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I'm bummed about the Batum news . You're bummed about the Batum news. Why don't we distract ourselves with a little Italian vacation? Hey look, Finnish mega-star Petteri Koponen is still playing over there. What's that? This guy showed up? Man, fake vacation ruined. Here is the latest from Hippo.


As we all know, Petteri Koponen had to rest last week's game because of a minor ankle injury that has been troubling him a bit ever since the playoffs last May. Therefore, our beloved Finnagler came off the bench in Sunday's home game against Martos Napoli.

For Koponen, it wasn't his most effective game, although he finished with his Serie A scoring high—eight points in 17 minutes. Koponen missed his only two-point attempt, but netted two of his three long range shots and both of his free throws, and also had two rebounds, two assists, and one turnover.

Once again, Koponen played the role of defensive stopper. Virtus kept roughly a ten-point lead throughout the game until Naples' new acquisition, Damon Jones , caught fire in the decisive period. Jones brought Naples up to 57-55, when coach Lino Lardo put in Koponen to guard Jones. Virtus took the next two minutes 9-2 and finished with a 76-62 (42-33) victory.

Next week, Koponen and Virtus Bologna are facing Banca Tercas Teramo on the road. Teramo is led by the American trio of Ryan Hoover, Bobby Jones, and Drake Diener; and Italian national team players Giuseppe Poeta and Valerio Amoroso.
Virtus Bologna - Martos Napoli 76-62 (20-12, 42-33, 54-43)

Virtus: David Moss 17/5/5ast/3stl, LeRoy Hurd 11/6/4ast, Diego Fajardo 10/9.
Naples: Dimitrios Tsaldaris 18/3/4ast/3stl, Damon Jones 16/1/4ast, Dragisa Drobnjak 14/8.

Petteri Koponen: Min 17 2pt 0/1 3pt 2/3 Ft 2/2 Pts 8 Reb 2 Ast 2 To 1

-Hippo