Bologna

Hippo The Great has provided us with the latest on Petteri Koponen. The news is good this time, The Finnagler is tearing paska up and the Blazers haven't forgotten about him after all. The latest Koponen highlights can be found here and here . Voi kyrpä!

2 010 has been a very good year for Petteri Koponen so far.

We all already know how the first three months of 2009/10 season went for the Finnish point guard. He started the season with moderate stats, got called out by his team owner, and after that simply took over the game while accepting combo guard duties more and more often.

The week before Christmas, veteran point guard Scoonie Penn left Koponen's Virtus Bologna because Virtus' guard Andre Collins finally came back after being absent for three months because of an injury. While Penn wasn't much of a scorer, Andre Collins is more of a Brandon Roy-type player, who can both create plays for others and score whenever a bucket is needed. Alongside Collins, Koponen has been flourishing.

Collins came back a month ago, Dec. 20. He seemed a bit rusty that day when Virtus suffered a last-second defeat to Armani Jeans Milano, 78-80. Collins spent the Christmas break pretty much rehabbing and, even though he's still a bit slow compared to last season, he has already made things much easier for Koponen.

Need evidence? Well, everybody has seen already that Koponen can score—he's been very reliable in December and early January from both inside and outside. Last season, Koponen specialized as an on-ball defender, and he has been excellent on the defensive end so far this season. The one thing that has been raising eyebrows has been Koponen's Assist+Steal/Turnover records, which aren't going the way they should be going for a guard.

Now that Collins has taken pressure off Koponen, we've seen steady rise in his ast+st/to-numbers. Here's a small comparison:

KOPONEN IN 9 GAMES WITH PENN: Ast 1,45 Stl 1,45 To 2,00 Ast/To 0,722 Stl/To 0,722

KOPONEN IN 4 GAMES WITH COLLINS: Ast 2,50 Stl 1,50 To 0,50 Ast/To 2,000 Stl/To 1,200

A week ago, Koponen had to leave the game against Scavolini Pesaro early because of a twisted ankle, but he managed to net 10 points (FG 4-5), one assist, two steals, and one turnover in only 25 minutes in an 82-80 victory. Last Sunday, Koponen was the MVP of the game when Virtus Bologna destroyed Euroleague team (and Brandon Jennings' old club) Lottomatica Roma 81-61. Koponen had 16 points (FG 6-10), three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one turnover and he was clearly the best player on the court when Virtus Bologna went on their decisive 20-0 run in second quarter.

And yet another stat comparison:

Koponen, first 5 games of the season: Min 23,4 Pts 6,2 Reb 2,8 Ast 2,0 Stl 0,6 To 1,8 2p 30,0% 3p 33,3% Ft 80,0%

Koponen, last 8 games of the season: Min 30,1 Pts 13,9 Reb 2,1 Ast 1,6 Stl 2,0 To 1,8 2p 67,9% 3p 46,4% Ft 66,7%

It's also worth noticing, that in Serie A's +/- statistics, Koponen is eighth in the whole league and the first player of the league in that category outside the players in league-leading Siena.

And oh yes, Koponen himself confirms that Portland Trailblazers' scouts have been very active in Italy so far this season. Rumors from Italy  that there are also some other NBA clubs trying to snatch the Finnish Wunderkid. Next weekend Koponen has the possibility to roam against the best of 'em, when last year's Serie A champion, undefeated Montepaschi Siena, hosts Virtus Bologna.

-Hippo

Hippo checks in with the latest on Koponen in the post-getting-called-out-by-the-team-owner era.

No doubt he's under pressure, but is it justified? Are his flimsy offensive stats a reflection of how The Finnagler is lacking, or can we attribute them to the simple fact that his team has ample perimeter scoring already and he is focused on giving the team what it needs (defense)?

Questions like these keep me up at night. I might have a problem.

Last week didn't start that well for Blazers draftee Petteri Koponen. The 21-year-old point guard has been able to develop for more than a year with Italian Serie A Club, Virtus Bologna, but just last week, hell broke loose with Virtus owner Claudio Sabatini claimed Koponen had given his club nothing so far.

Sabatini stated that if Koponen wouldn't ante up in the team's next game against Cimberio Varese, he would have to consider bringing in an American guard to replace Koponen in the starting lineup.

Later that week, Koponen's coach Lino Lardo rushed to defend his wunderkid in a tuttobasket.net interview.

