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Wizards Takeaways: Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George Shine vs. Nets
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- Wizards Takeaways: Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George Shine vs. Nets
(Geoff Burke-Imagn Images)
In a matchup between a pair of undefeated teams midway through preseason, the Washington Wizards suffered their first loss of preseason after the Brooklyn Nets took a 131-122 finish on Monday night inside Capital One Arena.
The Wizards were without veteran Anthony Davis with what head coach Brian Keefe noted was a scheduled off day, joining Khris Middleton, Tristan Vukcevic and Jamir Watkins as inactives. Yet we were able to see plenty from the available Wizards -- both good and bad -- as we dive into the takeaways from Monday night:
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Coulibaly Finds His Shot
Coulibaly entered the night shooting 0-for-3 from three in the preseason opening win against the Knicks, then not attempting one attempt from distance in the overtime win against the Detroit Pistons. Yet with less than one week until the French wing the rookie extension deadline arrives and after a lackluster first two preseason games, Coulibaly had something to prove ahead of Monday night.
Coulibaly was aggressive from deep once he checked in, knocking down a pair of triples in his first two minutes of action. After forcing a turnover on Mo Wagner, Coulibaly turned it into a transition three just before the final minute of the first quarter, marking his third made three of the night all coming on assisted buckets.
Coulibaly made another similar defensive play after forcing a turnover in transition midway through the third quarter, this time leading to a Tre Johnson three that put Washington ahead, 88-86.
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He also opened the second quarter with a dunk after Trae Young found him cutting to the rim, while turning a near-turnover on a lob from Kyshawn George into a dunk. Seconds later, Coulibaly forced a jump ball against Wagner to showcase his two-way impact. Roughly one minute after that, Coulibaly slammed home a left handed dunk in transition to cut the Wizards' deficit to five.
Head coach Brian Keefe credited Coulibaly's emphasis on cutting to the rim as Coulibaly's night ended in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, amassing 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three, along with three steals and one block in 24 minutes.
The fourth-year wing previously pointed to his work with a shooting specialist dating back to last season's All Star break as how he was able to smoothen his shooting touch, while he was aggressive attacking the basket and finishing through contact. After a lackluster first two games, Monday was the type of showing needed from the integral rotational piece.
Trae Young Impact -- And Concern
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After notching eight assists in the opening quarter against Detroit, Young matched that total by halftime on Monday.
In the opening minutes of the second quarter, the Nets began flashing a double team with Young just over halfcourt, but the veteran point guard was able to navigate through the pressure after first finding Deandre Ayton in the paint, who fed Justin Champagnie on a touch pass for an open three.
With roughly three minutes left in the first half, Young connected with AJ Dybantsa for a near halfcourt alley-oop for his sixth assist of the night. It didn't end there after Young came up with a defensive highlight followed an Alex Sarr dunk, picking the pocket of Julius Randle after the inbounds pass only to find Tre Johnson for three. Shortly after, Young went with a behind-the-back pass to Johnson for another transition three.
By halftime, Young had totaled 17 assists over his last five quarters -- which includes only a handful of minutes in the third quarter against Detroit before a questionable ejection.
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Young finished the night with his first double-double of preseason with 11 points and 11 assists, though his game-high eight turnovers marked plenty of reason for concern.
Over his last two games and just over 51 minutes of action, Young has tallied 19 assists and 13 turnovers.
Kyshawn George Makes Early Impact to Lead Wizards in Scoring
George kicked off the scoring for Washington after hitting a one-legged mid-range jumper, while Washington's next bucket came as a result of a transition alley-oop to AJ Dybantsa. He followed it up by knocking down consecutive threes in as many possessions, accounting for 12 of Washington's 18 points midway through the first quarter.
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George made all four free throw attempts in the second quarter before following it up with a three off an assist courtesy of Trae Young in the opening minutes of the third quarter that pushed Washington back ahead in a third quarter that saw three lead changes through the first five minutes.
The third-year jumbo guard finished with 21 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including making his trio of three point attempts, with three steals and four assists in over 24 minutes.
Turnovers a Continued Sore Spot
Though there was plenty to be confident in through first two games, turnovers left reason for pessimism ahead of Monday night. The downside is Monday night didn't do anything to quell those early season concerns.
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Averaging an NBA-leading 25.5 turnovers ahead of Monday, Washington finished with 20 turnovers despite largely taking care of the basketball through the first half. Some were unforced turnovers from Young, whose eight turnovers left room for growth as head coach Brian Keefe previously pointed to the halfcourt offense settling in -- in time.
While the Nets turned the 20 turnovers into 29 points, Keefe reiterated that message postgame while Bilal Coulibaly pointed to the players still getting comfortable with each other rather than putting weight into the number of turnovers ahead of the regular season.
"I think it's just building our chemistry," Kyshawn George added. "We can see each other like looking for specific types of connections, certain passes."
"It's the first time we've actually played, competed against other teams with this new lineup, this new team, doing different types of stuff, trying different type of stuff as well. But I think it's a good crash test if you say."
