The Boston Celtics Pulled Off HIGHWAY ROBBERY | Celtics News

The Boston Celtics Pulled Off HIGHWAY ROBBERY | Celtics News

Brad Stevens, you continue to be a wizard. The Boston Celtics pulled off highway robbery this off seasonason in multiple facets in the NBA draft with their first round pick Ugo Gonzalez and in 2025 free agency with the addition of center Luca Garza as well as Josh, the two former Minnesota Timberwolves that we’ll talk about later on on today’s show. First though, before we get in depth about Ugo Gonzalez and Garza and all that stuff, let’s just talk about this game, the Selles preseason opener from a holistic standpoint here. As we know, Boston is implementing a new system here, kind of playing into the strengths of their roster, more younger, athletic, and they wanted to speed things up this upcoming season. They wanted to push the pace, and they absolutely did so. Played at a 106 pace in the preseason opener against Memphis. That would be the number one pace in the NBA last season by a wide margin. So, the Celtics both uh really just getting up and down the floor on both ends here. And speaking of the other end of the floor, defensively, they had 13 steals in this game, which the Celtics haven’t ranked higher than 26th in the NBA over the past three seasons under Joe Missoula in steals. So, that was awesome to see. They also had 11 blocks, which they’ve been really good at over the past three years, but also a whopping 34 points off of turnovers in this game. They’re just creating havoc out there. Disruption and getting out in transition is what the Celtics did. The Celtics have been bottom third. I don’t think I think they’ve been 24th, 21st, 24th, and 23rd the past three years in points over turnovers. So, just a totally new identity here with the Boston Celtics. And a big reason why was the play of first round pick Ugo Gonzalez and Luca Garza as well. Wanted to throw in Derek White 10 assists. That might be the point guard of the Celtics future here. Love D. White showing out. And JB was cool as well. 21 points for number seven there. And it was 50% from the three-point line as well. So, love to see that from JB. We’re going to talk about Luca Garza and Ugo Gonzalez in just a moment though. First, make sure you are subscribed to the channel cuz we’re going to be breaking down Celtics games all season long. We’ll be going live for Celtics Games here on the channel as well. 53,646 die hard members of the green teamers out there have already hit that sub button. Can we get to 54,000 subs by opening night, which is just about a week and a half away? Need 354 to get there? If you love free the Celtics, you want free content every day, hit that sub button. Ugo Gonzalez at pick 28 in this draft was an absolute steal. I’m ready to say that right now because we know that, you know, physically he has all the tools, right? He can he can get up and down the floor. He has a great defensive IQ and he can rise up and get above the rim sometimes as well, not only for offensive rebounds and crashing the glass, but also, you know, rising up and slamming on defenders as well, which we’ll talk about in a moment. But like this guy, this is a guy who was projected to be a top five draft pick when there were very early mock drafts about over a year before the 2025 draft ended up going down. Back in early 2024, Ugo Gonzalez was projected at a high lottery pick. Ended up not getting a ton of run in Real Madrid professionally last season. So, his draft stock dipped a little bit, but Brad Stevens swooped in and picked up a stud man in his preseason debut. Played 18 minutes and just saw most of his time in the second, third, and fourth quarters. So, I’m not going to sit here and act like he was playing against the Grizzlies starting five that they’re going to be trotting out for the postseason later on this season. But, you know, he was playing against NBA competition for the first time in his life and did not back down from the challenge whatsoever. Eight points in this game, knocked down a three-point attempt I thought looked really good. Three rebounds as well, a couple of offensive in there and then three blocks. I mean, defensively is really where I want to highlight Ugo Gonzalez here. He did have three turnovers. So, you know, that is something that we worried about coming into the NBA here. Just the I guess I I shouldn’t say carelessness, but just, you know, overall youth in in Ugo Gonzalez’s game here. He is only 19 years old. So, for a guy who I think is going to handle the ball a good amount, I would love to see the turnovers, you know, dip down a little bit, but we can temporary expectations. He is still a rookie. The catch and shoot three, like I said, though, looked smooth. It was a nice like kind of uh shuffle up the the right the right wing there from the corner and then once the dribble drive came, the defender kind of crashed in. Ugo had a little bit of space. Ball was kicked out to him and you know he didn’t like bring the ball down too far. It was a really smooth like catch and shoot motion. So I’m really looking forward to seeing that develop as his rookie season comes along as well. But the defensive side of the ball is where I want to talk about Ugo Gonzalez. A couple of defensive highlights here that stuck out to me. Like these are just a splash plays by the way. His rotations were awesome. He always seemed like he was kind of in the right spot, jumping pass lanes and all that good stuff as well. In the second quarter though, his first splash play was he stayed in front of his defender on a drive and you know the Sullies defense kind of collapsed in, but Ugo was able to just stifle that shot attempt rejected it before it even left the Memphis Grizzlies players hand there. So that was awesome ability to