“I think they are doing well, playing a great start to the season, and it’s well-deserved because I know them all,” Hugo Gonzalez told Eurohoops.
Entering his second season with the Boston Celtics after being selected 28th overall in the NBA draft, Gonzalez is already casting an eye toward the future of the Spanish national team. The 6th-ranked team in the FIBA world rankings is undergoing a generational shift following the retirements of long-time stalwarts Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez.
Aday Mara went 12th overall and started his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sergio de Larrea went 25th to the Dallas Mavericks before a knee injury interrupted his start, and Baba Miller went 36th to find minutes in the rotation under Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue.
“Each of them is taking advantage of the opportunity given to them, and that’s going to help us a lot,” Gonzalez said.
Before the squad can look ahead to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Spain must play the rest of its European qualification fixtures for the next FIBA World Cup, which takes place one year prior to the tournament in California.
La Roja currently holds a five-win, three-loss record in Group I of the European qualifiers with four matches left to play. Gonzalez and his fellow young draftees all participated in the summer qualifying window alongside Santi Aldama, who has emerged as one of the primary leaders of the senior national team.
“If we didn’t think about it, we shouldn’t even play,” Gonzalez said regarding Olympic ambitions. “We must aspire to become the best players possible. If we show the work ethic I think we have, the cohesion I think we have, and confidence in ourselves, I don’t know what our limits will be or what our ultimate goal will be.”
“Beyond being very good players, they are also very good people and very good teammates,” Gonzalez said. “We have a lot of memories together.”
The next official test for the team arrives when the European qualifiers resume.
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