Don't Let The Celtics Playing Like Ass Distract You From The Fact That Hugo Gonzalez Is Clearly A Gift From The Basketball Gods

Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.

After a disappointing and rather gross opening loss to the Sixers, the Celtics traveled down to MSG for a chance at redemption. Not just in terms of making up for what happened in Game 1, but also to exorcise some demons from what took place in that very same building back in May. It was a great bounce back opportunity to sort of right the ship and remove the bad taste in our mouths coming off what happened against Philly.

Did that happen?

Of course not. Don't be an idiot. Not only was there no exorcism of past demons, it was mostly a complete and utter disaster. 

I guess my question would be, to any Celts fan who either didn't want to accept the reality of their situation or thought that for some reason very obvious basketball flaws that impact every other team on the planet somehow wouldn't impact the Celtics……do you see it yet? Do you see what many of us were talking about when it came to this roster and their standing not just in the NBA, but the Eastern Conference? 

Sure it's only been two games of the season, but I'm sorry to say these issues and flaws are always going to exist. They were apparent the minute the roster was finalized, and I truly feel like anyone who was being objective when talking about this roster told you how impactful these flaws were going to be. Heading into the season, it felt like for some there was this sense of arrogance that I never really understood. For example, how many times have you heard this?

"The rest of the East is trash, the Celtics should win 45+ games and be a top 4 seed"

Newsflash to those people. For the moment, the 2025-26 Celtics are part of that trash. I don't know how much clearer it can be that as constructed, they are not a "cut above" teams that you may have looked down upon these last few years. 

Personally, I've had them at 37-39 wins with a top 10ish offense / bottom 3rd defense / slightly negative net rating since July. Why? Because I've seen their roster. I saw their flaws  anad limitations and how those two things are directly tied to winning and losing. Now that we've seen how things look against two potential playoff-caliber teams in the East, was 37-39 too high? I still think that feels right, but the bigger picture is this so far this season has gone exactly the way anyone could have told you it would when you saw their schedule. The things we knew would kill them heading into the year, have killed them.

As I always say, this is where perspective is important. Is it excruciating to watch at times? Hell yeah. It is embarrassing that we're watching teams like the Sixers and the Knicks run the Celts off the floor? How could it not be. I can't think of a single person who "enjoys" watching the Celtics play dogshit basketball, even if we all understand their current situation. But what's important is keeping perspective.

If heading into the season, most rational people understood that this was a "gap" or "reset" or "transition" year, well what do you think happens in those types of seasons? I'm starting to think a large portion of the fanbase doesn't really understand what that means, because if you did, then none of what we've seen to start the season should surprise you. This is what "gap years" look like. Just ask the 2019-20 Warriors or the 1996-97 Spurs. 

With all that said, the beauty in my delusion is that I'm still able to focus on some positive takeaways in what is a developmental season. There weren't many, but there was just enough to get the blood flowing. Let's begin.

The Good

- Not to be dramatic or anything, but something tells me decades from now we'll all remember where we were when we witnessed the NBA debut of Hugo Gonzalez. If there was any positive takeaway from that shitfest of a game last night, it's the fact that it took just one game for Hugo to show signs that he's the best draft pick of the Brad Stevens Era.

To me, this is really the only thing that truly matters coming out of this loss. It's hard to pick a favorite part of Hugo's debut, but I think first and foremost what stood out to me most and what gives me the most hope for his future is the fact that the second he stepped on the floor, things did not feel "too big" for Hugo. We see All Star players get thrown off by the big stage of MSG, but for 19 year old Hugo? It never felt that way. It did not feel like there were any nerves despite it being his NBA debut in such a tough environment and big stage. He immediately made an impact, his defense and energy were awesome, he guarded 94 feet, he attacked the offensive glass, it was mostly perfect. Even his airballed 3PA still led to points, it was as if Hugo could do no wrong.

