Making the leap to the pros is difficult for any NBA rookie. The players are better, the game faster, the concepts often more complex.
Hugo Gonzalez is facing all of those challenges in his first Celtics training camp — and doing so as a 19-year-old who’s new to American basketball and learning Boston’s system in his second language.
Gonzalez, a Spanish wing who came over from Real Madrid after the Celtics drafted him 28th overall in June, said mastering the team’s verbiage has been his biggest challenge thus far.
“I think that probably the language and the terms that we’ve got,” he said after Saturday’s practice at the Auerbach Center. “We’ve got a lot of terms that refer to different things, especially defensively, that we need a lot of communication. We’re working on it. So basically, as it’s in English, I’m working on it.”
Boston’s coaches have been patient with him through this process, Gonzalez said.
“They try to speak Spanish,” he said. “… They told me if they have to explain it twice, that’s no problem. Also, on my side, I have to put a lot of effort, more than anybody that speaks English. I’ve got to be more attentive.”
(Gonzalez later clarified his comments after they were picked up by a European basketball outlet, writing in a translated post on X: “I literally said that the specific terminology of the concepts is hard for everyone to understand because it’s new, but a bit more for me since it’s in English.”)
The Celtics’ new emphasis on pushing the pace — a stated goal this season as they move forward without departed rotation players Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet, and the injured Jayson Tatum — also has been an adjustment for Gonzalez.
“We want to play super speedy compared to Madrid; that was a little bit different,” he said. “In Europe, they play with possession, a little more calm.”
Gonzalez, who climbed the ladder from Real Madrid’s youth teams to its senior side before entering the NBA draft, was a depth player on a loaded Madrid squad last season, averaging 4.5 points and fewer than 15 minutes per game in the Liga ACB and 1.9 points and fewer than eight minutes in EuroLeague play.
Playing alongside ex-NBAers Mario Hezonja, Serge Ibaka, Facundo Campazzo and Bruno Fernando, Gonzalez showed enough in his special action for the Celtics to select him late in the first round, making him the franchise’s highest-drafted player who did not play college basketball since Guerschon Yabusele in 2016.
“I think they play a very physical game (in Spain),” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “There’s obviously the professionalism that they have there. So I think there’s a lot of stuff on and off the court that his environment has prepared him for. At the same time, it’s a different language, there’s different schemes, there’s different rules, the court is different, and so you just have to get used to playing those. But he’s got an open mind, and he’s playing with effort, so that’s all that matters right today.”
Days after the draft — which took place hours after Real Madrid’s domestic season ended — Gonzalez was in Boston preparing for NBA Summer League. He made his unofficial NBA debut for the Summer Celtics and lived up to his scouting report, shooting the ball erratically (30.2%; 30.4% from 3-point range) but making an impact as a cutter, offensive rebounder and high-motor defender.
today a few months into his Celtics tenure, Gonzalez said he’s felt his comfort level increase as he faces a higher level of competition and intensity in training camp.
“Of course, it’s different from Summer League,” he said. “I’ve already been here for like two months. I would say that it’s more or less a little bit better. The other thing is that I’m playing with different people, you know? But today that I know plenty of the stuff (and) I know what they want from me, it’s way easier.”
Celtics practices are closed to the media, so the only glimpses of Gonzalez on the court this fall have come from brief clips shared by the club’s content team. The teenager has brought the type of energy that drew Boston to him as a draft prospect, according to teammates, but he’s still in the early stages of his development.
“He plays very hard,” guard Payton Pritchard said. “Definitely going to be a really good player eventually, but it takes time for young players. I mean, he’s what, 19 years old? So this year and, I mean, every day, it’s just about him just taking a step (toward) growth. Keep getting better and better. You never know what you can become.”
The key word there: “eventually.” Boston will have more minutes available to younger and unproven players this season after losing roughly half of their championship-winning veterans this summer, but Gonzalez likely will need more seasoning in practice, garbage time and potentially the G League before he can contend for a spot in Mazzulla’s rotation.
Regardless, Gonzalez will be a player to movie when the Celtics open their preseason schedule Wednesday night in Memphis.
“Whatever they ask me to do, I’ll do it,” he said. “That’s for sure. If they ask me to be a high-energy guy, that’s on my hand. I can control it. Those types of things, I’ll try to do the best I can.”
Mazzulla added: “He’s doing everything he’s asked of so far and just has to continue to get better.”
Walsh growing up
Mazzulla said he’s seen a heightened level of maturity in camp from Boston’s second-youngest player, 21-year-old Jordan Walsh.
“That’s a great word, maturity,” the Celtics coach said Saturday. “I think it comes from self-awareness, comes from understanding the environment, what it looks like to be impactful, effective. What the team needs, not necessarily what you think you’re good at.”
Walsh, who played sparingly in each of his first two NBA seasons, said he worked this offseason to improve his “role player IQ.” The 2023 second-round draft pick knows he won’t be the Celtics’ best option, even after their roster revamp, so he wants to prove he can thrive in a “connector” role, setting up Jaylen Brown and Boston’s other primary playmakers.
“(He has) a level of understanding of what success looks like in this league and how he’s able to do that,” Mazzulla said. “I thought (Saturday) was his best day of practice, and it was because of the activity and the ability to get us extra possessions and the physicality. It’s a tough job, because you’ve got to do it every night, but he had an understanding and just got a maturity about what he needs to do. It’s just a matter of executing.”
Walsh saw action in 52 games last season, averaging 7.8 minutes, 1.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per appearance.
The road ahead
The Celtics are scheduled to hold just one practice this week: Monday morning at the Auerbach Center. Then, it’s on to the preseason, with exhibition games set for Wednesday at the Grizzlies, Friday in Toronto and Sunday at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers (and travel days in between).
Boston will play its final preseason contest next Wednesday against the Raptors at TD Garden before opening the season at home against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
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