Hustlin' Hugo: Gonzalez is earning Celtics' trust with energetic play originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics just wrapped up a blizzard of early season basketball, logging five games in seven nights with matchups against some of the top teams in each conference. But amid that 240-minute blur, one play is seared in our brains more than any other.
Late in the third quarter in Philadelphia on Friday night, as Boston’s double-digit lead evaporated in an NBA Cup tilt with the 76ers, Quentin Grimes collected a Celtics turnover and broke out in transition for what should have been a breezy breakaway dunk. Even with the swat-happy Derrick White in pursuit, Grimes coasted toward the basket, only to get unexpectedly met at the rim by a full-throttle Hugo González.
The Celtics’ rookie had covered 80 feet from the opposite side of the floor before brazenly trying to contest at the rim. He succeeded in denying the dunk, though a foul was whistled, and Gonzalez crashed hard into the stanchion beyond the basket for his troubles.
It’s the sort of hustle play that can endear you quickly to the Celtics fan base. Gonzalez could have been forgiven if he elected to linger near the midcourt stripe given that a Grimes dunk seemed inevitable. Instead, he put his head down and sprinted, then launched himself like a SCUD missile trying to intercept Grimes at the basket. Teammates rushed off Boston’s bench to pry him off the floor for his effort.
Gonzalez has played just 76 minutes over the first five games of his NBA career (15.2 per game). He got a surprise start against Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons, then logged a DNP in New Orleans the very next night. That about sums up the life of a rookie under Joe Mazzulla.
But even in small doses, Mazzulla has displayed solid trust in Gonzalez, or at least what he hopes Gonzalez might eventually be.
The rookie has been dispatched to cover a venerable All-Star team worth of talent in his NBA infancy and has shown he’s unafraid of the moment. He’s made mistakes and gets an earful each time from Mazzulla, who seems to be pushing him in all the right ways.
Gonzlaez’s top four assignments might be the Eastern Conference All-Star backcourt if voting took place after two weeks of play. Cunningham, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, and VJ Edgecombe account for most of Gonzalez’s on-court possessions. On Saturday night, Mazzulla asked Gonzalez to take some turns on Kevin Durant.
Those Durant minutes went about how you’d expect for a rookie giving up considerable size against a future Hall of Famer. But the fact that Gonzalez is willing to throw himself into the fray — be it with that hustle against Grimes, or taking on the challenge of a Durant — is an encouraging sign for the future.
During Mazzulla’s tenure, rookies have rarely seen early floor time in Boston. Gonzalez was one late third-quarter whistle away from getting on the court on opening night while the Celtics struggled to contain Maxey and Edgecombe. His debut ended up being delayed despite his trip to the scorer’s table, but his efforts against Brunson and Cunningham in the aftermath proved he could be trusted against elite offensive talent.
That’s impressive for any rookie, let alone a 19-year-old still getting acclimated to new surroundings. The Madrid native got invaluable reps as a pro in Spain before the Celtics snagged him with the 28th pick in this year’s draft.
The Celtics are outscoring opponents by 4 points per 100 possessions when Gonzalez is on the court. Boston’s defensive rating is 105.6 in his floor time, or 8.6 points per 100 possessions better than the team’s season average.
Opponents are shooting 40 percent against Gonzalez, or 4.9 percent below expected output, per NBA tracking. That’s a solid differential considering the caliber of player he’s routinely defended.
Regardless how the Celtics’ season plays out, the team needs to identify and develop some younger players who can be rotation-caliber presences on the next version of a championship-hunting team. Gonzalez and offseason addition Josh Minott have distinguished themselves with their energetic play out of the gates and look like they can positively impact a team with defense and hustle alone. Both need to evolve as offensive players but you can see their potential.
Gonzalez carries himself with an obvious swagger. He doesn’t look like a teenager in a foreign land. He seems almost offended when whistles don’t go his way. During one of his first games with Boston, Gonzalez got absolutely hammered trying to score near the basket and didn’t get a call despite how obvious the contact was. Welcome to life as a rookie.
Gonzalez is going to get a tough whistle on both sides of the ball early in his NBA journey. He’s going to get yelled at by Mazzulla and the coaching staff when he makes rookie mistakes. It’s all about learning from the experience.
The potential with Gonzalez is obvious. There’s an All-Defense-caliber player inside of that 6-foot-6 frame, and it simply needs to be unlocked. He shoots with confidence and his ability to knock down shots could be key to increasing his floor time early in his NBA journey.
For now, he’s going to get thrown to the wolves as a defensive specialist. And he just needs to keep competing. That same night in Philadelphia, a loose ball squirted into the backcourt and was quite clearly headed out of bounds. Gonzalez still put his head down, sprinted, and lunged hard to the floor as the ball trickled into the front row. You could feel the floor burn through the television.
Hustle doesn’t go unnoticed. And in a week where the Celtics did a lot of good things, Gonzalez might have been one of the biggest bright spots with his willingness to compete.
