Hugo González has a real “dive head first” mentality in the minutes that I saw with Real Madrid. It makes sense; he’s a young talent on a big club who wasn’t a major part of their rotation. Of course he wants to kick down the door and thrust himself into any and all action.
It can sometimes cross the line into erraticism, but really, I found it endearing.
Make no mistake: González is a raw prospect at 19 years old (6’6, 223 pounds). There’s a youthful exuberance to his play style with a lot of the intangibles to be an NBA role player, but little of the refinement. His jumper is a huge work in progress, he’s nothing more than a simple-read playmaker and his handle leads to more turnovers than you’d want, but there’s something moldable in his game.
Hugo is a high-effort defender with good size to fight for rebounds, force turnovers and be in the right place to defend shooters from behind the arc. Offensively, he’s got a nice crossover move to get into the paint, he’s not afraid to go up through contact and he’s got real bounce to his game that helps him finish strong at the rim.
Real Madrid was a solid spot to develop and earn minutes against EuroLeague competition, but it appears that Boston is confident enough in Gonzalez to bring him to the team this summer. There’s a lot to like in Hugo, but he’s best looked at as a developmental prospect rather than a ready-made contributor.
Season stats (69 games): 11 MPG, 3 PPG, 2 RPG, 1 APG, 41% FG, 28% 3P, 76% FT, 0.3 BPG, 0.3 SPG, 0.6 TOV
+ Powerful slasher that can quickly pick up speed and attack
+ Consistently gets a hand on the ball on his perimeter contests
+ Can really sell a defender with his crossover. It’s an efficient method to the hoop, and he looks comfortable using it
+ Good rotational defender with the speed/strength/length combo to help, recover and cause chaos on an offensive possession
+ Shows good effort on both ends of the floor. It particularly comes across in his fight for boards and his attentiveness on the defensive end. Can sometimes transition into over-aggression, but he shows a lot of tenacity.
+ Active cutter/off-ball mover
+ Has an overall loose handle. Bit of a high-dribbler that is susceptible to active hands as he attacks the paint
— Has an odd “dip down” shooting motion where he sinks the ball below the average shooter’s pocket down to the waist before pulling it up to fire. It has so far not provided promising results. You’ll see a lot of shots barely touch the front rim
— Wish there was more to his playmaking, especially for such a drive-minded scorer
— Will need to strengthen up to match his play style
Shades of: Aaron Nesmith’s chaotic energy
Note: NBA Combine measurables record height without shoes. All season stat totals have been rounded up to whole numbers.
