BOSTON — Guarding centers isn’t new for Hugo Gonzalez. Just a few weeks ago, he battled Karl-Anthony Towns, helping the Boston Celtics take down the New York Knicks at TD Garden. On Friday night, the 19-year-old rookie was once again called upon. This time, it was Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware in front of him.
“Didn't play perfect, but played with [not just] a level of energy, but a level of awareness and execution on the offensive end, playing the five for us at times, and creating advantages for us,” Joe Mazzulla said post-game.
Hugo Gonzalez guarding centers unlocks new Celtics tool
These defensive assignments took many forms. In one instance, Miami’s blistering pace saw a darting Jaime Jaquez Jr. eye Adebayo in the deep post. He had backed Gonzalez down well into the restricted area.
But as soon as the pass was made, Gonzalez jumped around Adebayo’s post-up, poked the ball loose, and gave Boston a chance at a counterattack.
“You just gotta know who are you guarding, know their tendencies, and know how we want to guard him, and to try to stop him,” Gonzalez said of guarding gives. “So, just basically being locked in to who you're guarding.”
Another time, Gonzalez had to guard Ware in a paint pick-and-roll with Norman Powell. That’s a different read. “Usually, when I'm guarding the five, and we got a pick-and-roll, I'm switching with the point guard,” Gonzalez said.
Seamlessly, he and Walsh switched, Jaylen Brown helped over, and Powell kicked the ball out to the corner. When Dru Smith caught the ball, all five Celtics had a foot in the paint. They made their choice—help on the drive, give up a three.
Well, four of them made their choice.
Gonzalez, who had just guarded Ware and Powell on the same play in the pick-and-roll, sprinted out to the corner, flew through the sky, and blocked Smith’s three-point attempt.
That’s the extra effort that earns Gonzalez minutes. An undying intensity. A flame that can never be put out. And it didn’t start in Boston.
“He's been well-coached,” Mazzulla said. “He's played at one of the best organizations in the world [Real Madrid] in all sports, main sports. So, he's been around greatness for a long time. So, he's had that. Like I said before, his defensive instincts are better than most young guys have been, and I think that gives them a chance.”
Hugo Gonzalez's incessant hustle is a skill
While with Real Madrid, Gonzalez was largely glued to the bench, tossed into the fire when they needed a boost. Yet whenever that time came, he was ready.
Like when they took on Panathinaikos and former NBA guard Evan Fournier. They didn’t choose any of their own ex-NBA guys to check him. They chose a then-18-year-old Gonzalez.
At one point, last season, Gonzalez was guarding the inbounder. As soon as his matchup passed the ball in, he boxed him out. He wouldn’t even let him step onto the floor.
Every motion he takes is with a purpose. And that commitment to hustle and energy isn’t an accident.
“That's skill, being able to play that hard, and I think that we have a bunch of guys that understand that on our team,” Mazzulla said. “He's one of them, and you kind of saw him at his best tonight, and we gotta keep that up.”
Gonzalez checked in at the 6:50 mark in the third quarter on Friday.
He played the rest of the game. That’s 18:50 straight.
“Not everybody can do that and play at the level of consistency that he did for those [near-19] minutes,” Mazzulla said.
It’s the type of spark that can change an entire team’s demeanor.
“You don't want him to be by himself playing at that level,” Derrick White said. “He does a lot of things for us, just kind of getting those 50-50 balls, and just creating turnovers, and stuff like that. And so, just love the way he competes, and that's a guy you that you want to line up with every night.”
That intensity doesn’t come without baggage.
Emotions are a part of Hugo Gonzalez
Within the first minute of the fourth quarter, Gonzalez picked up his second steal of the night. He intercepted a Kasparas Jakucionis pass intended for Ware. Gonzalez swung the ball to Neemias Queta, who found Sam Hauser for a transition three.
Gonzalez screamed.
He chest-bumped Hauser as the Celtics walked back to the bench after an Erik Spoelstra timeout. All of his emotions came pouring out at once.
But the downside to that trait was present on Monday night. Gonzalez checked in with 34 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Mazzulla wanted some juice. Gonzalez provided too much of it.
The Detroit Pistons inbounded the ball to Jaden Ivey, and Gonzalez pressed up on him. Too much. Ivey drove right past him for a layup. Then, on the ensuing possession, Gonzalez got stripped at half-court, and Caris LeVert made a transition layup with the rookie sprawled on the hardwood after tumbling down in pursuit.
He put his hands over his face on the ground as he began to get up. Once the quarter concluded, he walked over to the Celtics bench and punched a chair. Those same emotions took a very different shape. White was there to calm him down, telling him to “stay with it.”
No matter the packaging, Gonzalez’s emotions aren’t going anywhere.
“I feel like I've always been a little bit too much emotional,” he said. “That's the way I am. As I said before, [that’s] the way that I like to play. I feel the game a lot. When things are going great, I'm the first one that is gonna go for you, try to hug you, whatever. And obviously, [there's] the bad part, also, that I try to control as much as I can. Like the other day, it's always been like that. I've always been super emotional playing the game.”
The emotions are merely a byproduct. A result of the relentless energy he brings to the floor every time he steps on it. That sort of constant, perpetual intensity is bound to create a visceral reaction.
Sometimes, that means screaming in Hauser’s face after forcing the Heat to take a timeout.
Others, it’s giving a chair on Boston’s bench a beatdown.
The one constant is the passion.
“I always try to follow my instincts,” Gonzalez said. “Whenever I see that I got an opportunity to make play, I try it. Obviously, it's not gonna gonna happen every time. We just try to follow it.
“That's who I am at the end of the day. I try to make a play, try to follow my defensive instincts to get a steal or get a block or be in the right spot, whatever, and sometimes it's wrong. I just need to try.”