Denton: First Game to Forget for Orton

By John Denton
July 5, 2010

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

ORLANDO – Someday, Orlando Magic rookie center Daniel Orton said while shaking his head, he’ll hopefully be able to look back at his very forgettable NBA debut and laugh about it. Monday, however, was not that day for the jittery 19-year-old rookie.

Orton, the 29th pick of the first round of the NBA Draft by the Magic, had a rocky debut in Orlando’s 86-77 loss to the Indiana Pacers in first-day play of the AirTran Pro Summer League. Not only did Orton miss seven of eight shots and three of four free throws, but he was ejected midway through the third quarter after a mild scuffle with Indiana power forward Josh McRoberts.

As the Magic made a push in the fourth quarter, Orton was frustratingly confined to the locker room and forced to explain himself via Twitter.com. He send out two ``tweets’’ expressing his frustration over getting ejected. Afterwards, Orton cooled off somewhat and said that Tuesday’s 1 p.m. game against Utah couldn’t get here soon enough.

``I’ll probably laugh about it a lot someday to tell you the truth,’’ Orton admitted. ``I couldn’t do anything with the refs out there. I think I had three fouls in the first five minutes, so I just laugh it off as a great experience, have fun with it and move onto the next day.’’

Orlando (0-1) got off to a poor start and never could fully recover after falling behind by as many as 18 points. Patrick Ewing Jr., playing with his famous father as coach for the first time ever, scored 15 points, while Jeff Adrien added 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

The major significance of the day was the first game action in a Magic uniform for Orton and Stanley Robinson, the 59th pick of last week’s NBA Draft. While Orton struggled with several phases of the game, Robinson showed off his awesome athleticism with seven rebounds and a highlight-worthy follow-up dunk.

``I just wanted to rebound first and then everything else would fall into place,’’ said Robinson a University of Connecticut product. ``This is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, so I just want to give me all.’’

Orton tried giving his all, but his eagerness worked against him in his debut. He was called for three offensive fouls – twice on moving screens and another time for pushing off while trying to establish low-post position on a delayed fastbreak. Orton said afterwards that the magnitude of the moment might have overwhelmed him somewhat.

Being in the spotlight, after all, is something that Orton is still getting used to. He was used solely as a reserve at Kentucky, playing behind first-round pick DeMarcus Cousins. And he missed most of his senior year of high school because of a knee injury.

``I was talking to my brother earlier today and he asked if I was nervous and I told him, `No.’ Then, I texted him back about 30 minutes later and told him, `OK, I’m really nervous now,’’’ Orton said. ``I didn’t think I was going to be this nervous, but I really was. It was crazy. Getting the first one over with was a relief.’’

There wasn’t much relief in the game as Orton hurried several jump hooks, twice had his shot blocked and was called for five fouls and charged with four turnovers in just 13 minutes. It was a disappointing start for sure, but not highly surprising, Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing said.

``There’s still a learning curve for him,’’ Ewing said. ``He still has to learn how to play the NBA defense. A couple of time he missed helps. On offense, he did a good job of ducking in, but when he gets it he has to be big and finish.

``He had a couple of balls that got hit that he could have dunked,’’ Ewing continued. ``He has to go up there and be a force and dunk the ball and he didn’t. But he’s very coachable and he wants to work.’’

Orton let his emotions get the best of him early in the third quarter when he got tangled up with McRoberts under the boards. The two exchanged shoves and trash talk and as they were separated referees deemed that both threw punches.

``They said he threw a punch first and then I threw a punch, but neither one of really threw a punch,’’ Orton said with a chuckle. ``He just kind of tried to push me off and I tried to push him away. That threw me for a loop right there.’’

Orton said that not even the ejection and the poor performance could take away from the joy of Monday being the official start of his playing career with the Magic. He said that he has already spoken with Magic center Dwight Howard several times and he was encouraged following the postgame conversation he had with Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.

Orton knows that he’s considered somewhat of a raw project who isn’t expected to play much behind Howard and Marcin Gortat. But he’s hoping to put Monday’s debut past him and develop much faster than most expect.

``Coach Van Gundy told me that I was rushing myself and prove something when you don’t have to and that made me feel relieved too, he said. ``A lot of people say that I need time to develop and I’m not going to lie that I do need time. But I don’t think it will take as much time as people think. I know I’ll put in the hard work and hopefully I can make an impact quicker than people think.’’

John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard each week on ESPN 1080 AM. E-mail John at jd41898@aol.com.