Hugo Gonzalez

PROFILE

U18 European Championship- August 2023
By Artau Pascual

NBA-caliber athlete. Broad shoulders, muscular body, athletic legs and relentless motor. Above-average athlete for European standards: explosive, quick, elite functional strength. Provides rim pressure both getting to the rim with the ball or through cuts or offensive boards. Embraces contact and isn’t afraid of initiating it. Has done big improvements on his weak hand -left- ball handling ability. Shot is streaky, but he’ll be solid: mechanics are consistent and he doesn’t force his looks. Can find his spots in curl schemes and is also good at feeding his teammates in these situations. Unstoppable in transition. Will add repetitions as a halfcourt initiator in a near future. On the defensive end, he has sky-high potential as a weak and help side defender, and he provides a huge amount of rim protection for his position. Great lateral quickness and horizontality for POA defense. Plays with low center of gravity. Elite communicator: he’s always talking and cheering for his teammates.


ANGT Munich- January 2023

The best athlete at the event. Madrid’s swingman found no opposition and was able to produce in fastbreaks and transitions. He shot the ball better than ever from the three-point line, displaying shooting versatility and pulling it up confidently off the dribble. He had some high-level defensive matchups against Dadiet in the first half of their game, which was the best moment to evaluate Real Madrid’s players in a real competition situation. He flashed encouraging playmaking reads in off-screen situations and exploited mismatches at the post.


Torneig L'Hospitalet- December 2022

From a physical and athletic standpoint, Hugo González was the best prospect of the event. He was nearly unstoppable in transition against FC Barcelona. During the whole tournament, he made the right reads in most of his drives, and, despite the results being still inconsistent, he showed nice improvements in his shooting form. The question mark that will determine his ceiling will be the development as a halfcourt primary initiator.

General overview- October 2022
Hugo González is having an impressive year. He was one of the biggest standouts of the FIBA U17 World Cup being one year younger than the most of his colleagues and a few months after the tournament made his debut with Real Madrid in Liga Endesa.

From a physical standpoint Hugo González is impressive. He fits the molt of the swingman that currently has a valuable role in NBA. He plays with impressive motor, is nearly unstoppable at open court and has developed a very interesting passing ability for high speed situations. He still has to work on his handle and coordination to be a reliable halfcourt offense creator, but Madrid is creating him a context where he can operate as a primary ball handler that will help him a lot for the upcoming seasons.

On the defensive end Hugo González is great. He plays with a lot of pride and does a great use of his motor to create events. He is an above-average shot-blocker among players of his same role and has the tools to be very active and disruptive at passing lanes. In addition, he has the potential to be a great Point of Attack defender thanks to his strong lower body and hands activity. 

Villa de La Orotava Tournament - September 2021
By Pietro Cristofori
Hugo Gonzalez was the main standout of the tournament. In the final game vs Orange1 Bassano he scored 28 points and grabbed 7 boards in 27 minutes. He is an awesome slasher, who can go to the rim at will. He plays very well through contact thanks to a strong upper body. Gonzalez is also one of the best Pick-and-Roll players in his generation: his tight and solid ball handling helps him a lot here. He has high basketball IQ: he continuously finds open teammates open on the perimeter, or the big man who is 'rolling' to the rim. The shooting mechanics are smooth and his efficiency from range is the part of his game that excites me the most. He has to improve his 1v1 defense: he struggles guarding smaller opponents and sometimes he seems a bit reluctant to play down on his knees.

Mini Copa Endesa - February 2020
By Biel Colominas
One of the best players in the tournament, Gonzalez is a talented guard with already good size and frame who still has room to develop more. Extremely coordinated and fluid, has an excellent ability to create scoring opportunities for himself and others, showing impressive ball-handling ability with either hands, footwork and body control to beat players off the dribble. Shows unusual feel for the game and instincts for a player of his age, he is very creative and makes advanced reads with the ball in his hands. Uses equally both hands to drive and finish, and his touch inside the paint is excellent even if he is contested. Smart player, understands the game, vocal on the floor when he notices there is a missmatch situation. Needs to work on his shooting mechanics, as it’s not the most natural at the moment. He has ridiculously good feel and anticipation to make plays on passing lanes on defense.