By LARRY VAUGHT

For weeks the speculation has been that Kentucky likely will lose two freshmen — John Wall and DeMarcus Cousin — and maybe a third — Eric Bledsoe — to the NBA.

There’s also been some concern about how Cousins and Bledsoe, both emotional players, might handle postseason pressure.

However, it was freshman center Daniel Orton who lost his cool during the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinal win over Tennessee when he got into a shouting match with coach John Calipari and left the court for the dressing room. In a matter of minutes, Orton was back, slapped hands with Calipari, went back into the game and insisted it was nothing more than a “heat of the moment” incident.

Or was it? Maybe some recent idle chatter that there could be NBA teams also interested in Orton has the young center playing with a lot more fire. Maybe he can see himself leaving for the NBA, too, even if he has just averaged 3.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocked shots and 13 minutes per game.

Orton just laughed when asked to speculate about the future. However, if a NBA suddenly decided it was willing to gamble he would blossom in the next two years and was willing to spend a first-round draft pick on him, maybe there could be something to the possibility he might at least being thinking about the next level sooner than most UK fans expect.

How good is Orton?

“He is a great player and is learning a lot from DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson. I think Patterson is teaching both of those guys a lot and how to play on the inside and they are doing a great job learning from him. I didn’t think they would ever come out and play like they are, but they stepped up to the challenge and have been great,” said Tennessee senior Wayne Chism.

“Most of the talk is about Cousins, but Orton is a great player and very productive right now, especially when Cousins is out of the game. He makes his presence known. A lot of teams sleep on him, but he does a good job rebounding and blocking shots and he runs well in transition. He’s another big man that is a load to stop. He just doesn’t have a scoring role or get to play a lot of minutes, but that doesn’t mean he’s not good.”

What about that? Is Chism embellishing?

“I like him, too. The same mold as Cousins. He has that competitive, nasty nature. I wish he would leave (for the NBA), too,” LSU coach Trent Johnson said. “He blocks shots and is long.

“There is an old saying among coaches it is easier to slow them down than speed them up. DeMarcus Cousins wants every ball. Daniel Orton wants every ball, wants to block every shot. That is a great start right there for him. Knowing Orton is there to back up Cousins makes winning games, and controlling the paint, easier for Kentucky. He’s a hell of a defender in that middle and makes guys think before they shoot.”

So how good is he?

“Daniel, since the year has started, has improved a lot. He has been playing better. He gets down low in the post and does not stand up. He is a great finisher at the basket and great athlete,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “He performs well in practice. He is a great defender. That is where he gets the job done really. Offense will come to him as long as he keeps playing defense that way. You can’t teach some things he does.”

Could that be enough to interest one or more NBA teams? Probably not. Orton is a tenacious defender, but he also averages a foul every six minutes plays and has taken only 81 shots in 34 games.

Still, he was almost as highly regarded as Cousins before he hurt his knee and there’s no one who doesn’t like his potential. Who knows? Inspired play from Orton in the NCAA that helps UK win a national title could put wild thoughts dancing through his head.

“I don’t even think about things like that,” Orton said. “I just think about our next game and finishing this season.”

And Kentucky fans? They think about having Orton back to anchor the middle next year when Cousins and Patrick Patterson are gone and that would also seem to be the best possible scenario for him to showcase his ability to NBA scouts like Cousins has done this year.

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