You just have to take a look at social networks to know perfectly which two signings from last summer They left the UCAM Murcia CB fans a little cold, who had seen important players leave and their replacements did not have the cachet or the name of those who left. One of them was Sander Raieste, the forward who arrived from Baskonia to replace Rodions Kurucs. And the other, Emanuel Cate, a player who had already been at the club and who in his first stage left through the back door after his progress stalled.
The first time, very young
The first time she signed for UCAM Murcia, in 2018, Cate was just 21 years old. He came from shining in Primera FEB, previously LEB Oro, with CB Prat. The club, in need of places, opted for the player born in Bucharest on July 30, 1997. He already had experience in ACB, because he spent two seasons at Real Betis, but with an almost testimonial role in the rotation. He spent four seasons in Murcia, from 2018-2019 to 2021-2022. In the first of them he finished with an average of 15:05 minutes per game and 4.7 points and 3.6 rebounds, numbers consistent with his youth at the time.
In the next one, 2019-2202, sharing a position with Kevin Tumba and Kyle Hunt, his average number of minutes (16:36) and also points (6.6) increased slightly, but not so in rebounds (3.5). In the third, with the return of Augusto Lima, he went until 17:16 minutes (6.8 points and 4.8 rebounds), signing eleven games with double figures in scoring.
But in the last one, 2021-2022, again with Lima as a partner in the '5' position, he took a step back, reducing his minutes on the court to 14:50, with 4.6 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Return to Romania in 2022
In that summer of 2022, no ACB club wanted to bet decisively on Cate. The center packed his bags to return to his country, which he left in 2013 to join the Real Madrid youth team, a club with which he was the junior Euroleague champion in 2015 with a squad that included Santi Yusta, Jonathan Barreiro and Luka Doncic. Upon his return home he joined Napoca, with whom he played in the Eurocup and spent two seasons, averaging 14 points and almost 8 rebounds in the last one. Baxi Manresa, who had just signed Diego Ocampo, recruited the Romanian again for the Spanish league in 2024and with the Catalans he had a season very consistent with his role as second five in the rotation. He finished with averages of 17:20 minutes, 7 points and 4.7 rebounds and nine games with double figures in scoring.
Baskonia and Manresa, the first warnings
Precisely in the victory against the Manresa team at the Palace on the sixth day, Cate, who had already scored 12 points and 6 rebounds against Baskonia, already emerged on an individual level in this second stage as a university player, regaining the respect of the Murcian fans. In fact, in defense he became a nightmare for his former teammates. And in the victory against Joventut, due to the loss of Devontae Cacok, he had a difficult mission: stop Ante Tomic, one of the most dominant 'five' in the league. Against the Croatian, Cate had his best game in this new stage at UCAM. Only on one occasion, on the tenth day of the 20-21 season, in a match against Gran Canaria at the Palacio that ended in Murcia's defeat and with the Romanian posting 16 points and 11 rebounds for a PIR of 34, had he been so brilliant on an individual level. On this occasion, against the green and black team, he earned 26 units in valuation thanks to his 15 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in 27 minutes. But beyond the numbers, his prominent role emerged in the defense of Tomic. In fact, every time the Joventut player appeared on the court, Sito Alonso would place Cate back in the quintet. And Cate did not disappoint, on the contrary, he came out acclaimed by the public.
“With the games you will see the changes that I have experienced”
«Three years have passed since my last game here, but when you want to get better every day, three years is a long time. So with the games you will see the changes that I have experienced and demonstrate everything I have learned in this time and how I can now help the team win many games,” he said last September in his official presentation, in which he also stated that “I am ready for everything Sito wants from me and to help this team grow.”
Among the club's history
Cate is already among the historical figures of an entity that turned 40 last October. ANDa is sixth in matches in ACB, with 135, just ten away from entering the 'top 5', displacing José Ángel Antelo. Furthermore, in rebounds he is seventh with 560, still far from being among the five best. And in minutes he is twelfth with 2,193, about to surpass Duane Washington, who is with 2,212, and also close to Jordi Soler, who is tenth with 2,374. The Romanian, through work and perseverance, is dismantling a curse from the Spanish proverb that says that “second parts were never good.”
