Wizards' Bilal Coulibaly Shines in Exploring New Role

He's struggled mightily at evading injuries over two and a half seasons with the Wizards, and he hasn't yet learned how to consistently punish opponents from deep, but he's deserved more grace than he's gotten to locate his place within the squad's ever-changing ranks.

It took a while, but he finally gave Wizards fans another reason to believe with his best statistical outing of the season on Boxing Day. He scored a season-high 21 points in a convincing 138-117 win, throttling the Toronto Raptors on both ends of the court with a brand of scoring confidence that the people have been yearning for.

Meet On-Ball Bilal

His first 20-point outing of the season wasn't just some garbage time chuck-fest. He got his points within the rhythm of the game, earning his minutes with that usual defensive energy before joining five of his teammates in double-digit scoring.

Coulibaly isn't a respected outside shooter, and the Raptors knew it. They dared him to fire whenever he received perimeter opportunities and sagged away from him off of the ball, but what they failed to prepare for was the ferocity with which he honed to mow his way to the hole. He shot 7/10 from within the arc on some strong cuts and lengthy strides to the rim.

According to Coulibaly, his enhanced slashing aggression is a direct byproduct of the coaching staff's maintained interest in seeing what Coulibaly has to offer as an involved offensive piece.

"I talked to the coaches...They were telling me to bring the ball up more," he said postgame. "Way more confident with those on-ball reps."

Looking Like a Big-Minute Player

His willingness to get to the cup and finish down low only further paid off the minutes that head coach Brian Keefe was willing to extend to Coulibaly, having opted to start him over the resident hot-hand in Bub Carrington. That gave the Frenchmen more time to rack up defensive highlights, and he paid that trust off with three steals and a block.

Coulibaly will be the best athlete on the floor for the majority of his in-game stints, and that includes his promising teammates.

The growing ball-handlers and playmakers around him will only keep making Coulibaly's job as a rim-challenger easier as they continue warping the court, and this big game offered the first reminder of how important he can be to the rebuild since his memorable defensive showing against the Milwaukee Bucks. His piecing together promising offense to pair with the usually-excellent stopping, though, has been what's re-opening those old doors.