Petteri Koponen Watch: End of September Edition

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