Celtics rookie makes haters eat crow after one preseason game

Three-pointers, blocks, steals, dunks, and scuffles, Boston Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez did it all during his 18-minute preseason debut. Fans were right to be excited about the young Spaniard as he wreaked havoc against the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies.

Gonzalez finished the evening with eight points, three rebounds, three blocks, an assist, and a steal. It was a performance that painted a clear picture of how the 19-year-old can contribute to winning basketball somewhere down the line.

“He knows how to play,” Joe Mazzulla praised after the win, via CLNS Media. “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.”

Hugo Gonzalez's energy is as advertised

No less than 30 seconds after checking into the game for the first time, he blocked Grizzlies guard Jaylen Wells and then started a scuffle when he and PJ Hall got tied up for the loose ball.

That sequence was the ultimate tone setter.

Gonzalez never dialed back his intensity on defense and made disruptive plays the entire night. According to him, that’s what makes him, and this year’s Celtics team, dangerous.

“It’s everything,” Gonzalez told reporters of the importance of defense. “If you defend, you’re able to run…As soon as we have the defense up there that we are able to run, we’re gonna be really, really dangerous.”

Midway through the third quarter, he showed us all exactly how easy it can be to run off of good defense.

Gonzalez blitzed Santi Aldama at midcourt, forced him to rush a pass to Cam Spencer, then made a swift reaction to make the steal and take it all the way for a breakaway slam.

All of the Hugo highlights from preseason Game 1 were in line with what president of basketball operations Brad Stevens liked about him at the NBA Draft. 

"Just a big fan of how he plays,” Stevens said of Gonzalez after the draft. “He’s tough, he’s hard playing, he cuts, he goes after the ball, he competes. He’s got all the intangibles of a winning basketball player."

Of course, it would be ridiculous to act like Gonzalez is a finished product. He’s far from it. 

There were plenty of instances on Wednesday where he absolutely looked like a rookie. Most notably, anytime he drives and doesn’t get to the basket cleanly, he’s going to Eurostep, even if there’s no space. Hugo’s three turnovers (two if you don’t count the loose ball tie-up with Hall) were preventable, too.

It’ll be interesting to see how consistently he’s able to chaotically impact games throughout the preseason slate. His next opportunity to do so will be Friday night against the Toronto Raptors.