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Tag: Adem Bona

  • Sixers player preview: Is Adem Bona ready for the stakes to be raised?

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    Welcome to our Sixers player preview series, where in the weeks leading up to Media Day we will preview the upcoming 2025-26 season for each and every member of the Sixers’ standard roster. For each player, we will pose two key questions about their season before making a prediction.

    The pressure is on after a miserable 24-58 campaign last season. After entering a year with championship aspirations and spending multiple months having to tank for the sake of a protected first-round pick, the Sixers have lost any and all benefit of the doubt that their signature season is finally coming.

    It is safe to say there is a whole lot of work to do on the Sixers’ end to prove the doubters wrong. Do they have a roster good enough to make it happen?

    Up next: Adem Bona, the No. 41 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft whose rookie season included many tantalizing indications of upside. One of the silver linings of the Sixers’ miserable 2024-25 season was their ability to give extended run to youngsters in need of development; Bona was one of the most significant beneficiaries of that. Does he have enough experience to be a quality backup center in the NBA next season?

    SIXERS PLAYER PREVIEWS

    Jared McCain | Justin Edwards | VJ Edgecombe | Kyle Lowry | Kelly Oubre Jr. | Johni Broome | Adem Bona

    How much can Bona cut down on his fouling? 

    Bona has a motor that never stops, a combination of size and leaping ability that is nearly unparalleled, tremendous length and a clear desire to swat shots. It is a makeup which helped him be one of the best shot-blockers in the NBA right away. Only two players topped Bona’s 2.7 blocks per 36 minutes last season, and he is able to get to shots a lot of rim protectors cannot.

    Bona’s shot-blocking aggressiveness, however, has come at a price. It was inevitable that he would post gargantuan foul rates as a rookie, and early on in his season he did just that. To some, it was not much of a concern: Bona was not primed for big minutes anyways, so fouling out was not worth worrying about.

    It matters quite a bit, though. Bona’s role expanded as the year went on because of injuries to Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond. And even if fouling out was not a risk, it never helps to have a player constantly inciting whistles.

    As Bona started getting more frequent rotation cameos in early 2025, he was very early in the process of learning how to defend against NBA speed and physicality without fouling. For two months, Bona really struggled. But it was clear as time went on that he was finding ways to play with at least a bit of discipline.

    By the time March arrived, Bona’s workload had grown. He missed a week with a foot injury, but returned and was suddenly starting and playing heavy minutes. That continued into April as the season ended. Bona’s foul rates were still high, but he made substantial progress in the final months of the season:

    Month(s) Bona games played Bona minutes per game Bona fouls per game Bona fouls per 36 minutes
    January + February 24 14.3 2.5 6.2
    March 11 21.8 1.9 3.1
    April 7 31.6 3.6 4.1

    Moving forward, Bona is the favorite to be Embiid’s primary backup center. Given how often Embiid has missed time in his career, Bona being able to play upwards of 30 minutes on any given night will be crucial. In order to do that, he must stay out of foul trouble.

    Will Bona have offensive utility beyond screening and dunking?

    Bona is a non-shooter, though he was pleased with his accuracy on free throws for much of the season before a poor finish to the year on that front. Bona’s offensive production was largely limited to finishing plays – either serving as a lob threat or receiving dump-off passes under the rim.

    But the Sixers have, in recent years, focused on developing their bigs as short-roll passers. Bona is no exception, and his physical and athletic tools make him the prototypical screen-setting big. That means, on a team with plenty of ball-handlers capable of commanding double-teams, he will need to be a reliable decision-maker in 4-on-3 situations:

    “One of our daily habits that we work on is playing out of double-teams,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said in March. “Because it affects both Joel and Tyrese so much that we almost start every day working on Tyrese getting blitzed, Paul George getting blitzed, Joel getting blitzed. And the first two, usually the play has to run through the big after the first [pass] – or second pass for sure, normally the first. And then they’ve got to make them pay. It’s 4-on-3, you know, we usually want a super high-percentage attempt at the rim or a catch-and-shoot three out of those situations.”

    MORE: Why Sixers spent 2024-25 teaching their bigs to pass

    Nurse went out of his way to praise Bona for his improvement in that area on multiple occasions in the final months of the season. To his credit, Bona understands how that skill can make him especially valuable to this team moving forward.

    “I think that will be a really big part of my game, because playing with Tyrese, he’s probably going to get blitzed a lot. So being able to make decisions off the blitz, I think that’s going to help me and also help the team,” Bona told PhillyVoice in March. “I’ve kind of seen a similar situation when I was in college, I was getting double-teamed a lot so I had to pass out of double-teams. So I think that helped me translate it into making plays out of the blitzes, so I’ve just got to keep developing and that’s going to really help me develop my game. And to be able to share the floor with better shooters, I can find them for wide-open shots.”