Lardo mentioned Koponen's energy, playmaking and on-ball defense as something that couldn't be replaced, and also pointed out that Koponen isn't really struggling offensively—it's just that the team has so much offensive firepower that the young Finn isn't really the go-to guy on the team (only 3.5 field goal attempts per game in 2009-10).

Koponen started Sunday's away game at Varese alongside Scoonie Penn, but Penn twisted his ankle after just five minutes of play, causing Koponen to take full responsibility of point guard duties.

Koponen played a whopping 38 minutes in a hard-fought 78-68 victory for the Bolognese.

Sunday's game didn't turn out to be the kind of scoring outbreak team owner Sabatini wanted to see.

Koponen missed all four of his field goal attempts in the first half, but dished out three assists.

In the second half, Virtus was already pulling away from Varese because of fantastic inside play by Georgian forward Viktor Sanikidze, but Varese was able to cut the deficit from 50-64 to 61-66 because of hot shooting hand of Michel Morandais.

Hippo checks in with his latest report on Petteri Koponen for all you Finnaglerphiles. The news is good, and Koponen continues to show a knack for making clutch plays. Enjoy.

P.S. Fred Joooooones!

Italian Serie A tipped off this past weekend. While two of Virtus Bologna's previous year starters - Sharrod Ford and Alex Righetti - are still negotiating their contracts, the rest of the crew was busy in Sunday's 76-68 (42-36) victory over Sigma Coatings Montegranaro.

After the puzzling 2008/09 season, Petteri Koponen seems to be settled into the role of Virtus Bologna's starting point guard. 5-10" Scoonie Penn started alongside Koponen, but didn't take space nearly as much as Earl Boykins did last season. Koponen played a very steady 26 minutes in the win, collecting five points (fg 1-3 ft 3-4), two rebounds, three assists and one block with no turnovers.

Although Bologna's team play is far from ready, they had a very steady team production with Diego Fajardo, David Moss, Dusan Vukcevic and LeRoy Hurd all scoring in double figures. Despite that, they couldn't pull away from visiting Montegranaro.

With just under two minutes remaining, Montegranaro had the chance to tie the game. Montegranaro's Robert Hite drove against Koponen and tried to shoot a running floater, but Koponen swatted the shot away and LeRoy Hurd responded with two quick transition points, putting Virtus up 72-68. Virtus locked down Montegranaro in their last two possessions and made four free throws, resulting in 76-68 victory.

While Koponen didn't portray his full offensive arsenal, his three fg attempt/three assist/zero turnover night is a good sign when remembering his last season's "position crisis". Now it seems that he is the point guard of the team and it should only get better once scoring monster Andre Collins gets back in action. Meanwhile, Penn is the kind of grizzled veteran who should be able to help and tutor Koponen in his task.

Next week, Virtus is facing Angelico Biella in an away game. While Italian national team guard Matteo Soragna might be the team's most familiar name for Koponen, American fans should be most familiar with former Indiana Pacer Fred Jones, who played against Koponen in FIBA EuroChallenge Cup last season.

Virtus Bologna - Sigma Coatings Montegranaro 76-68 (23-19, 42-36, 54-54)

Virtus: LeRoy Hurd 15/7, Diego Fajardo 14/5, Dusan Vukcevic 12/4.
Montegranaro: Greg Brunner 19/6/4 steals, Marcus De Sousa Marguinhos 13/7/3 steals, Robert Hite 13/4/6 assists.

Petteri Koponen: Min 26 2pt 1/3 Ft 3/4 Pts 5 Reb 2 As 3 Bl 1, Start

-Hippo

If you aren't in the Finnaglerphile club you are thinking something like "Whaaa? We just had a Koponen update, stop the insanity!"

If you are a Finnaglerphile you may be thinking "Kaipasin sinua paljon," which roughly translates into something about a sauna. Or seal meat.

Anyhow, H.T. has checked in to clarify Koponen's situation and add a little more understanding to his recent challenges. Savor the flavor:

It still seems that Petteri Koponen is learning how to walk the walk at the pro sports courts. Once Virtus Bologna's starting point guard Andre Collins went down with an injury two weeks ago, Koponen was given one weekend to assure Virtus Bologna executives he would we willing and able to handle the point guard position all by himself.

Unfortunately, Koponen wasn't at his best at a preseason tournament played September 19th-20th. In two games (65-62 victory over Angelico Biella, 69-74 defeat against Benetton Treviso), Koponen scored a total of three points and, according to newspaper sources, left a lot to hope for with his decision making.

