Skip Navigation

[Robbins] Bilal Coulibaly, Johnny Davis show off improvement in Wizards’ preseason opener

www.nytimes.com Bilal Coulibaly, Johnny Davis show off improvement in Wizards’ preseason opener

Coulibaly is more confident, more skilled and stronger. Davis has rediscovered his shooting stroke.

Bilal Coulibaly, Johnny Davis show off improvement in Wizards’ preseason opener

The interesting bits to me:

“The past two years,” Davis told The Athletic on Sunday night, “a development coach from each year has been tinkering with my shot, messing with it. So I came back into this year, and I said, ‘Nobody is touching my jump shot. I’m just going to leave it as it is, leave it comfortable.’ And they’ve left me alone about it. So, it feels really good right now. I’ve been working on it the whole summer, so I’m just glad to see it pay off.”

Davis said he made those tweaks with the help of his trainer in Wisconsin, James Fox.


“I just feel like I know what’s going on on the court,” Coulibaly said Sunday night. “Last year, there was some times where I felt awkward on the court and I didn’t know what I was doing for real. But now I know what I gotta do, what Coach really wants me to do. So, I know where my spots are. I know where I’m going to get the ball. It makes it way easier for me.”

And as his drive and runner in the third quarter showed, the right-wrist fracture he suffered last March that ended his rookie season prematurely might have been a blessing in disguise. It forced him to concentrate on developing his coordination with his off-hand.

“Oh, man,” he said, breaking into a wide smile, “you don’t even know how much I worked on my left hand. It was crazy. I can shoot with my left hand now, too, because I’ve been working so much on my left hand. It was like six weeks straight shooting with my left hand, dribbling, passing, all of that.”

Keefe also expects to have Coulibaly take more of a role handling the ball and initiating the offense.


Even before that imaging took place, a league source told The Athletic that Brogdon is expected to miss at least one month.

1
1 comments
  • I'm going to try posting more here this season in case there are any other wiz fans out there who find the subreddit insufferable.