    Prediction

    Bona’s lofty fouling rates remain an issue as his role expands, but he proves to clearly be the Sixers’ best option at center when Embiid is off the floor. He remains on an impressive trajectory for a player drafted in the middle of the second round.

    Bona is never going to have a pristine foul rate. He should not aim for one. To get, one must give; Bona will not be able to become one of the league’s most terrific shot-blockers if he is afraid to have a whistle blown on him. Of course, a balance must be struck so aggression does not turn into recklessness.

    Bona’s jumpy nature works against him at times. But it was clear from Bona’s rookie season that reps go a long way for him. He got much better on the fly, noticeably more disciplined and attentive. It bodes well for his future, even if he never becomes an Earth-shattering rim protector.

    To no fault of his own, Bona’s rookie season was nightmarish for the Sixers. But all of the chaos and injuries gave him an opportunity. He is much better – and more confident – because of it.

    “We’d be talking about him as like, ‘Hey, can Adem contribute this year?’ in a normal year. In a normal year, he probably doesn’t play last year, and it was just one of the positives of last year,” Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey said in July. “We didn’t have a lot of positives, but one of the positives was Adem and Justin [Edwards] and Jared [McCain] and all these guys got pretty significant minutes they normally wouldn’t have gotten. And I think Adem, especially at the end of the year, got the confidence of Nick and his staff.”

    MORE: Bona plans to be patient, know his role… and scream as loud as he can

    Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam
    Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice

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    Adam Aaronson

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  • Instant observations: Sixers suffer brutal loss to Raptors, fall to 0-2

    Instant observations: Sixers suffer brutal loss to Raptors, fall to 0-2

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    Looking to rebound after an opening night loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, the Sixers traveled to Toronto for a Friday night battle against the rebuilding Raptors in hopes of nabbing their first win of the season. In Nick Nurse’s return to Toronto — where he won an NBA title as a rookie head coach — he made two significant early changes. One of those changes involved Kyle Lowry, considered by most to be the greatest Raptor of all time.

    In their second game of the season, the Sixers looked the part of a group of players figuring out how to coexist with one another — much more than they did against Milwaukee. An incredibly disjointed first half had them off to a shaky start, and in the second half a few brief spurts were overtaken by Raptors runs. Suddenly, the Sixers are 0-2.

    Here is what stood out from a putrid 115-107 Sixers loss.

    MORE: Lowry and Nurse’s Toronto legacies

    Nurse makes a pair of starting lineup changes

    Initially, Lowry was supposed to be the Sixers’ third guard when he joined the team late in 2023-24, but was quickly forced into an outsized role at the team’s starting shooting guard. Nurse confirmed at the team’s Media Day last month that Lowry would likely not have as significant of a role in his first full season with the team.

    Lowry came off the bench in all of his preseason appearances and did so on Wednesday night. Fellow veteran Eric Gordon earned ownership of the starting shooting guard spot that Lowry had vacated, while KJ Martin filled in for the injured Paul George and Caleb Martin was expected to log plenty of minutes off the bench.

    Lowry played well on Wednesday night, while Caleb Martin was likely the Sixers’ best player on the floor in his debut with the team. And Nurse wasted no time inserting the former teammates into his starting lineup around Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andre Drummond, with Gordon and KJ Martin moving to the bench.

    Nurse’s Martin-for-Martin swap was not a huge surprise. Caleb Martin played more than 37 minutes off the bench — more than any Sixer other than Maxey — and if he is going to continue to shoulder that sort of workload, it becomes a bit trickier to find all of those minutes for him when he does not play for the first handful of minutes of the game. 

    The decision to replace Gordon with Lowry, though, came as a larger surprise. Gordon had a poor outing in his Sixers debut, failing to connect from beyond the arc and only making one of his four shot attempts from inside the arc. Nurse seemed to have plenty of conviction during the preseason that Gordon being part of the starting unit provided valuable floor spacing — enough that even Gordon being usurped by Lowry, a famous Nurse favorite, was surprising this early in the season.

    Paul George injury update

    Speaking of George, the nine-time All-Star’s Sixers debut will not happen this weekend. George is out for the Sixers’ Sunday afternoon contest against the Pacers in Indiana and will be re-evaluated soon after, the Sixers said on Thursday evening.

    “George continues progressing well in his recovery from a left knee bone bruise,” the Sixers said. “He will not play during the team’s two-game road trip and an update on his availability is expected early next week.”