stick with his uh assignment defensively and block a shot at the rim. But that the rejections did not stop there. In the second quarter, a couple possessions later, he got beat on the drive, but was able to recover and then blocked the shot again and keep the ball in bounds, saving it himself. Just a total effort play there by Ugo Gonzalez. That’s just stuff that you cannot teach. In the third quarter, he deflected a pass at midcourt. This is the highlight of the game. Let’s be honest here, folks. At midcourt, Grizzlies kind of pushing in transition transition and Ugo swats the ball out of the air. Basically, just user picks it as soon as the pass was thrown and he took it himself. Coastal for a contested dunk. Highlight of the play got Celtics fans out of their seats and I hope we see more of that as time goes on. And then in the fourth quarter, I mean this was another highlight play as well. A chase down block. It was the it was Baylor Shyman whipped the pass as he tried to dribble drive and it got picked off and Ugo Gonzalez was faced with a twoon one and the pass was thrown up ahead. He was able to recover and chase down a block. Swat that thing off of the glass. So, just a guy who makes his money based on effort and uh the intangibles in between the ears, especially on the defensive end. Joe Mazula had high praise for Ugo Gonzalez said, “I just enjoy coaching him because of his personality and how he carries himself. This is a guy who just brings his lunch pale to work every day and wants to put his head down and grind.” And that’s the type of player that Joe Missoula absolutely loves. More from him here. He said he’s smart. He holds himself to a high standard. I enjoy coaching him because he listens, he wants to get better, he learns, and he pushes himself. One of the biggest traits that you could have as a professional is being coachable. It’s just not something that is talked about as much as these guys are making, you know, 50, 60, 70 million in this NBA now. Like being coachable is so so valuable. And the fact that Ugo is taking this all all this in stride um just just one preseason game into his NBA and US basketball career is awesome. And it feels like Joe Missoula’s energy and and and his style resonates with a lot of the Boston Celtics, not just Gonzalez. We’ve heard Josh Mat say he’s going to run through a brick wall for him. We’ve heard uh you know Anthony Simon saying he just wants to play for this guy and wants to learn from him. So I I wouldn’t have anybody else quick side note running this uh Boston team at the coaching helm than Joe Moula at this point. Ugo said this about his uh performance in his preseason debut. He says, “As a 19-year-old playing his first game in the NBA, I got a lot of things to correct. He was just trying to give me some advice, some feedback, talking about when Joe Mazulo audibly shouted out, uggo.” And he called him over to the sideline on things that I can need to improve, some reads that I didn’t do well. Look, this is not going to be perfect uh day one. And look, I I also don’t think that it’s going to be something that we see translate immediately into regular season action. remember he was going up against third, fourth stringers, guys who were going to get cut by this Grizzlies team. So, wasn’t necessarily the typical NBA, you know, cop that he’ll be seeing on a nightly basis once the regular season rolls around. So, like, let’s take this all with a grain of salt. It was an awesome awesome awesome debut. And there’s so much to build upon, but I also wouldn’t anticipate Hugo playing crazy regular season minutes, at least at the start. And then as the season goes along, we’ll see where the team is at and how often he’ll be bouncing back and forth from the main Celtics. Or who knows, maybe he’ll be on the the the Boston roster for the entire year. But I would anticipate him having a, you know, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth man rotation spot here right away. With that being said though, was an awesome debut. Shout out to rookie man, number 28, the 28th overall pick. Show some love to Ugo by dropping his jersey number down in the comment section. I want to see 128s down below because look, he he gave us a reason to be rooting for the C’s this year. Now, more great news from the preseason opener. We still got to talk about Luca Garza. We got to talk about Josh Mau. We got to talk about more highway robbery done by Brad Stevens here, the best general manager in basketball. First though, he hooked up with these awesome Celtics hats. Gift giving season is approaching. Holiday season fast approaching as well. This corduroy one is dope. This retro looking one is dope with the cream top and the colored brim. This khaki one is perfect for the fall season as well. All these and more at chatports.com/seltics hats. These are just my favorite that I hand selected. Love this one with the skyline in the background as well. Celtics has to get yours today. That link’s in the comment section in description of today’s video. I was skeptical to be honest uh about Luca Garza and his ability to play big minutes in the at the NBA level. To be honest, like he was a player in college who just didn’t project all that well. kind of like the in a way like the Drew Timmy and the you know just around the basket bigs that you know don’t have top end speed or athleticism that really just don’t translate all that well into the league. But I think Luca Gar has proven me wrong and carving out a role within this Celtics rotation here. Brought in as you know probably the backup center to Neimius Kada who by the way Neimius Kada and Anthony Simons did not play in the preseason opener. So if you’re asking why haven’t I talked about those guys yet, well they did not play against Memphis here. I