By now, we know that John Wall has figured out this NBA rookie summer league thing. Last night, Wall had 31 points to lead his Wizards to a 4-0 start in the NBA Summer League. Yes,, I know, it’s the summer league, but you have to think that hope is springing eternal in the Wizard’s organization. In case you have missed the last week, here is a look at how the former Cats have been performing in Vegas.
John Wall: As of now, Wall is on top of “the Rookie Ladder” and rightfully so. Through four games, Wall is averaging 23.5 points a game, 7.8 assists, and 4.0 rebounds a game. The real negative early was Wall’s turnovers (16 through the first two games) but Wall has reduced that to just 5 in the last two games and his leadership is really starting to show. But Wall’s shooting has not been as impressive. To date, he is shooting 37.7% and just 12.5% from the NBA three. This will improve, as much of the shooting woes stem from a 4-19 night in game three, but so far, Wall has done nothing to invalidate his number one pick.
DeMarcus Cousins: Boogie has been equally impressive in his showing in Vegas. He has done what was expected when he drafted and put up four double doubles. For the summer, he is averaging 17.8 points and 11.5 rebounds. Boogie is also chipping in 2.8 assists a game, but hat is compounded by his 5.2 turnovers a game. Boogie’s shooting is a little low for a big man as he is just above the 40% mark. The most mind boggling stat is that Cousins is averaging 5.5 fouls a game. Whaaa? Yes, there is no fouling out of the summer league games. Last night, Boogie pulled off the historic triple double of 16 points, 12 boards and 10 fouls. Love that Boogie, but he is by far the best big man in Vegas.
Patrick Patterson: Patrick is having a very solid summer camp, although not as flashy as his former freshman teammates. PPat got tongues wagging with a 9 of 10 shooting performance in Game 1, but has settled into a 9.2 points, 7.2 rebound average through five games. He is shooting well at 44.4% although he has not been as consistent from the NBA three (18.2%). I can’t nitpick though as his fundamentals are good and he has no glaring weakness in his stats, as he averages just 1 turnover a game and just 2.8 fouls a game. Patrick Paterson will be a very solid NBA player.
Eric Bledsoe: Eric has been a mixed bag, thus far, but has had some big moments, most notably a 17 point game in his “showdown” versus Wall. Eric has shown he can score, averaging 10 points, but he is averaging 3.0 assists a game against 6.7 turnovers. When you consider that Eric is averaging 4.0 boards a game and just 0.7 fouls a game, you can see that the structure is in place for Eric to be a solid NBA player as well. He is not expected to start this year for the Clippers so he will have a nice learning curve season.
The Summer League continues through Sunday, so you still have a few chances to catch your former Wildcat heroes in the grounds of the NBA. Here is the rest of the schedule for the four Cats:
TODAY:
4PM: John Wall vs the Knicks
8PM: Eric Bledsoe vs the Spurs
8:30PM: DeMarcus Cousins vs the Bulls
SUNDAY:
8:00 PM: DeMarcus Cousins vs Dallas
8:30PM: Eric Bledsoe vs Dallas
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