    Center rotation unravels early, but Maxey gets off to hot start thanks to help from one new teammate

    Drummond, who committed five fouls in 25 minutes on Wednesday night, had to check out after just over three minutes of action in this one. Maintaining defensive discipline is always important for a center, but Drummond needs to be particularly cognizant when Joel Embiid is sidelined that he must remain available to play heavy minutes.

    Replacing Drummond was the Sixers’ temporary backup center, Guerschon Yabusele, who set a couple of mean screens to free up Maxey for a pair of triples from the right wing. Maxey also converted an and-one and had a few gorgeous assists in the first quarter, a major improvement from a poor opening frame against Milwaukee.

    Yabusele quickly got into foul trouble as well, though — and by the 4:22 mark of the first quarter, Nurse was using his third center of the game. KJ Martin slid up to the five, a spot where he was occasionally used down the stretch last season. The fifth-year athletic chess piece blocked a shot early on in his stint at center, and a moment later had a strong one-on-one stand on the block against center Bruno Fernando which led to a basket on the other end for him.

    Then, another genuine surprise: the insertion of rookie Adem Bona, who had not been expected to see regular minutes at any point in the near future. Bona, the Sixers’ fourth center of the opening frame, has plenty of work to do limiting his own fouling — and on his first defensive possession of the night, he fouled Raptors All-Star point forward Scottie Barnes on a drive to the basket.

    With the chance to make a pair of offensive-oriented substitutions near the end of the quarter, Nurse pulled Bona and KJ Martin for Maxey and Ricky Council IV. Four seconds later, Maxey had drawn a foul, and KJ Martin returned for a defensive stand. The whole thing made for a wild ride:

    Somehow, the Sixers ended up leading Toronto, 31-30, after the conclusion of the first quarter. Maxey’s 13 points and four assists were both game-highs.

    Fouling issues continue to plague Sixers, but rim pressure helps ease the blow

    In addition to Drummond’s five fouls against the Bucks, Yabusele fouled out, Oubre collected five fouls, and both Martins had four fouls (and KJ only saw 15 minutes of action).

    The Sixers’ inability to stay out of foul trouble only escalated in the first half of this one. In addition to Drummond and Yabusele, Caleb Martin also picked up a pair of fouls in the first quarter. Caleb Martin, Yabusele and Lowry each had three around the midway point of the second quarter.

    Early returns on the Sixers’ bets on athleticism and positional versatility outweighing frame and muscle have been noticeably poor, as a team suddenly without a Goliath in Embiid is being physically overwhelmed. It is far too soon to make any declarative statements about the viability of the Sixers’ mostly-undersized roster, particularly given the noteworthy talents that have been unavailable through their first pair of games, but this is certainly something to keep an eye on.

    On the bright side, the Sixers were able to bait Toronto into committing the same amount of fouls before intermission — 15 — and shot nearly as many free throws as the Raptors. Maxey led the way, knocking down all seven of his free throws. Drummond drew three fouls, but only made two out of six attempts at the line.

    All of the whistles led to one of the longer halves of October basketball you will see. Toronto was much more efficient from the field, paving the way for a 62-56 Raptors lead at intermission.

    Oubre opens third quarter strong, Sixers run follows

    The Sixers were desperate for some juice on both ends of the floor in the second half, Oubre who gave it to them right off the bat. The fan favorite swingman took a charge, knocked down a step-back mid-range jumper, forced a backcourt violation, threw a perfect alley-oop pass to Drummond and connected on a floater, all in the span of about two and a half minutes.

    For the time being, though, Oubre’s excellent sequence of two-way action did not power a Sixers surge, it merely kept them afloat. In fact, Toronto’s lead actually increased from its standing at halftime during Oubre’s strong 6:37 of action to begin the third quarter.

    Coincidentally, the Sixers were able to make inroads on Toronto’s lead after Oubre went to the bench. Gordon knocked down his first triple as a Sixer, Yabusele converted an and-one, and suddenly the Sixers were within a few baskets. Their defense is what led their charge back into the game, as they held the Raptors to just 21 points in the frame.

    Toronto’s lead was trimmed to two points with a few moments left in the third quarter, but the Sixers made too many mistakes offensively. The Raptors were able to extent their lead to six points heading into the fourth quarter. Among the lowlights were consecutive tough breaks for Council, who did not know where to be to begin a possession that devolved into a Gordon-Yabusele pick-and-roll, leading to a turnover. The second-year wing missed a wide open three-point attempt the next time down the floor.

    Raptors open final frame on major run

    The Sixers needed to make a strong push to begin the fourth quarter in Toronto. They did the opposite, watching as the Raptors jumped out to a 15-2 run in just under five minutes of play. It was a complete catastrophe for the Sixers, who appear to be doing nothing particularly well on either end of the floor through a pair of games.

