NBA Draft Analysis: Sidy Cissoko

Analyzing both sides of what distinguishes the G League Ignite prospect out of France from other options currently playing for the Pacers.

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

After profiling Wake Forest's Bobi Klintman as a potential grab-and-go wing with size, shooting, and passing feel, it seems fitting to counterbalance that breakdown with a look at another grab-and-go wing, also with passing feel, as a potential fit for the Pacers with their two additional picks late in the first round. Of course, despite having similar chalk outlines, these two prospects aren't actually all that similar. As such, it's time for a fresh edition of Stock Up, Stock Down, wherein I cram study a player and then breakdown my findings, identifying reasons to be both bearish and bullish with frame of reference from a few specific games as well as for the Pacers.

This week, the G League Ignite's Sidy Cissoko, who the Pacers recently worked out, stars as the subject, with the following games being viewed as a representation of both ends of the spectrum as far as production and shooting variance.

• Oklahoma City: 8 PTS, 3-9 FG, 2-4 3P, 3 REB, 4 AST, 2 TOV, 1 STL, 1 BLK
• Birmingham: 11 PTS, 4-9 FG, 1-5 3P, 2 REB, 5 AST, 2 TOV, 3 STL
• Memphis: 23 PTS, 9-15 FG, 5-9 3P, 6 REB, 7 AST, 1 TOV, 1 STL
• Iowa: 22 PTS, 6-11 FG, 3-7 3P, 6 REB, 3 AST, 1 TOV, 1 STL
• Capital City: 20 PTS, 6-13 FG, 0-3 3P, 1 REB, 5 AST, 1 TOV, 3 STL, 1 BLK
• College Park: 4 PTS, 1-7 FG, 0-4 3P, 1 REB, 2 AST, 3 TOV, 1 STL, 1 BLK
• Stockton: 10 PTS, 5-15 FG, 0-7 3P, 4 REB, 5 AST, 1 TOV, 2 STL, 1 BLK

Without further ado, let's deep dive.

Stock Up: physical tools and connective passing

If you were to pick a single possession that best conveys the essence of who Sidy Cissoko is as a player, as well as what differentiates him from everyone else currently on the roster for the Pacers, this would be it. In addition to demonstrating both footwork and strength while splitting through the defense like a running back evading tackles, he reads the help to find the kick-out. Then, after snatching the offensive rebound, he gets saucy, twirling as he assists his teammate under the rim.

To be fair, there are various aspects of that sequence which can be replicated by various Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton obviously has the passing vision to spray the ball out to the perimeter with pinpoint accuracy, and he's no stranger to a celebratory pirouette, whirling is body around as punctuation to some of his most outlandish no-look passes as though he's been spun out of a rug. Meanwhile, if that simple action, spurred by a slot-to-slot pass, looks familiar, it's probably because Bennedict Mathurin can be seen rolling downhill for the same attack, lightly feathering the brakes before turning to draw contact at the rim.

To further slick that downhill catch, the G League Ignite would sometimes fold in a screen for the ball at the elbow. It's a bit dicey to gather for a euro-step this far from the basket, but Cissoko puts the defense into rotation after relocating to the corner, executing the draw-and-dish.

Don't get it twisted. Cissoko isn't Haliburton, and he also isn't Mathurin, but he's 19 years old with a sturdy build and intrigues as a connector, offering an intersection of strength and physicality while keeping the ball moving that isn't otherwise available for a team lacking in wing-sized wings, let alone wings who can dribble and pass.

For point of reference, among the 10 players in the G League who averaged at least three assists per game while being listed at 6-foot-7 or taller, Cissoko ranked sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92) -- and that's with him being a teenager and actually TRYING stuff. Because, boy oh boy, did he try some stuff: threading the needle from the elbow, touching the ball to teammates off cuts, and throwing jump passes (yes, jump passes!) behind his back in transition. In essence, whether making the extra pass from the corner or passing to the corner as a secondary driver, he not only manages to be a transit point for the ball in it's journey from Point A to Point B; he makes the journey a fun adventure.

Of course, as that clip perfectly segues, another adventure can be the outcome of his jump-shot, which he canned at just a 29 percent clip. On the season, he misfired on 81 of his 122 catch-and-shoot threes, for a conversion rate of 33 percent. Of the 81 misses, 16 could be categorized either as air-balls, blocked shots, or hitting nothing but glass. Generally speaking, there was a wide range of outcomes. For that reason, in combination with the fact that he attempted less than 20 percent of his shots as dribble jumpers, his physicality oftentimes needs to match his physique, exchanging fadeaways for trucking through defenders who dare to duck under.

That same mean-streak can likewise manifest out of stampede actions, where he runs into the catch when the ball gets fired behind the pick-and-roll, demonstrating his potential to flip between shoulder bumps and kick-outs as methods to improve his finishing while continuing to develop his discernment over time.

Given that defenders bounce off him like a rubber ball, there may also be some upside to unleashing him as a bully driver with his touches starting nearer to the basket, where he can backdown his man instead of trying to beat them. Take this possession for example. On the post elbow catch, the player cutting toward the ball turns their cut into an inverted short angle ball screen, which he then uses to attack the switch, causing the big to smash down from the other side of the mismatch.

