Petteri Koponen Still Under Pressure in Latest Win

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.

In the final quarter of the game, Koponen was fouled in almost every possession by the Varese players, and he responded by netting five of six free throws and finishing with one gutty layup in traffic. Varese ball pressure also forced Koponen into two turnovers within the last four minutes.

In the end, Virtus pressure control was just too much for Varese.

Despite four turnovers and only 1-5 field goal shooting, the Varese game can be considered a minor success for Koponen. Handling the point guard duties for 38 minutes against pressure defense isn't an easy task, but the kid did rather well and was able to drain seven of his eight points in the decisive minutes.

It remains to be seen the nature of Scoonie Penn's injury and if Claudio Sabatini has the time and patience to watch Koponen develop, but after some early struggles, Koponen and Virtus Bologna can be satisfied with this victory.

Virtus returns home next Sunday to meet Air Avellino, the winners of six straight.

Air Avellino is lead by the American duo of Dee Brown and DeMarcus Nelson, while Turkish guard Cenk Ankyol and Polish center Szymon Szewczyk can do a lot of damage as well.

The last time Koponen and Dee Brown met was at the 2008 Las Vegas Summer League, when Koponen had 19 points against Brown, who had just seven for the Washington Wizards.

Cimberio Varese - Virtus Bologna 68-78 (14-22, 35-38, 48-58)

Varese: Michel Morandais 20 Pts/4 Reb, Jobey Thomas 12 Pts/3 Reb, Simone Cotani 8 Pts/11 Reb/3 Stl.
Virtus: David Moss 18 Pts/ 4 Reb, Dusan Vukcevic 17 Pts/1 Reb/3 Ast/3 Stl, Viktor Sanikidze 12 Pts/15 Reb.

Petteri Koponen: 38 Mins, 8 Pts, 1-4 FGM, 0-1 3PM, Ft 6/8, 4 Reb, 4:4 A/TO, 1 Stl, 3 Pf, Start.