NEW ORLEANS — One guy may know Daniel Orton better than himself. That guy would be Orton’s 6-foot-11 adversary in practice, DeMarcus Cousins.
“Daniel has improved a lot, especially offensively,” Cousins said after Kentucky’s win over East Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. “He came in as a defensive player, but his offense is starting to come around now.”
Cousins would know. If there is one matchup in practice worth checking out, it’s the battle of the burly freshmen.
Some of the wars they’ve waged in practice have become so fierce and so competitive that Cousins calls Orton the best player he’s faced all year. Although Cousins has earned the most minutes on the court, Orton has earned the renowned reputation as Cousins’ kryptonite in practice.
Orton has had no qualms telling the media of all the shots of Cousins he’s blocked in practice, and Cousins has had no embarrassment in owning up.
“When he comes out ready to play, he’s a beast,” Cousins said. “He came out ready to play today. He was blocking shots, rebounding, scoring. He just helped us out tremendously.”
Cousins provided a huge spark off the bench against ETSU. The 6-foot-10, 255-pound freshman logged eight points and seven rebounds in just 14 minutes. On a night when Cousins wasn’t on his game (five points in 24 minutes), Orton provided all the power UK needed in the paint.
“Hopefully I can do it further on in the tournament when DeMarcus is tired and give us that offensive presence off the bench,” Orton said.
During one defensive stop in the second half, Orton blocked three consecutive shots before ETSU ever got a shot to the rim. It was like watching a volleyball player spike a ball at the top of the net.
“(Defense is) just something that I have a lot of fun with and I used to do in high school,” Orton said. “To be able to do it on this level is great.”
In fact, Orton has frequently said that it was his defensive game that earned him such high accolades out of Bishop McGuiness Catholic High School.
“It’s my No. 1 priority,” Orton said. “I’m our defensive stopper, so that’s one thing I focus on.”
Orton said he’s starting to gain confidence in his offensive game. If that’s the case, the ceiling could be as tall as the potential of Cousins, head coach John Calipari said last week.
During Friday’s media availability with Calipari, the first-year UK coach spoke of the recruitment and development of Orton.
“In our locker room after one of our games I was proud of how he played and how he’s responded to this team,” Calipari said. “I said, ‘Daniel, when you were recruited here, what did they tell you?’ ‘They told me I would start.’ ‘Did they tell you you’d be the man’ ‘Yes, they did.’ Now all of a sudden he’s playing behind DeMarcus Cousins, and you know what, all he’s done is helped our team win.”
Calipari said Orton has played so well of late that he could have the option of leaving school for the pros after this season. As well as Orton has played of late, his stats (zero starts, 3.3 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game) would suggest otherwise.
“Daniel will have options at the end of the year to make a decision on what he wants to do,” Calipari said. “Can you imagine? And I’m not sure that would have happened if he was on a team that was an NIT team. You hear what I’m saying? Now they’re looking at him saying this kid is really, really good. And he is.”
The first-year big man took a hard fall in the second half against ETSU and bruised his lower back. He did not play the rest of the game but told reporters Thursday and Friday that he should be ready to go for Saturday’s game after some minor treatment.
