Q. You seemed to have approached the last couple games of the season aggressively. Where did you take the inspiration to put your head down and attack the basket with that kind of aggression?
BILAL COULIBALY: Just talking with the coaches. It was just kind of a rhythm thing, just being able to play a couple games in a row, found my rhythm. Yeah, I felt confident.
Q. Trae Young, when you first got to DC, had an opening press conference. Made a point to call out the annoying defense you played on him. How have you gone up building chemistry in the time since?
BILAL COULIBALY: We talked a lot. He's a great guy. We had the chance to play a couple games together. We had the chance to build some kind of chemistry we will have next year.
Yeah, that was great. Great player. We love playing with him and not playing against him (smiling). No, he's great.
Q. You were the first choice for this front office back when they took over in 2023. You've had to deal with the brunt of the experience that has come with development, the losing seasons you've had. Now that you embark here on what's a really important off-season for your franchise, probably different expectations next year, how refreshing will it be for you if you're able to put out a competitive product, take that jump as an organization, as opposed to individual accolades?
BILAL COULIBALY: It's great. I think we're ready. We got a lot of young guys that are hungry. They want to win. They proved it. The last couple games, we lost most of them, but they really showed grit and everything they had in themselves just to be better and compete at the highest level.
Adding those two guys will just make things way easier for us.
Q. Your three-point shot. We saw the numbers get better as you got more healthy. What is your plan to continue developing your jump shot?
BILAL COULIBALY: Just keep doing what I've been doing: working on my shot. Got a lot of reps over the course of the summer. Yeah, just keep shooting the ball.
Q. As one of the best defenders on the team, what do you think about the outlook for this roster defensively?
BILAL COULIBALY: I can't wait. I can't wait to see everybody on the court. A lot of length in the team. Adding A.D., Alex going to be there. It will be me, Kyshawn, a lot of guys like Jamir, all those guys. They really take pride defensively.
Yeah, I can't wait to see what it's going to look like on the court.
Q. What type of player do you think you can be in this league once you're at the height of your powers?
BILAL COULIBALY: I want to be a good two-way player, a really good two-way player, the best in the league. I think I got the tools for it. I'm solid defensively. Offensively, still getting better. Getting better every day.
Yeah, I just want to be a really complete guard that can guard defensively and get buckets offensively.
Q. What have you learned from BK?
BILAL COULIBALY: What do you mean?
Q. What are a couple things that you learned that stick out to you that he's taught you?
BILAL COULIBALY: BK? I mean, yeah, he talks a lot with the guys. He's trying to build more than just a coach-and-player relationship. He's doing a great job on that, talking to everybody.
Yeah, he's a great person and a great coach, too. I think he's doing whatever it takes to win games. He's doing good, so...
Q. How does the team make the transition from a team that's lost a lot of games to making that jump to being a team that other teams fear playing?
BILAL COULIBALY: I think it already started by adding new guys, A.D. and Trae Young. A.D. won championships. I think they're going to bring that experience from training camp. Yeah, it will be a big change for everybody. We're ready for the challenge.
Q. I know the last couple questions we have been asking of your teammates is is this team ready. You alluded this team is ready to make that jump. What does making that transition look like in your eyes individually for you or for your teammates?
BILAL COULIBALY: It will be a lot of work. As soon as we come back, just competing. We're trying to win, so we got to compete every single day on the court against ourselves first. And then whenever we get on the court against other teams, just play as hard as possible. Yeah, the wins will come.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports