By MATT ROCHINSKI
BobcatsBasketball.com

Emeka Okafor wants to make one thing clear as he re-asserts himself as the dominant post player on the Bobcats roster, and one of the best big men in the Eastern Conference.

He may lead the NBA with an average of 3.38 blocked shots, but he doesn’t just want to be classified as one of the league’s best shot blockers.

“Shot blocking is one thing I do,” Okafor stated with a smile. “It is not the only thing I do.”

That much has been evident through to start the 2006-07 season as Okafor makes a push to win his first spot on an Eastern Conference All-Star team.

Okafor leads Charlotte in scoring (18.8 points), rebounding (12.0 – fourth in the NBA), blocks, and field goal shooting (.548 – 16th in the NBA) and has been on a tear in the past 10 games.

With 28 points and 18 rebounds on November 8 in Boston, he fell two points shy of his career high in scoring and was one rebound away from a career high, and he has been rolling since. Over the past 10 games, Okafor has seven double-doubles (eight on the season), including a string of four-straight games with 20+ points and 15+ rebounds, and is averaging 20.5 points on 57.0 percent shooting (86-151), 13.1 rebounds and 3.10 blocks.

And the scary thing is he is just getting started.

“I am getting there (to the point I want to be),” Okafor said. “Every game I feel more comfortable out there. I’m pretty optimistic about that.”

His fast start has also made things easier for his teammates, as he’s opened up the paint on offense and locked things down on the defensive end.

“It is great. I personally know the type of player he is from college -- he posted 26 (points) and 16 (rebounds) on me,” Bobcats forward Sean May said. “The things he can do defensively can change the game, and offensively you can see he is starting to get his touch back. What we have now is the same guy who posted double-doubles consistently his rookie year and even the 26 games he played last year. It just opens it up to help me do what I do, so we work off of each other.”

Okafor, his teammates, his coaches and Charlotte fans everywhere have reason to be excited about what they have seen from the Bobcats big man. After all, no one knew quite what to expect from Okafor heading into the Bobcats third season.

Following his 2004-05 Rookie of the Year performance in which he averaged 15.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.71 blocks in 73 games and was one of only nine players to average a double-double, Okafor didn’t have the sophomore campaign he imagined.

He started the 2005-06 season strong, averaging 13.2 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.92 blocks in 26 games, but things ended there as his season was cut short and he missed 56 games with a right ankle injury.

Sitting on the sidelines watching his teammates scrape, claw and dig deeper than many might have expected to win 26 games on the strength of heart, desire and teamwork inspired Okafor to work harder than he ever had before.

“I’ve been so anxious for this season. I missed most of year two, but I never lost that competitive edge” Okafor said. “It was a long offseason -- working hard and just trying to get right. The fact that I missed last season made me so much hungrier for this one.”

As part of his intense regimen this summer, Okafor returned to Houston for his second-straight year of workouts with NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon and came away feeling inspired by his sessions with the future Hall of Famer.

“He beat up on me a little. That guy’s a bully,” Okafor joked. “Call it Hakeem school part two. He’s a great guy and taught me some mental aspects -- knowing your opponent, knowing how to attack, what your opponents strengths are and adjusting your game off of that.”

Okafor also realized he had to make some adjustments to his training regimen, and he acknowledged that his decision to add more muscle following his rookie season might have been counterproductive.

“My high point last year I was like 282 and now I’m 264,” he said. “I felt good for a little bit and then it started wearing on me. It wasn’t fat, it was muscle, but it got to the point where it started getting too heavy for just my knees and joints.

“I came in at a good slender weight (this year). I know how to take care of my body in general a little bit better.”

That knowledge has paid off.

Okafor is approximately 15 pounds lighter than he was last season and has been moving up and down the court – and in the paint – with more efficiency.

Still, Bobcats General Manager and Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff is aware that Charlotte has yet to see Okafor playing at the level he might be capable of in his third year in the league.

“He is playing well. He is rebounding, blocking shots and using the glass in the post,” Bickerstaff said. “I am pleased with him, he is making progress. It is still going to take time after you miss 56 games. This is only his third year, and he hasn’t established anything yet. Consistency is how you establish things. “Once you set standards for yourself and they are high, I’ve always said it’s very difficult. You have to live up to it every night, and Emeka aspires to those expectations."

Okafor also knows his team comes first. Points, rebounds and shots swatted in the stands don’t mean much to Okafor if they don’t help the Bobcats become a better squad.

“We’re a young team and we’re making gains every year,” he said. “We definitely want to make the playoffs, how close we get to it, I don’t know. What I can say is we are going to play hard like we always do. We are going to leave it on the court, and our fans realize that. Every time they see me they say, ‘I love watching you guys play, you all work hard, you’ll get there.’

“We’ll all get there eventually.”

With a healthy and hungry Okafor anchoring things inside what many think will be an All-Star year, Bobcats fans can believe it.