Hugo Gonzalez’s NBA career won’t be made or broken based off his Summer League debut. But for at least one game, Gonzalez looked the part of Boston’s first-round pick as his impact was felt right from tipoff.
Gonzalez made his Celtics debut in the Friday win over the Grizzlies as the C’s improved to 1-0 at Las Vegas. The 19-year-old wing swooped in for a put-back layup off a missed 3-pointer on the first possession of the game — he was off from there. Turns out, that play helped him get into the rhythm of the game.
“I think that I played a great on my side, but obviously, when it’s your first game and everything, you are a little bit nervous,” Gonzalez told reporters after the game. “As soon as you go on the first play and you grab a rebound and you make the basket, all the nerves goes out. Then you get on defense and everything, so I think that, nerves are there until you start playing and you figure out that it is the same sport.”
Gonzalez finished with 12 points, four rebounds, five assists, a steal, two blocks and three turnovers as he was seemingly everywhere in his 28 minutes. He shot 4-for-12 from the floor but 3-of-5 on 3-pointers as he was also willing to take those looks. Gonzalez said the coaching staff is pushing for him to confidently take those shots, which he converted throughout Friday’s victory.
There were bits and pieces of what Gonzalez could become down the line. He didn’t play much at Real Madrid considering his age and a loaded roster. At Summer League, the Celtics are going to see what they’ve got in the 28th overall pick. Gonzalez showed some rawness, but his energy and activity level were clearly evident while on the floor.
"I would say Hugo and the whole team were just pressuring relentlessly the whole game,“ C’s summer coach Matt Reynolds said. ”That’s what we asked them to do, and he ended up on the ball handlers a lot. Particularly down the stretch, you could see that he was kind of wearing it a little bit. But that was an excellent tone that he and our backcourt set throughout the course of the game."
Gonzalez still has plenty of basketball to go even beyond just Summer League. He’s already signed his rookie contract as the Celtics will bring him stateside for training camp. Expectations are relatively low considering he’s still raw, but for a first look, the potential is certainly there for the young wing.
“It was hard to catch up with the pace and everything,” Gonzalez said. “When I was in Europe, the game is a lot of times a little bit slower. Trying to have the possession until the end here if you got a shot, you better take it. That’s actually making the game really up and down and you gotta catch up with that if you wanna play. I’m just trying to adapt as soon as I can so, as I said before, contribute to the team.”
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