didn’t really see what the injury designation was there. I don’t think there is any. I think it’s just uh Joe Mazula trotting out different lineups here as the preseason goes along. But in Garza’s case, man, 10 rebounds, four offensive rebounds for Luca Garza. Energy, energy, energy, effort, effort, effort. That’s what this Selies team is going to be built upon this upcoming season. That’s how they’re going to win a lot of games. Garza did just that. Got to the line a whole heck of a lot, too. I think he was like six of eight from the free throw line as well. Uh two of three from the field, a plus 10 overall. Had a block in there, too. I mean, there’s just room for this guy to grow as a player, and I think with this newfound minutes that he’ll be getting in Boston here compared to what he had in Minnesota, I mean, it’s only going to do wonders for his career. And like a couple of other things that I thought Luca Garza did really well and the Celtics did as a whole really well was they found success with pin down screens setting up wide open uh three-point attempts not only for Jaylen Brown I think uh Jordan Walsh set a couple of cool screens. Luca Garza set a couple of good ones. Chris Bucher, Xavier Tilman, like they were they were really really working the uh the Grizzlies last night with getting open looks based off of these pindowns. then Garza is going to be one of the big proponents of that. If he can continue to grab offensive rebounds and generate more possessions for the Boston Celtics, he’s going to play for Joe Missoula because we know Missoula uh you know resonates with guys who are you know putting in the same type of energy and effort that he does on a nightly basis. Speaking of energy and effort, I mean Josh was everywhere, baby. I told you guys this is the hidden gem for the Boston this upcoming year. And look, the the county stats aren’t going to be crazy. He’s a player who hasn’t had a huge role or really a much offensive polish to his game so far as a pro, but I mean everything that we build Josh might not to be. He was everywhere rotating defensively. He had what? Three steals, a block in this one. Disruption getting out in transition um downhill attacking. He took a defender off the dribble uh in a play that I saw crashing the offensive glass. Three offensive rebounds in this including a putback slam because the defense was lacking. He did also mention that uh he believes that he has the green light to crash the offensive glass whenever. Uber athlete, crazy wingspan, going to project as an immediate good defender and already doing the stuff offensively that we know he could do. Missoula had this to say on my not. He says that he just has a knack for the situation or play on both ends of the floor. Whether it’s getting offensive rebounds, a couple steals, a couple blocks, he’s got some good versatility, but he has a knack for the ball and a knack for being in the mix. He’s he was able to generate some steals and deflections tonight and obviously some offensive rebounds. I I love I love Josh. Um I I think he’s going to play a big role for this this season’s team this year. And look, it’s going to come with bumps and bruises, right? Because Manas’s never played this type of role. He’s never played 20 minutes or even in any regular season game in his entire NBA career up to this point. That’s going to happen this year. So, it’s going to come with turnovers. I’m sure it’s going to come with three-point deficiencies. He was 05 in this game against Memphis from beyond the arc. So, it’s going to come with some lumps. But as far as just the floor that Josh might not is going to provide for the Celtics here, I’m super super excited. Not so much about Xavier Tilman, who they decided to start alongside Chris Bucher in this one. Didn’t love the front court that Boston went with at the start of this game. Says he’s lighter, says he’s healthier. Says that the defense is going to really show itself this year compared to years past where he’s been a little bit lackluster on that end. But I wasn’t all that impressed, man. seven points, uh, five boards. Did have two stocks, uh, stealing a block in this one, but he was the only Celtic really, uh, that I could see that was a negative in the plus minus category. Um, we’ll see how Xavier Tilman um, plays to start this regular season. I don’t have the highest of hopes. Jordan Walsh as well. Uh, only seven minutes in this game. We’ll see uh, what his minutes load looks like as the preseason goes along, but not really too inspiring. Was a plus eight in those seven minutes though, so was playing the good defense. guy had grabbed three boards, nailed his only shot attempt of the night as well. Like fine, but it is a little bit discouraging for I’m sure Jordan Walsh here who kind of has his like last shot in the NBA this upcoming season to only be getting seven minutes in the preseason opener. With that being said, we talked about a bunch of talent here. A lot of guys flashed for the season in the preseason opener. I thought it was an awesome awesome showing. Missoula Ball is back, but you can’t say Jaylen Brown or Derek White. The most impressive Celtic in the preseason opener. Probably a newcomer. It would make the most sense if that was the case. Can’t say Jaylen Brown. Can’t say Derrick White. Who was the most impressive Celtic in that preseason opener against Memphis? Let me know in the comments section and we can talk about it more on Twitter as well. Hit me up on social media. Give me a follow over on Twitterx Tylerjmith. Two H’s because the name’s common, but I am not. Make sure you are subscribed to the channel as well. YouTube.com/seltics TV. Been keeping you guys updated with everything you need to know about your seeds this upcoming season. And as always, let’s go SE’s.