As it so happens, the Pacers run a very similar alignment, only with the split action above the catch normally resulting in a hand-off at the wing, as the other guard makes an exit for one corner or the other. In this case, there aren't many appealing options due to what lineup is on the floor. After all, it isn't exactly ideal for Oshae Brissett to be piloting the offense toward the rim, especially when two of the floor "spacers" are Jalen Smith and James Johnson.

Still, even if some other guard was standing in place of Johnson, the likelihood of that player setting an inverted screen for Jackson to transform into a bully driver is very low, seeing as how he only attempted 14 shots out of the post and never logged any possessions as the pick-and-roll ball-handler.

Cissoko isn't a quick-rip candidate, and he'll need to draw closeouts for the drive-and-kick aspect of his game to function within the flow of play, but he's a clever passer who very notably has been deployed in similar spots to that of both Mathurin and Jackson. With a head of steam, whether via running into the catch away from the ball or being guarded by fours with screen help and against tilted defenses, he can build momentum toward the rim or sling the ball around at the elbows, using his creativity and brawn to play like a stocky wing with brutish guard skills, neither of which are available to the Pacers in combination.

Stock Down: physical tools and connective passing

That said, the other side of the coin also has to be considered when evaluating the strength of his strengths. In that regard, part of the reason why he keeps the ball moving is because he has to keep the ball moving. Here, after driving out of the pop, he never manages to gain separation with his dribble, even against the bigger defender. To his credit, he maintains his feet (which he doesn't always do) while also baiting the player guarding him into jumping; however, because the defense never has to fully commit to helping, the sink defender is able to easily read the pass.

Meanwhile, despite having time and space to shoot against the switch, look at how he bails out of this pull-up two. Again, he maintains his feet and makes the advance pass, but there's reason to wonder if that advance pass would be available to him at the next level. As of now, he doesn't have much in the way of self-creation skills as a pull-up scorer, so the extra help at the nail, which ultimately gets pinned behind the flare screen, isn't exactly necessary.

If he defaults to passing; it's possible the defense will also default to playing him like  a passer -- especially if the results of his shot remain sporadic off-the-catch. He will also have to rein in the excesses of his physicality, as some of his bully drives can turn into bowling over defenders or making regretful decisions while leading the (literal) charge in transition, resulting in turnovers.

Defensively, his physical tools have to be the main standard for which he is assessed on that end of the floor, because the overall standard for the Ignite was all too often difficult to assess. As a team, they struggled to execute switches without creating domino effects or giving up screens slips at will, it wasn't always evident what the directions were as to coverages or help assignments, and there didn't seem to be a whole lot of urgency to get back in transition. At least, not consistently. For his part, Cissoko wasn't typically among those who were more apt to be jogging rather than running, but he could be seen stabbing at the ball and wasting motion that could be better spent turning and sprinting.

From a process standpoint, there was also some question as to how they intended to defend post mismatches after switching. As in, were they fine with giving up this much size on the catch with no one going to double? If not, why was no one going to double and who was supposed to go double? Cissoko is inching toward the mid-line, which would suggest that the responsibility is his to bear. If that's the case, he can't wait until the post player turns middle or baseline to send help. There's no way to know what the instructions were for sure, but baiting the opposition into playing through the post, even as the guard racks up fouls, seems like an odd strategy.

Likewise, there were spots in that same game where it was unclear whether they were supposed to be switching hand-offs and other off-ball actions. Either way, Cissoko was in a weird in-between zone -- neither chasing over and running the seam or switching beneath the screener.

In contrast to the lack of help around post mismatches, he was very aggressive in collapsing as the high defender from the two-player side, whether sinking in for the purpose of tagging or deterring penetration. The problem is, he was at times over-helping from one pass away, which led to him surrendering straight-line drives. Again, it's possible that the Ignite wanted to send help from the high defender, but he was slow to flip his hips when recovering out to the perimeter and his feel within the scheme (if this was the scheme) isn't quite on par with his feel as a passer.

That said, he played the entire G League season as an 18-year-old, and he still had some standout individual plays that can be sifted out from whatever was supposed to be happening with the team defense. Here, for example, his physical tools come to his own rescue, as he salvages what was about to be an easy score off a basket cut with his flexibility before transforming the steal into an easy score of his own at the other end with his long strides en route to the rim.

Or, how about his reaction speed in response to this offensive rebound? Although he starts out in the middle of nowhere, he recognizes he has no chance of stopping the drive and peels off to the basket for the block.

Plus, the way that he actually uses his strength suggests that he might be able to defend up a position. He swims around and in front of bigger bodies to prevent post-ups, and even when he gets buried on the initial seal, he battles to get back in the fray, pushing the opposing five-man into a hook shot from deeper range.

Taken altogether, if there was a single possession that could summarize what he would consistently develop into being as a defender, this would be it. After leveling off the drive from old friend Kelan Martin, who is playing as an interchangeable forward, Cissoko zones up the weak-side, reading the eyes of the passer for the interception, which he then advances with perfect placement while in stride.

That's Sidy Cissoko in his most ideal view, perhaps offering a window into what more he could do with his physical tools when transplanted into a defensive system with fewer teenagers and more clarity of purpose. Of course, whether the Pacers have the infrastructure to foster tightening the screws on that end of the floor remains to be seen, but there's reason to think that Cissoko, in addressing areas that aren't currently addressed on the roster, could grow as they grow.