Washington Wizards Rookie Bilal Coulibaly Wants to be 'Way More Physical'

Washington Wizards rookie Bilal Coulibaly is getting a crash course in how to survive in the NBA and he learned a lot more Monday night against the Boston Celtics.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Washington Wizards fell to the Boston Celtics Monday night 126-107 but the game wasn't nearly as close as the final score would suggest.

Still, losses are only failures for teams like the Wizards if nothing is gained.

In that light, Washington should take some solace in the fact that rookie guard Bilal Coulibaly learned something very important facing Celtics like forward-guard Jayson Tatum, guard-forward Jaylen Brown, and forward-center Kristaps Porzingis.

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"It was nice, I'm used to watching them in the All-Star weekend and now playing against them was such a great experience," Coulibaly said about facing Boston's stars. 

But he didn't just gain the experience of playing against some of the biggest stars in the game today.

"You gotta compete," Coulibaly said when asked about what he took away from the contest. "(Those) guys are here to win. Every possession they're going to play hard so you gotta play hard too."

Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) drives to the net against Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (43) during the second half at Scotiabank Arena / Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

It might seem like a simple thing to learn, but being able to raise your level of competitiveness night in and out isn't as simple as it sounds to those of us not doing it 82 times a year. 

For a new guy like Coulibaly what he thinks is a physical brand of basketball is quickly changing with every game he gets under his belt in the NBA.

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"Just being way more physical," is something Coulibaly said he'd like to improve on moving forward. "They know how to create space, so just gotta be ready to contest those shots...sometimes they're going to make it even though you're playing great defense. Just don't be frustrated and play as hard as possible."

Those are good lessons to learn for a young player, and a young team like this year's Wizards squad. 

If they really learned it then the brand of ball Washington plays moving forward will benefit from it. 

And that's what this season is really all about, so in a way, it's a step in the right direction.

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Find David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82

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