Okafor coming to fore, defensively

Updated: October 21, 2004, 12:40 PM ET
By Chad Ford | ESPN Insider
FORT MILL, S.C. – All eyes are on Emeka Okafor, the team's only recognizable face and the center of an intense marketing campaign (Okafor in '04).

After a disappointing summer playing towel boy on the US Olympic team, Okafor is slowly rounding into form. In the two scrimmages we saw, Okafor looked very raw offensively, bricking point blank shots and overshooting the basket badly when stepping out further on the perimeter.

However, defensively he held his own against the very physical Jahidi White. Okafor likely will lead this team in blocked shots and rebounds, as he seems to be the only big on the team with a real nose for the ball.

Okafor admitted that things were still coming a little fast for him.


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Chad Ford | email

Senior Writer, NBA Insider
  • Senior NBA Writer for ESPN.com
  • ESPN Insider NBA Draft Analyst since 2002
  • Writes ESPN's NBA Draft Top 100 and Lottery Mock Draft

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