Neemias Queta touched by Joe Mazzulla's grand gesture

This offseason, Neemias Queta went back to visit his alma mater, Utah State. Joe Mazzulla went with him. It was a prime example of the Boston Celtics' bench boss making the effort to show his players he genuinely cares for them.

From Mazzulla attending Chris Boucher's baptism in Montreal to being present throughout Jayson Tatum's recovery from a torn Achilles tendon, demonstrating that he's there for his players on and off the court, he builds a trust that helps him push them on the hardwood.

"It was big time," Queta told Hardwood Houdini after shoot-around before Boston earned a 125-105 victory vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers. "Joe's been a big supporter of me, and also, having that trust and connection to have stuff going on off the court, and he's being present over there, that's big time for me. I don't take it lightly."

For the Celtics' fourth-year head coach, it was also a chance to visit Jerrod Calhoun. The Aggies' bench boss was on Bob Huggins' staff at West Virginia when Mazzulla played there. The latter later joined Calhoun's coaching staff at Fairmont State.

The Celtics continue to push Neemias Queta

Mazzulla is as hard on his starting center as anyone. That approach is helping bring out the best in him. That, and their belief in his potential, are why Queta's teammates are sharing in holding him to a high standard.

"We will continue to do that because he has a lot of potential to be great," said Payton Pritchard after Boston's 136-107 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. "We need him. We need his presence down low. His rebounding. His shot blocking. And then, obviously, he shows flashes of doing things offensively that could be really great for us. He's a young player still, and he's still growing, so we're going to hold him to a high standard."

The Celtics know how badly the 26-year-old from Lisbon, Portugal, wants to maximize his opportunity in the first unit. So far, the early returns are encouraging.

Entering Friday's game against the Orlando Magic, Queta and Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the Miami Heat are in a tie for the highest defensive rating in the league. He is yielding just 97.9 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. His 19.3 net rating is the second-best in the Association. He's also shooting 71.4 percent from the field. That ranks third in the league, per NBA.com.

As one would expect, those figures translate to Boston being appreciably better when its starting center is on the floor. Queta leads the team in plus-minus.

What's more exciting than what he's doing now is thinking about how his game might grow over the course of the season.