I don't think we can stress enough how important it would be for Hugo to show that he's a real piece moving forward. That's basically Brad's most important challenge when it comes to the next iteration of the roster. He needs to find cheap, young cost cost-controlled players that are complementary to his core players. Well, when I see Hugo, I see someone who down the line could absolutely be that type of piece. Given what we saw last night against that caliber of defense, you can see a world where Hugo allows you to use him in a wide variety of lineups. He can handle the ball a little bit, he has great size and can guard 1-3s. He clearly thrives around the margins, and in terms of his mental toughness? I mean, just listen to the guy!

To his credit, Jalen Brunson only had 4 points (all FTs) in 11 possessions against Hugo, so I'd say he did pretty fucking good considering this was his NBA debut at 19 years old. 

But the larger point is around his mentality. It's impossible not to love it. You just know losing this game ate him alive all last night as he tried to go to sleep, and that's exactly the type of shit I love to see. 

Is it crazy to say Hugo played his way into being a fixture in the rotation from here on out? I cannot imagine how someone would say otherwise. This is a player who should not play one second in Maine. In fact, I'd say I'm one or two more strong showings away from needing Hugo in the starting 2 spot. At the very least, 15-20 minutes a night, every night, should be mandatory. 

In a season that will be filled with tons of gross moments and horrific losses, it's important to find the bright spots and put your energy into those during this reset year. So far? The brightest spot is Hugo Gonzalez, and last night was his coming out party.

- It was nice to see Sam Hauser's jumper respond coming off that tough performance in the opener

18 points on 6-10 (6-10) in his 27 minutes, Hauser was really the only Celtic whose jumper made the trip to NYC, and it was his shooting that helped the Celts get off to such a good start early (not that it mattered). While Hauser starting at the 4 might not be "ideal", I'd say welcome to the reality of the Celtics roster. They really have no other choice, so with that decision comes the limitations, especially in terms of rebounding/defense. It is what it is at this point, but at least Hauser showed that his jumper is as pure as ever, even against an elite defense.

- That's it. We can move on.

The Bad

- Basketball isn't exactly a complicated game. If you do certain things well, you're going to win. If you suck complete ass at certain things, you're going to lose. Through two games and two gross losses, you're seeing in real time just how important the margins are when it comes to winning in the NBA.

Just go down the list.

1. The Knicks had 21 OREB which turned into 21 2nd chance points

2. The Knicks forced 15 TOs, which led to 23 points off TOs

3. The Knicks made more 3PM (17 vs 15)

4. The Knicks won the FTA battle 25-15

5. The Knicks won the fastbreak points battle 15-2

No fucking shit you're going to blow a team out/win a game when you do all that. For the second straight game the Celtics made more FGM and had a higher eFG% than their opponent, yet they lost both games. Why? Because the margins matter. Especially for a team who's margin for error is EXTREMELY thin.

If a team cannot rebound, it will not win. Period. We all knew the Celts had the worst frontcourt situation heading into the season, yet people somehow wanted to ignore what that meant. It means that against any team with decent size, you are going to get demolished on the glass. Back-to-back games allowing 21 2nd chance points. The 21 OREB last night were the most allowed in the Joe Mazzulla Era. When looking at how the rebounding is going this season, does this surprise anyone?

The Knicks scored 105 points in this game, with 44 coming off self-inflicted wounds. I think we're seeing the impact of losing an entire frontcourt rotation, and this is what I mean when I say there's no real solution. This is just how the rebounding is going to go this year, and the signs were everywhere during the preseason. If you can't rebound, you can't get out in transition. If you can't get out in transition, that means you have to execute in the halfcourt, which is 10000000x harder with this iteration of the roster. Poor halfcourt execution leads to droughts/fastbreak opportunities for your opponent.

See how it's all connected? The Celts played at a 93.50 pace last night, which was slower than their 29th ranked pace last year. Why? Because they could not rebound. It didn't matter if they forced misses, because they couldn't get clean defensive possessions. Meanwhile, all the Knicks did was run, because they were able to handle the defensive glass. Add in the turnover issue, and ultimately, this comes down to a possession battle. This team is not good enough to give away extra possessions to good teams, and both the Sixers and Knicks made them pay for it.