    The most troubling aspect of the Sixers’ losses — particularly Friday night’s no-show…

    Maxey can’t get things going offensively

    Maxey is an All-Star point guard with an extensive track record of being a terrific offensive player, but the Sixers are going to need him to score efficiently when Embiid and George are sidelined. The team’s aggressiveness in managing Embiid’s workload has already become a source of tremendous controversy; George will experience lighter monitoring but still not necessarily be available on a nightly basis during the regular season. All of that heightens the importance of Maxey’s efficiency as the focal point.

    During his NBA career, Maxey has displayed remarkable stamina, which has enabled him to log massive minutes totals. But that is even more taxing when you are the team’s only consistent perimeter scorer and not exactly in midseason form with the season just having started.

    Maxey’s 10-for-31 shooting performance against Milwaukee was a tough watch, but he was the victim of many bad bounces on shots that usually fall. In this one, he posted one of the worst shooting performances of his career — and most of his misses were not even close. Maxey also looked exhausted for much of the second half, missing plenty of shots well short — including an airball — and getting beat on multiple back cuts where he just fell asleep.

    The final shooting line in this one for Maxey: 6-for-23. Simply put, the Sixers will need him to be a whole lot better moving forward.

    Up next: The Sixers finish up a quick, two-game road trip on Sunday afternoon when they face the Pacers. They will then return home for a pair of contests before heading out on a West Coast trip.

    Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam

    Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice

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    Adam Aaronson

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  • Clark leads No. 8 UCLA to 76-50 victory over Sacramento St

    Clark leads No. 8 UCLA to 76-50 victory over Sacramento St

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    LOS ANGELES — Jaylen Clark turned in an all-around performance for UCLA in its opener, both good and bad.

    Clark scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had a career-high seven steals in the eighth-ranked Bruins 76-50 victory over Sacramento State. The one area coach Mick Cronin was ready to point out though was Clark’s five turnovers.

    “He’s just got to eliminate the turnovers. There’s no point in stealing it if you’re going to give it right back,” Cronin said. “He’s awesome defensively. He’s got to be an elite defensive player for us to be great.”

    But it also doesn’t hurt when Clark can make all seven of his shots from the floor. The 6-foot-5 junior guard had mainly come off the bench the past two seasons, but has cracked the starting lineup this season due to his defense.

    “I was getting my teammates involved with rebounds and assists to get on the break in the first half,” said Clark, who had 14 points in the second half. “In the second half they were collapsing on my teammates. I felt like I had opportunities to go and score. Like coach said, I have to eliminate the turnovers, but other than that I was pretty happy with how I performed.”

    Jaime Jaquez and Tyger Campbell scored 14 apiece and David Singleton added 13 points for the Bruins, who shot 53.1% from the field (34 of 64).

    Cameron Wilbon and Zach Chappell scored 10 apiece for Sacramento State.

    Jaquez did most of his scoring in the first half with 12 points as the Bruins built a 39-25 lead at halftime.

    Campbell scored seven points as UCLA took control with a 20-0 run midway through the first half.

    The Hornets went on an 8-0 spurt to grab a 16-12 advantage with 9:15 remaining before the Bruins scored 20 straight points over the next six minutes. Seven players had baskets during the run.

    UCLA started 6 of 16 from the field before making 12 of its next 16 shots to end the first half.

    “They made us play, which is what we need. They made us compete, make adjustments and work to get away from them which is what you want from a game like this,” Cronin said.

    Sacramento State shot 34.5% from the field, going 19 of 55, and committed 21 turnovers. The one positive was that the Hornets did outrebound the Bruins 37-33.

    “We’ve got some guys that can shoot, but with the first road game against a Top 10 opponent, that pressure is hard to produce in practice,” Sacramento State coach David Patrick said.

    THE TAKEAWAY

    Sacramento State: The Hornets were 2 of 18 on 3s and missed 13 straight during one stretch.

    UCLA: It ended up being a fun night for the Jaquez family. Jaime’s younger sister, Gabriela, had 10 points and six rebounds as the Bruins women’s team opened with a victory over Cal Poly. Gabriela Jaquez is part of the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class.

    DEBUT DELAYED

    UCLA freshman Adem Bona did not play in order to serve a one-game penalty from the NCAA related to an amateurism issue. The center is expected to play in UCLA’s next game.

    UP NEXT

    Sacramento State: Plays at UC San Diego on Saturday.

    UCLA: Will host Long Beach State on Friday.

    ———

    AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP—Top25

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