Portugal's first NBA player Queta plays a larger role with the Celtics

(This story has been updated to add a photo gallery)

When he signed with the Utah State Aggies to play college basketball on August 29, 2018, Neemias Queta was just a confident Portuguese boy who wanted to achieve the dream of one day playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA). However, the likelihood of this was extremely low as no player from Portugal had ever played professionally in the best league in the world.

But through hard work and perseverance, Queta repeatedly overcame the various hurdles, finally achieved his dream and then reached the top of the mountain in June when his new team, the Boston Celtics, won the NBA title.

More:The Portuguese Neemias Queta talks about his experiences with the Boston Celtics and his personal journey

Born in Lisbon in 1999 and raised in Vale da Amoreira to parents from Guinea-Bissau, Queta encountered initial difficulties adapting to this new reality.

“I was very young, I was 19 years old and I moved to a completely different country, a completely different area in terms of the weather, the culture, the way of life and the food,” he said. “It all plays a role, but I think it was the right decision, everything would work out.”

In fact it was. After three successful seasons at Utah State, he became the first Portuguese player to play in the NBA in 2021 when he was selected in the second round of the draft by the Sacramento Kings.

He signed a two-way contract in Sacramento that allowed him to play with both the first team and the G-League’s B team. Unfortunately, he never managed to break into the first-team rotation and the Sacramento Kings waived him before the start of last season.

“No, it wasn’t a shock,” he said. “You have an idea of what’s going on, and from there it’s about moving on without resentment.”

Some believe that if one person has faith and a door is slammed in his face, another will tend to open up. That was also the case with Queta, because a week after leaving Sacramento, a team that had never won the NBA title, he signed with the Boston Celtics, the team with the most NBA titles.

He said joining the Boston Celtics was “a source of pride” for him.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” he told O Jornal at the time. “I am very satisfied with the development. We played very well and the season went very well both individually and as a team. Now it’s about continuing on this path so that we can end the year happily.”

And they did, winning another title.

He also signed a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics, but gradually convinced Joe Mazzulla, who rewarded him with a standard contract that will keep him with the team for another three seasons.

Queta finished the season averaging 5.5 points and 4.4 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game, but was obviously hoping those numbers would increase this season.

Queta takes advantage of his opportunities and playing time

With Kristaps Porzingis, one of the team’s best big men, sidelined until next month, the Boston Celtics were hoping Neemias would provide depth up front.

The Portuguese international would rather not put himself under any additional pressure.

“I don’t think about it,” he recently told the Portuguese newspaper Tribuna Expresso. “I know that I still have a lot to do and I know that I will do it every day with the desire to improve. That’s my job. I know I’m just giving Joe (Celtics coach Mazzulla) a headache because he has more options to play with. From then on, it’s up to him to decide.”

Fortunately, he received extended playing minutes right at the start of the preseason and took advantage of the opportunity.

His first chance came in the second preseason game, a 115–111 win over the Toronto Raptors, and he responded with 15 rebounds, including six on offense, both game highs, as well as 12 points and five assists.

In a postgame interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin, he said he was just trying to show “a little bit of versatility.”

“We (are) always out here filling gaps and figuring out what our roles might be every night, but we just play hard and step in wherever the team needs me. “I feel like we played hard and from “We managed a little bit of everything,” he said.

He also expressed his excitement at the chance to play by pointing out that “we don’t get many opportunities to come out here and play as many minutes as we did tonight, but we just have to take advantage of them and play like that.” hard we can. We are happy that we got the victory.”

In his post-game interview with the Boston Celtics on SI, Mazzulla emphasized that “Neemy’s defensive awareness and his execution skills have increased and his offensive effectiveness – his screening, his spacing – he’s another guy who takes his role seriously and does that Fun.”take care of him.”

“He has developed a lot as a player,” says coach Mazzulla

In the preseason finale, a convincing 127-99 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, Queta received 13 minutes of playing time and recorded 12 points and seven rebounds.

In his post-match remarks, Mazzulla expressed satisfaction with his Portuguese-born center’s progress.

“He’s been getting better every day since he’s been with us,” said Mazzulla. “And his ability to pick up on our defensive strategies is the most important thing for a man like him. So I thought he saw a lot of progress in what we expect from him defensively.”

Always known as a talented defender, Queta rounded out his resume by showing improvement on the offensive side.

“The ability to play, think, pass, screen and maneuver on offense is enormous. “So I really like his development and our staff has done a great job of developing him since he’s been here,” Mazzulla added.

The coach continued to show his trust in Queta as the regular season progressed. He scored 12 points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes of play in a 122-102 win over the Wizards.

This time the words of praise came from teammate Derrick White.

“(He) seems to get every offensive rebound. (He’s) a big body around the rim. I think he’s just a little more comfortable. (He’s) a little more confident and knows where he needs to be on offense,” White said. “Maybe he thought too much last year. But this year he’s just playing, doing what he does, and he’s been really good for us in training camp and tonight.”

But the best part came earlier this month when Queta made his first career start, a 30-point win over Atlanta. He finished the night with 10 points, seven rebounds and a block and was +31 on the night.

His performances showed an upward trend, consistently reaching more than 10 minutes of playing time, but after this game he received effusive praise from his coach.

“He’s just grown a lot as a player and honestly, he doesn’t know how good he can be,” Mazzulla said after the game. “He has a great ceiling, so the standard is very high. I thought he did some great things for us tonight. When you’re as good as you can be, we have to keep him at that level every night.”

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