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Mady Sissoko Impressive at Times in NBA Summer League Debut
Mady Sissoko Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Former Cal center Mady Sissoko had some impressive moments in his NBA Summer League debut for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He was in the starting lineup on Saturday and began the game like he was going to be a breakout star. His performance leveled off after that in Oklahoma City’s 92-80 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first game of the Salt Lake City Summer League.

Sissoko signed with the Thunder as an undrafted free agent, and in the first three minutes of Saturday's game, he made his only field-goal attempt and pulled down four rebounds. He had just two points in that short span, but it should have been four points because a Thunder teammate was called for offensive goal-tending on a 10-foot Sissoko jumper that would have gone in.

He finished the game with four points, seven rebounds, two emphatic blocks and six personal fouls. The fouls did not take him out of the game because players in summer league games are allowed 10 personal fouls before fouling out.

Sissoko was also an eager screener, setting two or three picks on every possession. That's something NBA coaches consider.

Thunder coaches took a long look at Sissoko, who played more than 21 minutes of the 40-minute game.

Sissoko made his first official field-goal attempt less than two minutes into the game and finished the first quarter with two points, six rebounds, one block and one steal.

His second field-goal attempt came in the second quarter on a wide-open shot directly under the basket.  Somehow he missed that shot and he did not attempt another shot the rest of the game. He was 2-for-4 from the foul line.

Sissoko’s most memorable moments came on defense with two impressive blocks, swatting the ball into the crowd both times.

Sissoko is trying earn a spot of the Thunder’s regular-season roster.  Although that is a long shot, he might do enough to get a spot of the Thunder’s G-League team.

It will be interesting to see how much playing time he gets in the Thunder’s two other games in the Salt Lake Summer League, on Monday against the 76ers’ summer league team and on Tuesday against the Jazz.

One thing of note: Sissoko’s height was listed at 6-foot-9 at Cal, but he is listed as being 6-foot-7 on the Thunder’s Summer League roster.

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This article first appeared on Cal Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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