Rating:

3.0 (12 votes)

John Wall is John Wall. So far, there is no sign that money and the added fame of being the first pick in the NBA draft has changed him.

Doesn't matter that Wall has more than lived up to his big hype in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.

"There's a whole lot I've got to work on," said Wall told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "You can get better every day, so I've got to work on everything, not just one specific thing."

That was the former UK great after he scored 31 points.

Teams in front of Sacramento, who picked fifth, not named Washington, who had the first pick of the NBA draft, are getting ripped for passing on DeMarcus Cousins who had some great games in the summer league.

"Unlimited potential," Detroit Pistons basketball president Joe Dumars told the Sacramento Bee. "I love everything about DeMarcus. He has great hands, great feet, terrific instincts."

"He's very versatile," said Kings coach Paul Westphal, "and he has footwork beyond his years. (Friday) what I told him after the game was that if he would just bend his knees a little bit more, some of those plays that he almost made, he'll make."

Cousins, who averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds during the summer league and was the NBA Rookie for July, is an instant star with fans. After Fridays game, he spent 25 minutes signing basketballs, posters, rosters, T-shirts and baseball caps.

Patrick Patterson as you would expect came to the defense of his former teammate.

"People say he has a bad attitude and he's immature," Patterson said. "Now they see him (in Las Vegas) and they say, 'Maybe we were wrong about him.' They're starting to see DeMarcus as we've seen him the entire year."

Cousins and Eric Bledsoe believe the bond with his former teammates who moved on to the NBA remains as strong as ever.

"We still have that same brotherhood since UK," Cousins said.

Bledsoe and his teammates did what they could to check on their former teammates during the NBA summer league.

"We try to go to each other's games as much as possible. We try to stay in touch and see how each other are doing."