over games.

SHAEDON SHARPE MY GOODNESS pic.twitter.com/xNk9YbTBfX
— NBA (@NBA) February 27, 2025

That is what Shaedon Sharpe did for the Portland Trailblazers as the Wizards lost 129-121. Sharpe dropped 36 points in this game. He is averaging 17 points per game for the regular season. Shaedon Sharpe and Bilal Coulibaly have similar playing styles and skill sets on the court.

They both have great size in the league. Being in the range of 6'6 - 6'8 offers a lot of flexibility on the court. They can do a lot of things well and play multiple positions. Most importantly, they both are extremely athletic. That is the ultimate weapon offensively as Sharpe displayed that.

TOMAR de Bilal Coulibaly pic.twitter.com/mY2iD8SYly
— First Team (@FirstTeam101) February 27, 2025

Bilal Coulibaly is still developing. No doubt, he will have a very long NBA career at the rate he is going. However, sometimes it feels like we need more from Bilal Coulibaly. He tends to let the game come to him. He is a very relaxed player at times. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that as the Washington Wizards continue to play team basketball.

However, if he can look to be aggressive the way Shaedon Sharpe was in that game, that could evolve his game and evolve the Wizards collectively. With that size and athletic ability, he possesses, Bilal Coulibaly could become "must-watch tv."

Bilal Coulibaly is only averaging 12 points per game this season. As the numbers have improved from last season when he averaged just eight points per game, the feeling that everyone has is that he could average even more points per game. He is quick with his first step, has a high basketball IQ, and attacks the basket very well. Bilal Coulibaly should have been taking notes from Shaedon Sharpe because he has a chance to perform the way he did daily.

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