Hugo González Celtics Debut Was INSANE

Hugo González Celtics Debut Was INSANE

Hugo Gonzalez made his NBA debut yesterday for the Boston Celtics and he really put on a master class. How to make an impact without scoring a bunch of points. Plays were not called for him offensively and he still stood out and the Celtics ended up winning his minutes. His energy, hustle, and defensive intensity has been missing from the Boston Celtics in their first two games. He’s fearless as well. Look at where he’s picking up Jaylen Brunson. That’s the definition of fullcourt defense. He doesn’t get a steal or anything, but he just drips the shot clock. Eventually, he gets screened. He gets switched on to cat. They try to post him up, but he says heck no. And now the possession results in a contested three-pointer. Unfortunately, because he’s a rookie, they pick on him and call a foul on him as he was getting physical with Carl Anthony Towns. But then just a few seconds later, he’s active in the passing lane and comes up with the steal and gets fouled as well. This is a great defensive rep from him. They communicate the switch properly and then his physicality messes with the rhythm of the dribble handoff smartly. He switches on the basketball. He’s poking it. And now look where the Knicks are operating their offense with 5 seconds on the shot clock. That’s all because of his defense. And then you see the smarts. He knows there’s no way they can pass the rock and then get off a shot. The shot clock’s going to go off, so he just goes for the basketball. Pokes it loose. Doesn’t come up with it, but it’s a shot clock violation. Celtics miss here, but look at him crash the glass as hard as he can. He doesn’t get it, but now he’s picking up the ball right away, forcing a pass. And now at this point, the guy with the ball thinks he has a free passing lane to the cutting big man. Our guy says absolutely not. And comes up with the steal. Offensively, he finally gets the rock and he takes advantage using his speed. Breezing by Josh Hart. Nice lefty scoop with the weak hand as well. On this one, Pritchard bricks a three-pointer, but look at him crash the glass hard. They’re forced to foul him, and that hustle creates an extra possession for his team. Here, he’s making an impact off the ball, screening for Peyton Pritchard. Look at the separation created for his teammate off that screen. As you can tell, he’s completely bought into his role. He’s willing to do the little things. You could tell he’s going to be so annoying on the offensive glass for opponents. I mean, look at him full out sprint after this miss layup and it turns into a bucket. Simons ends up getting a steal. Now they’re running in transition. This got to be a layup. He’s got to be aggressive in this situation or if he’s going to pass it, pass it to Chris Bucher. No worries. He makes up for it defensively, picking up the backup point guard full court, giving him a tough time, and then just saying absolutely not. You’re not doing a dribble handoff. Bush gets a deflection. And now look at where they have the Knicks operating with half the shot clock gone and it turns into another turnover. Picking up full court again and Jaylen Brunson’s just like, I’m sick of this dude. Give it to Muel Bridges. Brunson goes hard for the dribble handoff. Great job by Gonzalez just staying locked on to him and then getting back in front of him. I mean, that’s perfect defense. Maybe a bit overaggressive, but I just think that’s Jaylen Brunson getting a star call because he’s a star going up against a rookie. And then on the offensive end of the floor, Jaylen Brown gets doubled, finds Hugo, and he immediately knows where the next pass is. The accuracy could have been a bit better, but still it got the job done. And offensively, I think we’ve seen that he can play that complimentary role. His three ball seems to be a question mark. I was looking at his international stats and it wasn’t a good percentage, but during the preseason he was three of eight from three, 37%. He ended up missing his two three-pointers he took yesterday. But he doesn’t shy away from that shot. And I think most of his production offensively will just come off play finishing, setting screens offensive, rebounding, making that one more pass, and that’s all they need from him. He’s not going to have a big role offensively. He’s going to do most of his work on defense and in the hustle category. But yeah, based on his debut, I think he earned more minutes going forward. I really think Boston can use a jolt in the intensity and effort category and he can definitely help bring that. That’s all I got though. Let me know your thoughts below in the comments section.

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