What would you all consider a successful season for Neemias Queta?
Neemias Queta is the man of the hour for the Celtics, basketball, and for his country Portugal. This afternoon was Portugal’s first victory (over Czech Republic) in Eurobasket competition in 18 years. Portugal doesn’t have a rich basketball history, and this is a great moment for the sport in the country.
Queta takes pride in playing for his country and recognizes the importance of being the face and leader of not just this team but really of Portuguese basketball. I think what we’ve seen from him this month and of course we’ll see what comes of the next games in group play for Portugal but the confidence he will gain from this should be invaluable. There’s no better way to really grow your game than to get live action minutes.
We saw him make a 3 today but that won’t be something he’ll be asked to do a lot of in Boston. Perhaps we see him attempt a few once in a while, but more than likely we see him continue to be asked to do traditional big man stuff….defend the paint, rim protect on defense, rebound, be a strong play finisher in the dunker spot, be a PnR finisher, and get out in transition. He’s proven himself capable of fulfilling this role, but I also feel he’s shown some recognition/awareness issues as a NBA player….like things are going too fast for him and he struggles with processing at times. He has a huge foul rate which is perhaps his biggest weakness.
He’s still been a good rim defender though overall, good post defender…he’s been good at the things he should be good at and he’s mobile and long; I think he has NBA starter level ability/upside defensively. He’s a decent enough FT shooter which gives some hope of his upside maybe in making a couple 3’s scattered about a season. He is a bit turnover prone and clumsy on offense at times, but he also has massive hands, which makes him a good catch and dunk guy/play finisher on offense, and he has good coordination. There is some post-up skill there too, will be interesting to see if that’s utilized more.
I wanna know what you all would consider a successful season for Neemias Queta. He’s 26 so should be around his prime now. What would you consider a season that proves he’s someone that’s a keeper long term in Boston?