Parada a Tower of Strength for UCI

There are those who believe Adam Parada will play in the NBA someday, and Saturday night the UC Irvine center had moments that that made him look worthy of that assessment.

The 7-foot redshirt freshman scored 14 points, blocked four shots and drew praise from both sides at Pauley Pavilion after the Anteaters fell to UCLA, 65-60, in a game they very well could have won.

“He’s pretty skilled,” said UCLA center Dan Gadzuric, who was in foul trouble most of the game and finished with nine points. “The thing that stands out to me is that jump hook. He had a nice one for a guy his size. He works on it. He should be OK.”

Just a couple of weeks ago, those shots were clanking off the rim as Parada tried to find his range.

But Saturday night Parada found his range, coming off the bench to make seven of eight field-goal tries and clogging the middle in the Anteaters’ shifting 2-3 zone. His lay-in with 3 minutes 56 seconds to go brought the Anteaters, who trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half, to within 57-56.

But Parada, who was fouled on the play, missed the free throw.

Before the game, Parada’s father, Eddie, came down to the floor and offered encouragement. It was a somewhat awkward moment for Parada.

“I only see him every two or three weeks,” Adam said. “And I have to tell him that I have to focus on the game and I’ll talk to him later.

“But I’ve never been on a winning team. I want to beat good teams. I want to be good. That is what I want to do.”

Parada is an off-season pupil of Mark Eaton, the 7-foot-3 former Cypress College, UCLA and Utah Jazz center.

Parada needs to add some bulk to his 240-pound frame; Gadzuric and other Bruins pushed him around. But Parada is agile, mobile and far ahead of Eaton’s pace at this point in his career.

“He played to his ability tonight,” Irvine’s backup center, J.R. Christ, said of Parada, who came into the game averaging 4.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 12 minutes per game.

Saturday night, Parada hung in there for 23 minutes.

“I’m very proud of Adam Parada,” Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said. “For his first road game, he really stepped it up big. . . . I really liked his play.”