Koponen bounced back in another preseason game last Saturday, when Virtus won Armani Jeans Milano 83-77. Koponen handled the starting point guard duties, scored 13 points, and netted the game-winning three pointer at the beginning of the final minute.

One good game wasn't enough for the Virtus executives, though. Here we enter Scoonie Penn. Since Collins is going to be sidelined for at least four months and Koponen didn't fill the expectations, Virtus wanted to bring in another veteran point guard. US basketball fans might remember Penn as the other part of Ohio State's notorious Michael Redd/Scoonie Penn-duo.

Penn was drafted in 2000, but never got his chance to play in the big league. Like so many second round draft picks before and ever since, 32-year old Penn has played a solid pro career in such places as NBDL, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, and Ukraine. Right now it seems that Penn is going to play his first game with Virtus in a week, when Virtus plays their most important preseason game, the "SuperCup Competition" against Montepaschi Siena. The annual SuperCup game is played between last year's Italian Cup finalists.

So, will we see a Koponen-Penn opening backcourt, or will Koponen come off the bench? In a week or so, we'll know more.


-Hippo

You may not be familiar with the Finnish sportswriting sensation known as H.T., or "Hippo, our Friendly Finnish Sportswriter" as he is called over at BlazersEdge. (I know H.T. and he is anything but friendly. He once nearly drove Deceptively Quick out of business when he demanded to be compensated in fresh Saimaa Ringed Seal meat.) The man (myth, legend) is clearly bent on total Blazer blog domination, as is evident by his Q&A with Koponen that is currently up over at BlazersEdge. He checked in here to provide us with the latest developments of Koponen and his Italian team. Nautiskella:

Oh yes, a new season is approaching!

Petteri Koponen didn't have too much time to rest after ending the Eurobasket additional qualifying round with a victory over Italy. The day after the game, Koponen was picked up by Virtus Bologna's coaching staff and he has been practicing with his team full time ever since.

Despite the FIBA EuroChallenge championship, the 2008/09 campaign was a big disappointment for Virtus Bologna. The team got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and the majority of the offseason consisted of finger-pointing and yapping. Earl Boykins left Bologna and core players Keith Langford, Reyshawn Terry and Roberto Chiacig decided it was their time to go as well. The only returning players from last year's team are Koponen, reserve guard Brett Blizzard and versatile forward Dusan Vukcevic. Powerful pivot Sharrod Ford and former Italian national team guard Alex Righetti are also practicing with the team, but they haven't been able to negotiate their contracts for the approaching season just yet.

How about the newcomers? American point guard Andre Collins, who legabasket.it voted as the 2nd best point guard in Serie A after Siena's Terrell McIntyre, will probably take the starting job over Koponen. 6-7" scorer LeRoy Hurd has been playing professionally in Italy for the last five years after graduating from University of Texas-San Antonio. The third U.S.-born player signed by Virtus is swingman David "Ronn Moss" Moss, a wiry, tough defensive player.

Virtus also signed two European players. Veteran backup center Diego Fajardo returns to Italy after playing professionally in Spain for two seasons and San Antonio Spurs 2005 draft pick, 23-year old Georgian forward Viktor Sanikidze will come off the bench. Sanikidze played last year with Estonian team Tartu Rock.

Koponen has been very happy with the team's new coach Lino Lardo, who used to play the point guard position a couple of decades ago. Even though Virtus has signed Andre Collins as the starting PG, Lardo has been talking openly about the minutes he'll be giving Koponen throughout the season. After a full year playing off his natural position, Koponen has himself stated that playing shooting guard is no problem for him anymore.

While the Italian Serie A regular season won't tip off before mid-October, Koponen might have already clinched himself a starting job. Andre Collins went down (pause) with an injury last week and according to numerous reports, it might take months for Collins to get himself back in shape. It is still unknown whether Virtus Bologna will get an American replacement for Collins or if Koponen will be given the starting PG position.

Virtus has already played two preseason games this past weekend. On Saturday, Virtus beat Bancatercas Teramo 90-82 with Koponen scoring 10 points and slightly injuring his ankle. In Sunday's game, Montepaschi Siena destroyed Virtus 89-66 with Koponen sidelined.

I'll send you more information throughout the offseason and continue my weekly Petteri Koponen watches when the season tips off. Meanwhile, check out my Petteri Q&A at Blazersedge!


-H.T.