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Ian Mahinmi scored 12 points in 12 minutes and provided the French National Team with solid defense in their loss against Finland. His performance impressed Coach Vincent Collet, who will keep Ian Mahinmi instead of Johan Petro. This is newsworthy on a few fronts.

Ian Mahinmi was a late addition to the national team, only joining the team two weeks ago. And just last week Coach Collet speculated that the Spurs big man may not stick. In the space of a mere 12 minutes-his first 12 of actual game time-Mahinmi blew that talk up.

Chalk it up as another step forward for Ian Mahinmi, who continues to make strides in a return from injury. Playing high level international basketball for the balance of the offseason is precisely the sort of preparation Mahinmi needed prior to Spurs camp.

And I bet the Spurs’ brass is elated that Mahinmi continues to show progression from injury to strong summer league play to productive EuroBasket minutes. The next step forward for Mahinmi is to solidify a spot in the national team rotation. Baby steps.

We’ll keep you posted.

(HT: Bruno from SpursTalk)