RIGA (Latvia) - Portugal picking up their first EuroBasket win in 18 years was not enough for us, so we went digging to figure out if we had witnessed the best-ever debut by a single player on Wednesday afternoon in Arena Riga.
That's because Neemias Queta went off for 23 points, 18 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals and an efficiency rating of 39, tormenting Czechia's defense and bothering their offense all game long.
"We already know what he's capable of. He's a great player for us, and he's a really humble guy. Great chemistry, great player, we're glad we have him," Portugal team captain Miguel Queiroz was in awe after the game.
"I know he had like 23, but we still didn't give him the ball enough. I think if we were to give him the ball like six more possessions, he'd have 37 points or something. He's a big time player, EuroBasket is the perfect place for him to show his talent and sometimes it doesn't get recognized in the NBA, but he's playing great, that's our guy, we wanna go through him," teammate Travante Williams added.
How historic was his first game?
He became the first player with more than 20 points and more than 15 rebounds in his first EuroBasket game over the past 30 years, since FIBA began tracking rebounding stats in 1995.
In fact, his tally of 18 rebounds was the most-ever in a EuroBasket debut and also immediately catapulted him into elite company among Europe's greats for single-game rebounding performances of all time.
However, he is not even close to making history when it comes to all-time scoring performances.
Mike Jackel won the FIBA EuroBasket with Germany in 1993. Eight years prior, he played his first game in this competition, going crazy for 36 points against the Netherlands.
The only player who came close to taking him down afterwards was Lithuania's Arturas Karnisovas with 35 against Germany in 1995. However, Queta does rank in the Top 10 highest scoring debuts in this century.
Top 10 highest scoring debuts in EuroBasket history
Year | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
1985 | Mike Jackel (GER) | 36 |
1995 | Arturas Karnisovas (LTU) | 35 |
1969 | Edward Jurkiewicz (POL) | 34 |
1987 | Rik Smits (NED) | 31 |
1993 | Aivar Kuusmaa (EST) | 30 |
1977 | Olin Bell (BEL) | 28 |
1995 | Ibrahim Kutluay (TUR) | 27 |
1999 | Petar Naumoski (MKD) | 27 |
2005 | Todor Stoykov (BUL) | 27 |
2011 | Bojan Bogdanovic (CRO) | 27 |
Top 10 highest scoring debuts since 2000
Year | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
2005 | Todor Stoykov (BUL) | 27 |
2011 | Bojan Bogdanovic (CRO) | 27 |
2022 | Tyler Dorsey (GRE) | 27 |
2001 | Andrei Kirilenko (RUS) | 26 |
2022 | Aleksandar Vezenkov (BUL) | 26 |
2011 | Luol Deng (GBR) | 25 |
2009 | Kelly McCarty (RUS) | 24 |
2017 | Vlad Moldoveanu (ROU) | 24 |
2022 | Mike Tobey (SLO) | 24 |
2025 | Neemias Queta (POR) | 23* |
*Four other players scored 23 in their first game
Top 10 rebounding debuts in EuroBasket history
Year | Player | Rebounds |
|---|---|---|
2025 | Neemias Queta (POR) | 18 |
2011 | Vladimir Dasic (MNE) | 16 |
2022 | Deni Avdija (ISR) | 15 |
2015 | Siim-Sander Vene (EST) | 13 |
2022 | Sandro Mamukelashvili (GEO) | 13 |
2001 | Kaspars Kambala (LAT) | 11 |
2011 | Viktor Sanikidze (GEO) | 11 |
2013 | Omri Casspi (ISR) | 11 |
2015 | Erik Murphy (FIN) | 11 |
2022 | Aleksandar Vezenkov (BUL) | 11 |
FIBA