Mick Cronin calls Adem Bona a top big man in college basketball

With where college basketball has trended the last few years, it’s becoming more of a big man’s game at times. Still, even with some great ones scattered across the country, few, if any, are as good as UCLA C Adem Bona according to Mick Cronin.

Cronin spoke highly of Bona with the media following their latest win at Stanford on Wednesday. He declared him to be one of the best bigs in the nation considering all that he has at his disposal.

“Adem is one of the best big men in college basketball,” said Cronin. “A great athlete, an unbelievable attitude. He’s just a great person.”

Bona, the Nigerian sophomore, is averaging 12.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 60% from the floor. He’s doing so in just under 27 minutes per game over 23 games as the starting center for the Bruins. His statistics are good for best on the team in rebounding, blocks, and field-goal percentage. He is also second in scoring and third in steals.

Versus the Cardinal, Bona went for 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block in the team’s fourth straight win.

However, for all that production, Bona does have an issue staying out on the floor due to foul trouble. He has fouled 82 times for an average of 3.6 fouls per game this year. That has led him to fouling out of six contests total, including three of the last six with one being the eight-point win inside Maples Pavilion earlier this week.

It’s a difficult tightrope to walk because, as Cronin pointed out, the style that he plays which gets him in trouble with the officials is also a benefit to him in how he approaches the games.

“Fouls too much,” Cronin admitted. “Everybody’s strength is their weakness – always. His aggression is a strength. At times, it’s his weakness in foul trouble.”

Amongst some of the other top centers in the sport, Bona can maybe end up as a forgotten commodity out on the west coast. Cronin isn’t letting him slip anyone’s mind, though, when it comes to him and where he’s trending on the court.

“He has got an unbelievable future,” said Cronin.

Bill Walton says he auditioned to play Chewbacca

There are few characters more iconic in film than Chewbacca, the Wookiee and co-pilot to Han Solo in Star Wars. Over the years, he has been portrayed by a few different actors, starting with Peter Mayhew. However, there was a chance that Mayhew didn’t get the role with it nearly going to Bill Walton instead.

A Hall of Fame basketball player who has since become a broadcaster, Walton was on the call with Dave Pasch for a recent game when the topic came up. At that time, Walton admitted he has a connection to the character.

“Chewbacca is modeled after me,” Bill Walton said.

Dave Pasch laughed and said that he had heard that Walton himself was actually in the running to play Chewbacca.

“You’re always serious,” Walton replied. “That’s one of your problems is that you that you don’t have fun with your life…No, George Lucas is as cool as they get, and I remember the night that George and Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Russell, and me? We were all up in San Francisco for a big fundraiser for the Martin Luther King memorial.”

“I auditioned for Chewbacca,” Bill Walton said. “And they said, ‘No, but we’re gonna model the character after you.’”