Hugo Gonzalez is quietly making an impression on his coach, Joe Mazzulla. In last night's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, he was on the court for 30-plus minutes and led his team in plus/minus with a +3.
The rookie contributed 13 points, six boards, three assists and two steals. "The Spaniard" is in fourth place in plus/minus this season (per NBA.com's John Schuhmann):
"The Celtics have still outscored their opponents by 17.2 points per 100 possessions with González on the floor. That’s the fourth-best on-court mark among 332 players who’ve averaged at least 10 minutes in 15 games or more. (He’s the only player in the top seven who’s not on the Thunder.)"
The kid is not particularly flashy but he is relentless on defense and opportunistic on offense. Coming into the League, Hugo was known for his defense, but his offense is better than advertised. He finds ways to score simply by being in the right place at the right time.
As I recently wrote, Gonzalez has a shot at filling the role of 5th starter if he continues to improve his game. In the loss versus Portland, Hugo was on the floor for most of the final seven minutes of the game. Boston fans may see more minutes for "The Spaniard" as the season progresses. He seems to be a keeper for Brad Stevens.
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