Boston Celtics News Today comes after the first Celtics preseason game in which Boston defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 121-103. Celtics highlights came from a multitude of players on the Celtics roster as Joe Mazzulla implements a faster paced system, but none stood out more than the play of Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez and Celtics free agency addition Luka Garza and Josh Minott. Celtics fans are going to love the energy that these 3 new Celtics signings will play with, as well as how they will compliment Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and others. Celtics Today host Tyler Smith breaks down Celtics vs. Grizzlies highlights as well as all the latest Celtics rumors and news from the Celtics preseason opener on today’s Boston Celtics YouTube video.

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Hugo Gonzalez Highlights: Stats From Preseason Debut (18 MIN)
8 PTS
3 REB
3 BLK
3/4 FG
1/2 3PT
+4

Joe Mazzulla On Hugo Gonzalez:
“I just enjoy coaching him, because of his personality, how he carries himself… He’s smart. He holds himself to a high standard. I enjoy coaching him because he listens, he wants to get better, he learns, and he pushes himself”

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– Most impressive player in the Celtics preseason opener?

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– 🚨Celtics Starting 5 REVEALED? Boston Celtics Training Camp News – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aqADEVpAK4

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Joe Mazzulla On Josh Minott
“He just has a knack for the situation or play on both ends of the floor. Whether it’s getting offensive rebounds, a couple steals, a couple blocks. He has some good versatility, but he has a knack for the ball and a knack for being in the mix. He was able to generate some steals an deflections tonight and obviously some offensive rebounds”

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