- I'm not sure it gets worse than the 42-14 2nd quarter. All that good work in the first to establish yourself, you're playing pretty well and then this happens

I mean good God. When this happened, it marked the second time in 3 quarters that the Celts defense allowed at least 42 points. That is beyond terrible and guess what? It was the driving force behind both of their losses. Everything about that quarter is gross. 7 OREB allowed. 50/46% shooting with 6 3PM. Allowing 12 FAT. Offensively a brutal 5 TOs on 22/25% splits and just 14 points in 12 minutes. Sure it was just one bad quarter, but that's the thing. When you're that bad in a quarter, nothing else you do that night really matters. From up 8 to down 20 at the break??????? Gross.

- I think it's fair to say that so far, both Derrick White and Payton Pritchard are having some struggles in their new roles. This is part of what we knew might happen with everyone going up a spot in their role/responsibility. For Derrick, that meant being the #2 option offensively, and so far it's been more of a struggle than some anticipated. You're seeing the limitations in shot creation, his outside jumper is probably taking a hit due to the extra effort and energy that's now required by being more of an on ball player, and his 5-18 (3-11) was tough to overcome. 

With Payton, his role as the starting point guard has mostly been a disaster. His jumper is NOWHERE to be found, and he was just 2-10 (1-7) last night. In previous years, you could survive shooting slumps from those two given the talent on the roster. But now? If those two can't consistently produce, it's a wrap. There isn't the same level of talent around them to make up for it, especially with no Jayson Tatum. I think the hope was that Simons' offense would help make up for it, but that hasn't exactly happened so far either. If anything, he's been more "meh" on that end of the floor. 

It's early obviously, and we know that both Derrick and Payton are much better than their start, but there's also something to be said about the difference in role/responsibility. We know how they fit based on their previous roles, but this year is different. If they are going to no show, the team has no shot.

- Things just feel so much tougher for this team offensively. We're seeing how impactful it is to have worse on-ball shot creation and worse spacing. Nobody is getting by their man and forcing rotations, teams are able to sit in and clog the paint because the shooting isn't there. Even getting the ball over halfcourt is tougher. When the Celts do make a shot, it feels like it took them 10x the amount of work just to get it. Part of that may be new guys and new lineups and all that, but most of it to me, is just the reality of their current skillsets, especially when facing a good defensive team. 

This is what things look like when your talent level drops and those skillsets are no longer around to the same level you've been used to. 

- While there may have been some hope heading into the year, I think we've learned that both Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh are not going to be factors despite the roster limitations. At least against good teams. It was also a little weird we didn't see Josh Minott at all, especially since it was clear they could use some energy/rebounding.

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The Ugly

- I'm not really sure where else to put Jaylen's night. I know the box score says 23/4/5 on 9-18 (3-7), but to me that's a little misleading. I thought this was mostly a disaster night from Jaylen, most notably with his 7 TOs. I'm not talking about tough calls or maybe an offensive foul or anything like that.

I'm talking about brutal, inexcusable type of turnovers. The type of shit we saw in 2023 against MIA

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Dribbling into traffic, careless passes, losing the ball on drives etc.

Nowhere CLOSE to good enough. When one player has nearly half of your total TOs (7 of 15), that's just not going to cut it. Not only that, but Jaylen only had 2 REB basically through the entire game outside of the end, which also cannot happen. The same way that shit has been unacceptable for Tatum in his role, it's unacceptable for Jaylen who now has to take on that same responsibility.

While it was great that he's been efficient to start the year, none of that matters if you're going to be that careless with the ball and that inactive on the glass. Especially on a night when no one else on the team can make a basket or grab a rebound. As the best player, it's on YOU to set the tone and sure those things up. That's part of the weight of his role, and it has to be an every single night thing. Last night, we didn't get it.

So in the end, just like the Sixers game I'd say this one went pretty much as expected. The problem areas we all know existed and would kill the Celts against a team like the Knicks showed up. The limitations of the roster once again proved to be too much to overcome. None of that should be surprising.

The good news is, Hugo showed real flashes, and in a developmental year, that's really the most important thing.