Daniel Orton is used to playing in the shadows of freshman classmates John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe. As of late, Orton is starting to get noticed, too.

Orton has been making solid contributions off the bench for the third-ranked Wildcats. In the past two games, Orton has scored nine points, including five in a win over LSU last weekend, has grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots in his last outing against the Tigers.
Orton has been striving to take a more active role in the team’s rotation.

“I’ve wanted a lot more responsibility so that’s something I am looking forward to and something I’m expecting to have here soon,” he said. “I’ve been playing OK, stepping up a little bit, but I still have a long ways to go and have a while to get there, so I’m in a good position right now. I’ve been working on my offensive game a little here and there. Things are coming along, more so than anything I have to say I’m just getting more comfortable playing at the collegiate level.”

Orton also has been playing alongside Cousins, which gives the Cats options in the paint.

“We have a great chemistry,” Orton said. “We can both pass the ball really well and he’s a great finisher so having him on the court is a positive for me. The two of us on the court together being so tall and so big, going to a 2-3 like we do, it’s hard to score inside and guards really can’t dribble so it makes them have to shoot. There are so many positives from the situation I have to say and not that many negatives. The height factor is something people could be intimidated by and also how well we both play defense. The intimidation factor comes into play and it helps DeMarcus in so many ways. We have a bunch of great shot blockers here.”

Orton has gotten better simply by going up against Cousins in practice on a daily basis.

“Playing defense against him is one of the main things, playing against his banging style and how he throws his weight around has helped me really,” he said. “On defense I always block his shot so that something that he’s learning. He is learning how to score on a shot blocker. I really don’t think he has ever been against a 6’10,” 6’11’ presence like that with long arms. Against Mississippi State he’s going to have (Jarvis) Varnado to go up against. That’s going to be a true test for him and we’ll see how that goes.”

Orton also likes Wall’s progression at the point-guard slot. Wall didn’t score often against the Tigers, but ran the team with precise judgment.
“You know he didn’t show up in the point category, but he showed up everywhere else,” Orton said. “He puts people in position to score so we do need him; we need everybody on this team to win the game.”