Derrick White may not be good at talking himself up, even though he's an important player for the Celtics. He doesn't like to brag, and he's not looking for personal recognition. Earlier this season, he felt uncomfortable when he was trying to get his first triple-double.
When asked if he thinks he should be on the All-Defensive team again this season, Derrick White seemed a bit hesitant.
Derrick White said, “I don’t know if I deserve it, but I'm just trying to help us win and make things hard for great players. We have great defenders all over this team, so it makes my job easier. But I don’t know how to campaign for myself. That’s not my strength.
Derrick White has been helped by having good defenders on the team, but he has also improved himself. Up to this point, he has gotten his career bests with 86 blocks – leading all NBA guards – and 71 steals.
Even though Derrick White doesn't like to brag about himself, he did acknowledge those numbers when asked about what he thinks he's done better defensively this season.
“I think I’ve gotten more blocks and more steals, so that right there is pretty good I’d say,” White commented.
Queta was recognized for his good work.
The Celtics signed Neemias Queta to a standard contract to fill their final roster spot. This is for multiple years.
It's a well-deserved reward for Queta, the young 7-foot center, who has impressed in 26 games with the Celtics this season. He’s now eligible to play in the postseason.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said, “It’s good. It validates him, it validates his work, it validates the things he’s done throughout the season. It validates the staff, the development team in the G-League. I think all of that goes into, when you sign guys like that, that’s the goal to be able to convert that. So that’s a testament to everybody that’s involved, starting with him.”
White was very happy to see Queta get his contract.
“Shout out to Neemi, for real,” White said. “I mean, every day he comes in and works his tail off. Any minutes he gets he’s out there competing and doing whatever we ask him to do and he’s playing amazing right now in Maine.”
More history being made.
Porzingis was chosen as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for playing really well on both offense and defense. He helped the Celtics win all 4 games last week, and this is the first time a team had four different players win the weekly award in a single season.
White made a lighthearted comment about how Porzingis got the player of the week award even though he only played three quarters in their victories over the Kings and Blazers.
“I thought it was pretty impressive to win player of the week after only playing three quarters,” White remarked. “But he’s been fantastic for us all season. He's a great player, and it's great to have him. It just shows how focused on teamwork we are, whether some players are out or we're all together, it doesn't matter who's doing what. It's all about the team, and credit to the entire roster.” …
Porzingis (right hamstring injury management) and Al Horford (left big toe sprain) both missed Tuesday’s game against the Bucks as the Celtics continued to manage the workload of their regulars in the last week of the regular season. Xavier Tillman started in their absence.
