Petteri Koponen Watch: Enter Scoonie Penn Edition

When Andre Collins, the lone soul standing between Petteri Koponen and the starting point guard position for Virtus Bologna, went down with a hand injury, spontaneous celebration broke out in the streets of Espoo. Finally, Koponen would get to hold the reigns. No more playing out of position. No more hindrances to his development.

This was the opportunity Koponen and his dedicated followers (known as Finnaglerphiles) had been hoping for all along.

It wasn't meant to be. Not yet:

To replace the injured Andre Collins (183-G-82, college: Loyola, MD) (broken bone in a hand, out for some months), Virtus Bologna agreed to terms with James 'Scoonie' Penn (178-G-77, college:Ohio St.), who is expected to join the team on next tuesday, just in time to play the Italy SuperCup on Sunday, October 4.

You may remember Scoonie Penn from his college days at The Ohio State University where he and Michael Redd made things look easy. Penn has earned a solid reputation in Europe and will be the reliable veteran point guard Virtus is looking for.

You can't blame the team. If Google Translator is to be trusted, Virtus gave it a go without Collins in some preseason action. The results weren't pretty (original here):

The notes are negative: when they should have given important signals, Petteri Koponen, has betrayed. Two games without scoring a basket, but above all took shots from outside the building who are not his dribble. His energy is positive, the pressure that puts on the ball in attack Koponen is effective but needs to improve his choices.

Koponen did bounce back in his next outing, scoring 11 points and hitting the game winner (I think). It would seem that he is still seeking the consistency that will hopefully come as he continues to develop.

(Assist BlazersEdge commenter meru on the Scoonie news.)